Like CKGrizwald, I too went back on active duty from retirement. I got furloughed in early '09, applied for the Recall, and fortunately, it only took a few months to get my orders. I was happy to take a staff job at Ramstein, where we toured Europe and my (then) teenage son had an amazing experience living overseas.

My staff job was as the Rated Officer Manager for all of USAFE. As such I was actively involved in rated manning at the units and staff assignments for USAFE, including recallees.

The AF recalled almost exactly 500 rated officers in the 2009/2010 program. "Rated" means pilots, navs, and ABMs. And that includes those that came back from retirement, from simply being separated, and those ARC (ANG + AFRES) members that got extended AD orders under this program.

AMC as a command got the most people total. But Ramstein was the single base with the highest number of recallees (over 40 of the 500 recalless came to Ramstein for the European vacation.)

Flying assignments for recallees were about 40% of the total, with staff jobs being about 60%. But the AF counted RPAs as "flying" jobs in that total. There was also a recallee flying the 737 at Ramstein, and a few guys went to the U-2, among others.

There was never a promise not to be deployed. The fine print of the offer said that we were not eligible for a 365-day deployment, but admittedly the way it was phrased led many to believe otherwise. We could not be PCSed, which included a remote PCS (like Osan).

Unfortunately for me, when my orders were up, I was still furloughed, and now hadn't flown in 3 years. Not much hiring going on in 2012, especially for a guy without currency. But I got lucky and got a job on the 737, and now on the 747, so in the end it's all good. I too used my GI Bill for my son, and he just graduated from Northwestern University without me spending a dime.

Not sure if I'd do it again if they offered it. But at the time and in the circumstances of 2009, it was overall a great deal for me and my family.