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Otter,

I don't think you fully understand how reserve retirement works.

A traditional guardsmen/reservist doesn't get a retirement until age 60. In Jan 2008, the law was changed so that certain active duty tours (mostly deployments but some CONUS duty) qualify a person to move their retirement earlier in 90 day blocks with the caveat that you can't get a retirement more than 10 years early or before age 50. As an example, the active duty days the Reserve Associate UPT program gets qualify for this, and I performed enough active duty in a few fiscal years after this law was enacted to draw an age 58 and 9 month retirement as opposed the the traditional age 60 retirement.

If a traditional guardsmen/reservist earns the equivalent active duty time of 20 years of service (roughly 7320 AD points, 365x20 plus some leap years) then that person can retire and draw an immediate retirement just like an active duty service member. This is rare, but it does happen. A guard baby in my UPT class got on the AGR train relatively early in his career and earned a 20 year retirement by 23 years of service. A few folks at DLF came off active duty at the 12 year point, got furloughed in the post 9/11 environment, and troughed/bummed and got over the hump between 26 and 28 years of service.

Just because someone has enough points to draw an immediate retirement does not mean they have to retire. I know of a few general officers with airline jobs, who have 20 yrs of active duty time and could retire, but continue to serve because they feel they are making a difference and like what they do. Their active duty retirement may be based on a lower pay grade but they could retire.

The ANG/AFRC has a program that was initiated in the last big hiring airline market pre 9/11 to allow retirees to return to serve in the ANG/AFRC. I think the 340th FTG is one of the few units to consistently take advantage of this program and mostly at DLF, because if you are willing to the do the U.S. 90 from SAT to DLF (a.k.a. trail of tears) then you are a rare breed and your services are needed. The problem with this program is/was depending the powers who are in charge, sometimes the answer is no, we aren't doing that even though it says we can, or it takes so long to get you back in that it isn't worth it or the person is no longer interested in coming back.

In this program, you trade a day of retired pay for whatever duty you perform. Somehow some computer magic makes it all work for pay. These people are still subject to time in grade limitations, so an O-5 can only go to 28 years. You can also get promoted in retirement.

This is where this gets more complicated. Two or three people at DLF retired as O-4s, made O-5 in retirement. Their monthly retired pay is still based on the grade they were when they left active duty, their current duty pays at O-5 rates. When they retire the second time, their pay check is based on the total number of points/time in service they accrued as an active duty retiree participating in the ANG/AFRC. If they had three years time in grade at the new higher pay grade, at age 60, their total retirement check regonkulates to an O-5 retirement based on 20 years of active duty time plus whatever additional stuff they added on as guardsmen/reservist. If by chance through deployments, enough sets of long term active duty orders, or an AGR tour they get 3 years of active duty points as an O-5, their retirement check is immediately based on the new pay grade.

The lesser understood version of this is choosing not to retire off active duty or from an AGR status with 20 years of active duty. This is doable now that we have Tricare Reserve Select so traditonal reservists can have affordable healthcare. Before this came to be, unemployed tradtional reservists (a.k.a. guard bums/reserve troughers) had no health benefits unless on a 30+ day set of active duty orders.

A person simply transfers from a full time AGR position at the end of the orders into a tradtional position, or in the case of the OP, just joins the ANG/Reserve after separating from Active Duty. They already have a 20 year retirement in the bank, and when they finally choose to retire, they can draw immediate pay. If they get promoted in retirement, then their retirement is calculated just like the retiree return to the ANG/AFRC program. No waiting and going non-current while waiting on the retiree return process to work its way through the levels of bureaucracy and potentially being told no.

Cons: You end up working about 12 days/month doing some combo of active duty/inactive duty pay status to put the same money in the bank as you would draw in retirement pay. A unit also must be willing to hire this person, which means they have room on the manning roster to take you without screwing over someone in the unit's opportunity to get promoted and move into that billet.

Pros: If you are non current, then this is the way to get current doing what you love, keep money rolling in at probably 75% of your active duty paycheck considering probably 3 months plus of active duty to get schooled up in the airplane and deployment opportunities without incurring an active duty service commitment. You also cultivate networking opportunities with airline bros in the ANG/AFRC unit you are flying with.

Scenarios (likely/unlikely) where this could be a consideration:

AGRs who did not plan on going to the airlines, but do it to avoid getting forced into an unwanted PCS to an assignment that was non-flying. Crap hits fan, now they don't want to move, but weren't prepared for airlines. Now they can stay current while getting prepared for the airlines or figuring out what they want to do in post retirement. Since they are already in the unit, it doesn't cost the unit anything in getting them recurrent, and when they figure out a plan, they can walk away and draw the retirement on their terms.

Active duty members choosing to not take a promotion. A few years ago, a sitting active duty squadron commander at DLF got promoted. He was mentally ready to go off into retirement and got promoted anyway. He spoke with us about changing patches and joining the reserves. Not retire return to fly, but separate and cross immediately to keep flying with us. This would have allowed him to look for a an O-6 position in the AFRC. An O-6 traditional billet is a much easier life than on active duty, you are not going to get PCS'd two or three times. If he found a position, he could take it for three years time in grade, then retire with an O-5 pension that would raise to the O-6 pension at age 60. So it would have kept his options open allowing him stay current for airlines without risk of finishing as an O-6 from a non-flying assignment. In the end, he ultimately retired as an O-5 and is now a high school JROTC instructor.

These are rare circumstances but in few cases it could be a viable option. The OP could go to a regional and get hired at a major in 9 months, but with just under 1000 TPIC, maybe not. The regional solves the currency and total time issue, but he won't get PIC time for at least a year to 18 months on property. As a military guy, the unit who hires him will get him into the left seat and put his total PIC over 1000 faster than the 121 regional will. This business is a lot of timing and luck and there are many paths to take to get there. No one has the right answer as there are so many variables. In this case, the sacrifice of some time and possibly 3 months of retirement pay to fly militarily might open the door to a major carrier sooner with networking and a bit more PIC time.