I was in an ASOS prior to making the jump back to the green. I love it, and i think you will too.
As a guard pilot, if that is what you want to be, you will be busy. You have to maintain the same readiness as our AD counterparts and, to be honest, will fly quite a bit more in garrison than they ever will.
Don't get me wrong, the life is tough, demanding, and sometimes can be a damned silly inconvenience. But, hell, if you picked up a Warrant commission I dare say you would kick yourself for not doing it earlier. As a (gasp) LT, you will fly just as much in the beginning of your career but as soon as that first staff job comes up, you are down to a FAC2 with reduced minimum flight time and readiness requirements. It is simply the nature of the beast.
Getting into the program can be tough and you will certainly need to be flexible. You will have to enlist first, then put your packet in. It is a big leap of faith, but one that we all had to make. Plus, if you don't get selected or botch your packet up, you have no one to blame but yourself.
I think you will find the "Army way of doing things" has its benefits to the overly-multi-tiered version of Air Force bureaucracy. However, each service has its snags and share of BS to deal with.
I hope this helped. Anything else, please let me know.
CD