No worries, and it is complicated. It's the same everywhere. You gotta get screwed by the contract language before you have full understanding of it all

Our contract 2004 had good (and better than the previous CBA) language in it. Since then, there's been a lot of LOA's/MOU's that have made the language better for reserves. I commute, so reserve sucks any way you slice it. But for a guy that lives in base, it can almost be a bearable experience. There's been times where a reserve line has given me MORE time at home than a junior hard line, or a relief/secondary/fallout/buildup/mix/composite, whatever a company wants to call it.

However, with a crappy line you can STILL trade to try to improve it as you wish. Of course, when all that it's open time is the SAME crap you have, well, better luck next time.