Air Force Reserve Technician (ART)

[Wildblueflyer]

Fellow CAP members:

Does anyone know the max age for Air Force Reserve Technician (ART) positions?  Google, the ART website, and CAP talk searches weren't clear.  It seems logical to me if you apply for a GS-15 position you should have some experience (Age) under your belt.  Also, does anyone know how/if the GS level translates to ART rank?

Thanks!  Inquiring minds want to know. 

[Viper QA]

Hello,

I'll try & answer some of your questions, but there are many "moving parts" to the explanation.

I am currently an Air Guard Technician, GS-11, Title 32 duel status. What that means is that I am in a compatible military position & must maintain that slot in order to keep my GS job. At one time I was also in WG-10 & WG-12 Title 32 duel status slots. The AF Reserve (ART) program works the same way.

The max age for an AGT or ART is 60. You cannot stay in the ANG or USAFR past 60 years old, therefore at 60 you would be released from the AGT or ART program. This is called discontinued service because in theory you could still work for the Federal government, just not in a Title 32 duel status slot. Your options would be to retire (if you meet the retirement criteria) or resign & try to find another Federal position. Non duel status Federal positions are Title 5.

Currently there are two different Federal retirement systems, CSRS & FERS.  CSRS is the "old system" & FERS is the "new system." Anyone hired after 1985 (I think) is a FERS employee. All you need to vest in the Federal retirement system is 5 years so in theory a person can be hired at age 55 for a Title 32 duel status slot then retire at age 60 with a small FERS pension. To get the most out of FERS takes 25-30 years, depending on your age, years of service, & buy back of any Title 10 (active duty) service.

AGT or ART slots (WG/WL/WS/GS) do not necessarily translate to rank on the unit's military manning document. A person could be a WG-12 civilian & an E-4 through E-8 on the unit's military manning document. Speaking for ANG & USAFR units, usually the E-9s are also supervisors (WS or GS-11s & higher) on the civilian side of the house. As I said earlier, I am a GS-11 but I also occupy an E-7 slot on the military manning document. Again, the civilian slots do not really match the military slots, the exception being some of the supervisory positions....kind of apples & oranges.

You probably would not get a GS-15 position unless you had experience at a lower level of GS service. Usually most vacancy announcements state that service at a lower level is mandatory. Now there are exceptions to this as well. If you have certain degrees or comparable civilian experience you can also apply of these types of jobs. In an AGT or ART system usually there is only one GS-15 slot, that being the Wing Commander.

Hope this helps you out!

[Wildblueflyer]

Thanks for the info.  I've PM'd you with specifics.