Active Guard Reserve (AGR) refers to a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

and

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

federal military program which places

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized militia force and a federal military reserve force of the United States Army. They are simultaneously part of two different organizations: the Army N ...

and

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

soldiers and

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

and

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of comm ...

airmen on federal active duty status under Title 10 U.S.C., or full-time National Guard duty under Title 32 U.S.C. 502(f) for a period of 180 consecutive days or greater in order to provide full-time support to National Guard and Reserve organizations for the purpose of leading, organizing, administering, recruiting, instructing, or training the Reserve Components according to Subsection 101(d)(6).

History

Since September 11, 2001, substantial numbers of AGRs have been placed on active duty for direct support of the Active Component (also known as the Regular Component) of the armed forces in order to fill critical shortfall requirements for which no qualified Active Component fill is available. Most often, these are

general officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

s and

field grade A senior officer is an officer of a more senior grade in military or other uniformed services. In military organisations, the term may refer to any officer above junior officer rank, but usually specifically refers to the middle-ranking group of ...

officers in the commissioned officer ranks and senior non-commissioned officers in the enlisted ranks, typically assigned to the

Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

, the Army Staff, the Air Staff, or the

combatant commands A unified combatant command (CCMD), also referred to as a combatant command, is a joint military command of the United States Department of Defense that is composed of units from two or more service branches of the United States Armed Forces, an ...

. Soldiers and Airmen in such status are commonly referred to as AGRs. Although they continue to be members of the Reserve Components, they are in a different federal status than traditional part-time Army Reserve Component or Air Reserve Component members (including full-time Army Reserve Technician and

Air Reserve Technician Program Air Reserve Technicians, commonly referred to as ARTs, are a nucleus of full-time uniformed U.S. Air Force leaders, managers, operators, planners and trainers in what is known as the Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force, the AR ...

members) called to active duty for training, special work, operational support to the Active Component, or mobilized for contingency operations. Certain units with critical stateside missions, such as the

National Guard Bureau The National Guard Bureau is the federal instrument responsible for the administration of the National Guard established by the United States Congress as a joint bureau of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. It was c ...

, the

1st Air Force The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern; 1 AF-AFNORTH) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission is the air defense of the Conti ...

, the

Eastern Air Defense Sector The Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) is a United States Air Force unit of Air Combat Command (ACC), permanently assigned to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). A joint, bi-national military organization, EADS is composed of U ...

Western Air Defense Sector The Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) is a unit of the Washington Air National Guard located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Tacoma, Washington. As a state militia unit, the Western Air Defense Sector is not in the normal United States Air Force c ...

, and the

176th Air Defense Squadron The 176th Air Defense Squadron (176 ADS) is a unit of the Alaska Air National Guard 176th Wing located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska. Overview The squadron provides mission-ready personnel to operate and maintain the Alask ...

, have been converted from regular active duty personnel to "all AGR" in order to provide more consistent manning.

Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve counterparts

The sea services (i.e.,

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

, and

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...

) do not have an AGR program ''per se'', but do have cadres of full-time active duty personnel in support of the respective Reserve Components and integrated with the Active Component.

U.S. Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

Full-Time Support (FTS) officers and sailors, formerly known as Training and Administration of the Reserves (TAR),

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

Active Reserve (AR), and U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Program Administrators (RPAs) are technically included in the definition of AGR. But whereas Army and Air Force Reserve Component personnel can enter the AGR program at any point in their careers, entry into the sea service programs is typically limited to E-5 and below for enlisted personnel and O-4 with less than three years time in grade and below for commissioned officers.927th Air Refueling Wing - FAQ Topic
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930141759/http://www.927arw.afrc.af.mil/questions/topic.asp?id=147 , date=September 30, 2011 . 927arw.afrc.af.mil. Retrieved on 2013-07-23. Approximately 95% of Navy FTS, Marine Corps AR and Coast Guard RPA officers and enlisted personnel enter these programs directly from the Active Component. Unlike the Army and Air Force AGR programs, the FTS, AR and RPA career tracks are considered permanent active duty career programs, with no opportunity for senior enlisted or senior officers to enter later in their careers from "traditional" part-time Reserve status at the E-7/E-8/E-9, O-5/O-6, or General Officer/Flag Officer levels. Senior officers in FTS, AR and RPA are also subject to continuation boards at the O-5 and O-6 level and may be subject to an earlier mandated retirement date than their Regular Navy, Regular Marine Corps or Regular Coast Guard counterparts of the same pay grade in the Active Component or their Traditional Reserve/Selected Reserve counterparts in the Reserve Component, including the latter when recalled back to active duty. Since September 11, 2001, "traditional" Reserve officers of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard above the rank of O-4 and senior enlisted at E-6 and above have been recalled to active duty for successive back-to-back or near back-to-back active duty periods under mobilization, special work or operational support orders, filling shortfalls for two, three, four, or more years for which no qualified Active Component or FTS officer or senior enlisted is available, or individuals in the Reserve Component with specific talents and/or experience for whom the Active Component senior leadership (typically at the

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

level) has made a "by name" request. However, career tenure (other than for Reserve retirement) and an active duty retirement, while occasionally achieved by these personnel, are not guaranteed. Navy Reserve Canvasser/Recruiters are also included in the AGR definition, but may be accessed at the E-7/8/9, W-2/3/4/5, O-4 with more than 3 years time in grade, and O-5 pay grades. Unlike FTS, Canvasser/Recruiter is not considered a career program, so career tenure protections and an active duty retirement are not guaranteed.

Notes

United States Army National Guard United States Air National Guard

History

Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve counterparts

See also

Notes