so the air force reserve it just like the air national guard?

Question

so you go 2 weekends a month in the air force reserve and air national guard than why would anyone want to join the reserve when they could join the guard and not get deployed

Answer 1

Air Guard is deployed all the time. The local outfit where I live is in Iraq right now.

Answer 2

I agree with the 2nd answer that the Air Guard does get deployed. They can be deployed anywhere in the world including war zones.

The first answer is almost correct. While the AF Reserves are run ONLY by the DOD, and the Air National Guard is run primarily by each state separately, their assets are also property of the DOD. This means that when you are in the National Guard (Army or Air) you are part of the Army or Air Force of BOTH your state and the United States. The war zone deployments can occur because the Air Guard is part of the total Air Force.

I think the experience of most is that the National Guard forces tend to be more active than Air Force or Army Reserves because of short Homeland security deployments, eg. Hurricane Katrina relief operations or Airport security or Border security. These sorts of operations tend to exclude the non-Guard "Reserve" forces because the emergency ops are typically ordered by Governors.

My opinion is that Guard service is more rewarding because of opportunities to serve your community locally as well as the Armed Forces of the United States.

Answer 3

From a functional perspective, absolutely. They operate very much the same.

The biggest difference is:
Air Force Reserve - Operated by the Department of Defense

Air National Guard - Operated by the Governor of the State the unit is in. The Governor can order the Air National Guard to do things but cannot order the Air Force Reserve to do anything without the approval of the Department of Defense.

Hope that helps.