Originally Posted by
Dave J
Federal LE and Reserve military service go really well together, from what I've seen.
My wife is a USAR MP, and also a CBP officer. Since her employer runs off tax dollars instead of having to turn a profit, they don't mind her being away on military orders, plus she continues to accumulate time in grade towards promotion & step increases on the GS side while on active duty tours.
I think TGS already mentioned that you can also "buy back" your military time so it counts towards Fed retirement, which a very good deal.
Lots of Reservists do endure significant travel to get to the units they want to be in. It's not ideal, but people seem to be willing to tolerate it, in exchange for being able to do their preferred jobs. Sometimes units will work with folks to make things less painful, like doing more drill days less often, or allowing you to occasionally work from a local unit instead, although if you're in a leadership position then doing the right thing usually means being there with your subordinates. The USAR also has a program to reimburse some of the travel expenses, but I have no clue if that applies to the National Guard. The Guard has the Aviation brigades, so that's where I think you'll want to be.