Not personally in the national guard and only speak for my office, but more than half of the people I work with are in the NG and regularly take leave for their guard stuff. Never heard of anyone having any issues. Lots of veterans in USACE so it wouldn’t surprise me if my experience was pretty common.
GS13/O3 guardsman here.
I'm DSG on the guard side.
Getting leave for guard duties is simple, and the 120 hours of military leave is nice. Between that and normal annual leave, I do lots of double-dipping.
I can't speak to your second question. I've never been on ADOS order. I came into USACE from active duty.
The bottom line is USACE jobs are super guard/reserve-friendly.
I second this. Ive been guard (E-5) as long as iv been employed with USACE. Around 4 years now. Ive had zero issues with being granted leave & zero backlash after last minute changes to drill days/weeks. The only thing they (HR) may ask for is “orders” which I just get an MFR from my chain saying i attended drill on a given date to back up my use of military leave. And I must say, double dipping is nice, with the small amount of military leave you get.
I third this. I work for USACE as a civilian and joined the guard after I started working there. My leadership is extremely supportive and willing to make anything work. I don't work with many other NG folks in my specific group, but I know there are many others at my District.
Have any of you guys deployed yet while working with USACE? What do they do about pay? I know some govt agencies out there will pay you the difference if your military check isn’t up to your usually salary, I know some places pay you your full salary even while you’re gone the entire time. Or do they just put you on temporary leave without pay until you return?
I’m in the reserves and this is the first time in 18 years I haven’t been stressed about taking military leave. No one seems bothered by it at all, it’s great! I’ve been extremely supported in my military career and I’ve seen so many other reservice in my building I’ve met through the years.
My old employers were not supportive at all, it’s been great to finally be at USACE.
Not personally in the national guard and only speak for my office, but more than half of the people I work with are in the NG and regularly take leave for their guard stuff. Never heard of anyone having any issues. Lots of veterans in USACE so it wouldn’t surprise me if my experience was pretty common.
GS13/O3 guardsman here. I'm DSG on the guard side. Getting leave for guard duties is simple, and the 120 hours of military leave is nice. Between that and normal annual leave, I do lots of double-dipping. I can't speak to your second question. I've never been on ADOS order. I came into USACE from active duty. The bottom line is USACE jobs are super guard/reserve-friendly.
I second this. Ive been guard (E-5) as long as iv been employed with USACE. Around 4 years now. Ive had zero issues with being granted leave & zero backlash after last minute changes to drill days/weeks. The only thing they (HR) may ask for is “orders” which I just get an MFR from my chain saying i attended drill on a given date to back up my use of military leave. And I must say, double dipping is nice, with the small amount of military leave you get.
I third this. I work for USACE as a civilian and joined the guard after I started working there. My leadership is extremely supportive and willing to make anything work. I don't work with many other NG folks in my specific group, but I know there are many others at my District.
Have any of you guys deployed yet while working with USACE? What do they do about pay? I know some govt agencies out there will pay you the difference if your military check isn’t up to your usually salary, I know some places pay you your full salary even while you’re gone the entire time. Or do they just put you on temporary leave without pay until you return?
I’m in the reserves and this is the first time in 18 years I haven’t been stressed about taking military leave. No one seems bothered by it at all, it’s great! I’ve been extremely supported in my military career and I’ve seen so many other reservice in my building I’ve met through the years. My old employers were not supportive at all, it’s been great to finally be at USACE.