Two Careers & Retirement
March 16, 2012 6:49 AM Subscribe
Three questions: (1) How many current civil service employees are also reserve/national guard members, (2) How many current civil service employees were also active duty military service members, and (3) How many of both groups retired from the military? I've been to DOD, the Census, OPM ... I'm not having much luck.
Just for a data point, I've been a government contractor for over three decades, working on NASA, FAA, GSA and DoD contracts. Of the many civil servants I've known over the years (and you do realize the greater percentage of people doing government work are contractors, NOT civil servants) I've never known of any in the reserves.
posted by Rash at 8:23 AM on March 16, 2012
posted by Rash at 8:23 AM on March 16, 2012
Try the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (www.esgr.org), they may have some of what you're looking for. #2, at least the way I read it is mutually exclusive except for some hybrid positions involved with taking care of reserve and guard facilities. My recollection is the incumbents are civilians during the week and drill on the weekends but maintaining their reserve or guard standing is a condition of the civilian employment. Hope this helps.
posted by KneeDeep at 9:28 AM on March 16, 2012
posted by KneeDeep at 9:28 AM on March 16, 2012
Are we only talking about federal civil service? And do you strictly mean the general schedule civil service or do you include the foreign service, non-appropriated funds employees, Comissioned Officers of the Public Health Service, etc. etc.?
How many current civil service employees were also active duty military service members
Except for reservists who are on leave from their civil service jobs after being called up for active duty, you ordinarily can't hold both a civil service and an active duty military post. The active duty military post is considered full time if you are active duty, so you can't e.g. also hold a part time civil service job (as you could hold two part time civil service jobs.)
How many of both groups retired from the military?
Do you mean retired in the strict sense (pensions, retired reserve, etc.) or just "retired" as in veterans? I can give you numbers on vets, but vets are not retirees:
Of the many civil servants I've known over the years (and you do realize the greater percentage of people doing government work are contractors, NOT civil servants) I've never known of any in the reserves.
As KneeDeep says, there's a whole category of National Guard andReserve dual-status technician jobs, where the employee wears the uniform to work, but is full time civil service and must be a member of the National Guard and then when the unit deploys, they go on leave from the civil service and back onto active duty.
posted by Jahaza at 9:38 AM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
How many current civil service employees were also active duty military service members
Except for reservists who are on leave from their civil service jobs after being called up for active duty, you ordinarily can't hold both a civil service and an active duty military post. The active duty military post is considered full time if you are active duty, so you can't e.g. also hold a part time civil service job (as you could hold two part time civil service jobs.)
How many of both groups retired from the military?
Do you mean retired in the strict sense (pensions, retired reserve, etc.) or just "retired" as in veterans? I can give you numbers on vets, but vets are not retirees:
Each year we continue to see an increase in the number of veterans employed by the Federal Government. In FY 2007 there were 462,744 veterans out of 1,811,459 total employees. Again in FY 2008, the number of veterans rose to 481,223 out of 1,886,720 total employees, and our most recent numbers show that the number of veterans rose to 512,671 out of 1,986,005 total employees in FY 2009.Another datapoint, there was a change in the law in 1999, to remove the pay limits imposed on retired military officers who also held civil service appointments. About 6000 retired military officers were affected.
Of the many civil servants I've known over the years (and you do realize the greater percentage of people doing government work are contractors, NOT civil servants) I've never known of any in the reserves.
As KneeDeep says, there's a whole category of National Guard andReserve dual-status technician jobs, where the employee wears the uniform to work, but is full time civil service and must be a member of the National Guard and then when the unit deploys, they go on leave from the civil service and back onto active duty.
posted by Jahaza at 9:38 AM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
Datapoint: I know personally a good number of federal civil servants who are also reservists. Reserve units can made up of GS types, federal contractors, non-prior service, former and retired military belonging to both of the previous categories.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 9:50 AM on March 16, 2012
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 9:50 AM on March 16, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
And I highly doubt those agencies would be willing to let you know those numbers even if they were known. Discrimination on the basis of military status is prohibited by federal law, so employment numbers regarding military service tend to be somewhat sensitive. Many employers ask, and certain agencies have a stated preference for veterans, but the info just isn't public.
posted by valkyryn at 7:04 AM on March 16, 2012