ART program serves manpower needs of AF Reserve for 55 years

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Joe Yanik
  • 512th AW Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  The Air Force Reserve Command's first air reserve technicians swore into service 55 years ago. With the ART program conceived half a century ago, AFRC leaders have endeavored to reinforce combat readiness and effectiveness of Reserve units by staffing them with full-time civilian employees who are traditional AF reservists trained to perform their jobs during unit training assemblies, annual tours and deployments. 

There are more than 225 ART positions in the Liberty Wing, according to the 512th Airlift Wing's Personnel Office.

One of these positions is filled by Staff. Sgt. Sydney Johnston, a 512th Communications Operations Flight client systems technician, who became an ART in 2012.

From the Client Service Center located inside the 512th AW's headquarters building, Johnston maintains network assets, creates user accounts and provides customer service on information technology-related issues. He said he spends a lot of time during the UTAs assisting traditional reservists who are a part of his flight with doing their Reserve jobs.

"While I was on active duty, I had always heard of reservists working full time alongside active-duty Airmen, but I had never heard of (the term) ART," said Johnston, who used to be an AF active-duty NCO in charge of a communications help desk at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.

He said he learned about his current job after he separated from active duty and was attending college in Florida.

"There was always this appeal of working with the military - the camaraderie and, quite frankly, job security," said Johnston.

He applied for the vacancy through www.usajobs.gov in February 2012.

"Using the site was straightforward and very user friendly," said Johnston. "But, (the application process) takes time. It doesn't occur overnight."

ART positions, like Johnston's, are filled when Reserve units coordinate their efforts with AFRC's Special Examining Unit at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., and several other agencies to sift through the applications to find the most capable Airmen.

According to AFRC's careers website, "most ART vacancies are announced through the SEU on www.usajobs.gov as 'case exams.' A case exam is a one-time announcement for a specific job at a specific location and is normally open for a 5-day period. Open continuous announcements are the exception to case exams and are established when there is a need to maintain a standing inventory of qualified applicants for various vacancies and locations."

To learn more about ART careers, visit www.afrc.af.mil/library/jobs.

Liberty Wing ARTs, like Johnston, make up part of the overall citizen-Airman workforce that has been contributing to the combat readiness and effectiveness of AFRC for the last 55 years.