[Auslander]

Back in the day, Air Force officers held one of two type of commissions, reserve or regular. If you went through AFROTC you got a reserve commission. Academy and OCS graduates got regular commissions. Reserve commissions had a brevet (serving) rank and regular (permanent) rank, in other words you could be an active duty officer holding a reserve commission with a serving rank of Major and a permanent rank of First Lieutenant. When you retire as a reserve officer you got benefits based on your permanent rank. Reserve officers often held slots in groups and wings that were way above their permanent rank. If you held a reserve commission serving as an active duty officer for you entire career, no time attached to a non-active reserve unit you got your type of commission changed from reserve to regular at the end of your service or on promotion to a permanent field grade rank.

I think this changed like in the mid to late 1980’s but I’m not sure.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

There used to be a program called ROPA ( Reserve Officer Personnel Act, 1954 ) where higher grade officers were promoted one grade upon their retirement. It used to be almost automatic.

[CatoRenasci]

When I was on active duty in the '70s, I also remember active duty enlisted personnel who held reserve commissions (and were in reserve units). Often, these were guys who had been in WWII or Korea as prior enlisted junior officers, stayed in during the '50s, (captains or majors usually, but sometimes were higher ranking), and were RIF'd (Reduction in Force) before they'd put in their 20 years (or 30). They had a choice of reverting to enlisted rank or getting out.

We had a Command Sergeant-Major with 30 years service (battlefield commission in Korea) who retired as a Major General: one day he was walking around in with his stripes and rockers, then he was promoted pending retirement, put on his stars, and had a lot of fun with some a&&hole company and field grade officers who hadn't known he was a reserve officer and who had given him a hard time. I saw him practically bracing a West Pointer Infantry Captain who was particularly disliked by the senior noncoms.