There are waivers for age. What source to you have that states that unit needs WO's? In the Reserve/NG service, many WO complete their degrees and transfer to RLO's for the nice retirement paygrade change. There have been many RLO's to give up their commission just to fly as WO, which as you know is our primary job. Several threads on here have great info for going from AD to Reserves/NG. I'm AD now, but looking to continue NG when I retire in 4 yrs. In your case, I would start talking to the unit, see if they have IERW (Flight School) slots, and look at going that route if you want the ARNG track, but keep your commission. Depends on your age, most of the waivers are case by case, but I have seen some slightly "older" students at Ft. Rucker. Hell, since the WO program is high school to flight school, I was considered "old" at 28.