Opinion ID: 2621771
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: An Army National Guard technician is a federal employee.

Text: An Army National Guard technician such as Colonel Clark is an employee of the United States. [41] As a technician, Colonel Clark was required to (1) be a member of the National Guard; [42] (2) hold the military rank appropriate for the position; [43] and (3) wear the appropriate uniform. [44] Colonel Clark's position as a technician was that of Supervisory Aircraft Pilot/State Aviation Officer. The Alaska Army National Guard stated that at the time of the crash: Col. Clark was a Federal Excepted Military Technician. He was a federal employee which required him to hold a position in the Alaska Army National guard and wear the military uniform. He was not on active duty orders to fly because it was part of his position description as the SAO [State Aviation Officer]. Col. Clark was acting in his official capacity as the pilot and the SAO. The families argue that Colonel Clark's status as the State Aviation Officer/State Supervisory Pilot made him a state employee. As discussed above, these duties were his position as a technician, not separate as the families infer. Even assuming for the sake of argument that the families' inference was correct, it is clear that State Aviation Officer/State Supervisory Pilot position is a federal one. In the federal Position Description for this position, Colonel Clark was assigned a federal pay and responsibility grade of GM-14.