C-9s and C-40s are flown by Reserve squadrons. There are some FTS guys assigned to them, but mostly it's the Reservistas. C-12s are kind of a grab bag. Some are reservists, some are base staff guys, some are assigned to a billet, blah blah blah.
As for the rest of your questions: yes. Depending on who you ask, where you are in your career, which community you're in, phase of the moon, whether Venus is transiting Capricorn, price of sorghum in Calcutta...you get the idea.
When in doubt, use this rule of thumb: flying is better than not.