Oh man. So true.You want culture shock, go from a P-3 flight station to V-1 Divo in the span of 2-3 months. Identity crisis! I once literally had an E-4 injure himself jumping up too fast from "my" computer onboard at the mere sight of a khaki walking in. On the other hand his counterpart E-4 FE had no problem rolling his eyes and sighing at any non-essential task requiring the natops manual during flight.
I went from the E-6 community where some of the flight engineers are on a first name basis with the JOs to VT land with no E's to the boat where E's pin themselves to the bulkhead and wait for you to go through knee knockers. When I would bring my guys in the gear pit a quesadilla from the grill you would have thought I handed them a $100 bill.
Quite a different mentality.
Here's the thing, though. The culture in an AF guard unit isn't the same as it is in a squadron or on a ship. There are probably guys there that have been deploying around the world together for 15 years. Families get to know each other. Wives invite each other over for dinner and Christmas. They all work civilian jobs where they do go by first names. It is a totally different dynamic. To compare it to anything else is not right.
I say just attempt to invite your buds to an offsite gathering in an unofficial capacity. If they support it then great. If not, it probably isn't fitting with the norms of the unit.