The AF is a great quality of life, sometimes I wish I was in the AF (secretly, of course :x )

I think the only downside I can think of is that the AF doesn't promote very fast.. that's it.

I've been considering going into the AF post grad school for quite a while now.

I was enlisted AF and I am an officer in the Navy now. Drop me a PM if you like.

Mark

PS - Enlisted USAF > Navy > Army > Marines!

I was a 6 year wonder, I highly recommend it. It's easy to do 6 year and I am NOT a military person by nature.

Samnavy made some great points and although I disagree with what some of SamNavy said you should consider his advice carefully.

Here is where we diverge slightly, "Joining any branch of the Armed Services (even the Guard) is not something you should do because you're bored or broke." <- This is precisely why I joined, I was broke, they offered the best deal! Probably the best accident that ever happened to me, it's not like prison camp or anything (especially USAF).

and want to clarify this:

"The job you do in the military will depend on a few things. The first thing is any prior schooling or technical skills you may have... the second is you ASVAB score. If you do poorly, you paint ships or smear grease on tank treads. If you do well, you get to start the reactor or fly in the AWACS. In the end, you have very little say... it all depends on your scores and how many openings there are in each Rating/MO that morning... literally, THAT MORNING."

Mostly true, UNLESS, you score a 95 AFQT or better on the ASVAB, then you are suddenly "exceptionally well qualified" as an applicant and you get to have a little more input into your actual job, EVEN with the USAF which is notorious for not giving a guaranteed job. Navy will offer to send you to Nuke school (just remember the high failure rate before you sign any papers and what the consequences of failure are.)

"You can't negotiate your pay and "contracts" in the end don't mean shit... and they only give bonuses that matter to seriously skilled people. A one-time $20k check is nothing stacked up against signing for 8yrs to end up failing out of Tank-Driver school and living in Oklahoma rebuilding weed-whacker motors for the base Public Works department. If you end up at Nuke Power School, you get a nice fat check... if you end up a cook, you just get to make beans."

Some more clarification:

You can negotiate some things (like the USAF 6 year wonder program where you get 2 stripes for a 6 year commitment). I think you should consider this for several reasons.

1. That extra money helps out in the beginning

2. You'll have enough time to get a degree done if you focus on that goal, the first 2 years get sucked up with OJT and learning the ropes enough to manipulate the system and gaining a little rank.

3. Whether you realize it or not, ALL enlistments have an 8 year clause in them where you are still beholden to the government. Yes, technically you might be on inactive reserve but contractually they have you.

Job Advice

1. (If and when you have input in the process) When considering a career field, give thought to civilian world equivalence. Being a BB Stacker (bomb loader) is not as lucrative as being an avionics technician, which is not as lucrative as being a computer programmer when you get out an want to look for a job.

2. Find a job with a high security clearance, these are worth gold when you get out. When giving security references pick the most boring and nicest people you know... Don't give them the name of anyone who witnessed a tequila fueled table dance that you'd prefer not to remember.

3. Do not be an SP (Police) and if you have a high enough ASVAB insist on a guaranteed job on entrance. Some jobs require additional testing and if you want in fast you'll have to forgo those jobs (Computer Programmer, Computer Operator, Linguist are some of them.)

4. If you can't get guaranteed job, then guaranteed area is not a bad second option. Say if you want electronics... You might be able to go that route... avoid going open general unless you're a naturally lucky person and do prepare for the ASVAB, that score is important. You can be excluded from cool jobs because of it.

Mark

Hmm, I didn't know USAF and Navy don't necessarily get to pick their jobs. In the Army, as long as you qualify for it, everyone picks their own MOS and it's put in the contract.

I don't know if this differs at all, but you can change your MOS (with new commitment, of course) in the Army if you don't like it. I'm going from 35F to 35P right now, assuming I survive DLI...

If you sign up for 6 years in the AF and you qualify for a certain job, they can gauarantee it. I signed up for 6 years back in 2004, I just made E-5 SSgt and I hit my 4 year mark in Sept. As for the bonuses, not all jobs give you one. It depends on the job's SRB code 1 being 6k bonus and a 5 ending up to be 60k. Jobs that are really rare like Air traffic controller, aerial gunner and Aerial Refueler (Boom Operator) have the higher SRB codes. No Jobs in the maintanence world have any bonuses as of June 04.

If you sign up, you will be put in the Delayed Entry Progam (DEP) for 1-6 months. Be sure to score as high as you can on the ASVAB. More jobs will open up to you with better career opportunities in civilian life. The Benifits alone are worth the time serving.

People also throw some bomb ass parties. Well, on the maintanence side of things. LoL.

+1

The best parties I was ever a part of were maintenance parties. We would get hammered... I was an avionics tech, and we partied hard! Great job, I loved working on planes.

Mark

Another question I had, how often can I expect to be able to come home 9not that I'll necessarily want to once I'm there but always nice to know) Especially since I'll have to leave my pup (about a year old) with my mom for the next couple years until I've got a place i can have him with me. I assume I can have at least one vehicle (the miata if i only get one, lol) while I'm living on base right?

If your single, you will live in the Dorms until you've been in for 3 years and then you can move off base. No pets allowed in the Dorms exept fish. You can have as many cars as you want. If you get married, you can have up to 3 pets on base housing or off base and have as many cars as you want. You will get 30 days of paid vacation every year. About 2.5 days every month. Plus all the holidays and there are down days. These things will change some if you get stationed overseas tho.

You don't necessarily have to live in the dorms for 3 years. It depends on where you are stationed and dorm occuancy rate. At Pope AFB in NC, after about a year, most are given the option to move off base. Also, in the AF, most bases have single occupancy dorms, i.e, no roomate. The AF does not limit possessions. The AF is not that much into you personeal life. Show up when and where you are suppose to and don't break the law and the AF is happy, just like with civilian jobs...oh, and it's no longer "SP" it has been SF (Aecurity Forces) for years now.

I can tell you right now, that dorm occupancy is not full. BTW Pope AFB is no longer active.

What do you mean by "dorm occupancy is not full"? As in I will be in a dorm because they aren't full?

When the dorms are full they let you move off base and pay you extra money for rent and food. Dorms here are almost always full so mostly the newbies stay there

This is true at a lot of bases, all i can tell you is make sure you get a guarenteed job And dont pick SF, also ive been in maintenance for 2 years now, try not to get crew chief, im 2a6x6 Electrical and environmental specialist and its not to bad

When am I going to find out for sure if they are going to take me at all or not? I go Tuesday to take my ASVAB but other than that I really haven't had a chance to talk to the recruiter much about a time line of things yet.

I dont remember exacty how things went, but i think you take your asvab, and then you tell your recruiter what jobs you want from a list of things you qualify for and then after he finds you a guarenteed one, you go into the dep proggram until you ship out,then you have to go to meps to get your physical, then go to basic

Crew Chief - not so great (but not bad if you're really sharp either.) Think of it as chief mechanic for an aircraft (without the glory.)

3C0x2 <- Good Job, Computer Programmer
2A3x1 <- Avionics F-15/A-10/U-2, I loved it.

F-15 is much nicer to work on than F-16. Some planes are wonderful to work on and some suck ass. The F-15 is a maintenance persons dream compared to many others.

Here is a list of jobs:

http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0105/38_CareerField.pdf

Mark

I immagine, i work on b-52 h modelshere is what i work on

I am a:
2A651 Aerospace propulsion Journeyman. (Jet Engine mechanic) I consider it the best job out of all the maintanence careers. Great job outlook on the outside too. I work out of Test Cell and we run uninstalled motors on the test stand and run in full burner.
Pratt&Whitney FTL
GE FTW!!!

Attachment 211365

Working on Heavies isnt bad at all(ie KC-135R, C-5, C-17, and C-17's). I perfer heavies much more. Way easier to work on than the F-15, but nowhere near the F-22. F-22 is crazy easy to work on.

At Robins AFB, the dorms weren't full and you were put on a waiting list to move off base, usually at your 3 year mark. Same here at Nellis AFB. At Korea, you can be Staff/Tech Sgt and still be in the dorms.

B-52 FTL. Too many TF-33's to worry about... and you guys in barksdale have a ton of them.

Yes, the 22 is crazy easy to work on... Depends on your job of course... as people have stated B-52 FTL !!!(although it's a remarkable aircraft) For avionics, the F-15 is a dream... pulling motors is a different story, but still not horrible.

3 cam locks and you are into the avionics bay in the F-15... 62 screws later you are in the same bay for the F-16. LOL 3 Cam Locks > 62 aircraft screws!

Nellis is a cool base.

Mark