Thinking of joining Air Force, experience?

[ballmode]

To all who don't have a bachelor's degree and want to join the guard, the state will pay your college off and pay you an extra 800-900 a month, add in the 200-250 a month you'll make e-3/e-4 you are looking at 1000ish a month for being a college student. Not bad for one weekend of work. Wish I joined back when I was in school, I'd have no college debt and wouldn't have to work a crummy part time job so I could spend more time chasing girls and getting plastered.

 

[ballmode]

enlisted has to deal with Senior NCO bullshit because the officers need this and that, but at the same time if things get screwed up it falls on the officers. Doesn't matter what path you take the clearance is all the same. If you go active duty you couldn't do anything else till your committment is up, if you went guard as soon as you are done with training and go be a traditional status you could go look for work.

 

[akahoovy]

I'll answer some of that with what I've learned so far.

1) Most officers will be assigned different jobs depending on where you're stationed. It's based on what's needed. You definitely get to say what you want to do, and for a non-rated position you'll likely get it. It's just that every so often you may be restationed and have additional or different duties (I've been told this is managerial type jobs). Officers get much higher pay as well.

2) I believe enlisted is 4 in minimum. Officers vary, I think the minimum may be 6 years. What I've learned is that pilots who don't want to go career will leave after their 10 minimum because after that time you get less flight opportunities and mainly go to a desk job.

4) Stipends vary for enlisted and officers. Subsistence money (food) is $350/month for enlisted, $230 for officers. Housing allowance rates are based on rank and family size, so an E1 would have something like $400/month and an officer with a family of 3 in later years could get something like $1000. Your salary is taxed less. You can shop on-base at the PX where goods are at reduced prices. There are various plans for investing your money during a tour and for retirement. For critically needed language skills, such as Mandarin, Dari, Arabic, you can get up to $12,000/year for active duty members; this varies by your proficiency and other factors.

5) Yes, you can get training as an officer for the reserves. Bear in mind, you must be an officer to fly.

6) Pretty close to a regular desk job, just on base or somewhere secure.

 

[EagleKeeper]

One can go through OCS/OTS (newer acronym) and go straight into a reserve unit.
You have to work with the unit in advance to ensure that they will have a slot for you.

Enlisting gets you maybe 1 step into the door than coming in from the outside as an officer.
All the other qualifications are still required.

Each unit (active or reserve/guard) has their own personal skill needs. Using the Reserve/guard keeps you closer to home and also reduces your options.

Tossing out raw numbers (estimated)
A unit may have 100 people; of which 4-5 slots may be open at any one time. Those slots may not meed your skill set.
Maybe 5-10 units within commuting distance.

Compare that to what the active Air Force has world wide.
More slots but more competition for those slots.
Much depends on how valuable you are to them.

Using myself again as an example;
I had planned and was scheduled for an active duty slot in January. Wanted to complete all my Masters work.
A slot opened up for me earlier than expected in July.
So I had to leave college in April for OCS.

However, because of my skill set; I was able to get my primary job selection of weapons testing/flying the F15 Eagle.

3 years later, I took a RIF and then put in 13 in the reserves. As a DOD contractor, it was fairly easy at the time to find a reserve slot that covered 2-3 fields I was qualified for.
When moved from West to East Coast; I could not find a LTC slot and it was a PTIA to try to keep my West Coast slot. (At the time there was no 15 year mark; nor could I purchase the extra 4 years for retirement.) In hindsight, I should have suffered for the extra time, but I had higher priority things on my mind at the time.

 

[MaxFusion16]

what about the marines?

i'm in a somewhat similar situation, just turned 27, have a BSEE, worked as an engineer for 3+ years.

I've always wanted to join the military, and as i'm getting older and older, I'm starting to seriously consider enlisting.

I'm thinking the marines if I want to be tough on myself versus the air force if I just want an easy ride.

I'd rather not take the easy way.

any marines here?

 

[Gerle]

One here, what's up?

 

[Craig234]

http://www.amazon.com/What-Every-Per...+what+everyone

 

[ichy]

http://www.amazon.com/What-Every-Per...+what+everyone

Chris Hedges is a cultural critic and author who was a foreign correspondent for nearly two decades for The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor and National Public Radio. He reported from Latin American, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He was a member of the team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for The New York Times coverage of global terrorism, and he received the 2002 Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. Hedges, who holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, is the author of the bestsellers American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle

No military experience, but he does have a divinity degree and an award from Amnesty International. Yeah, I'm sure he has some great insights into the US military

 

[EagleKeeper]

what about the marines?

i'm in a somewhat similar situation, just turned 27, have a BSEE, worked as an engineer for 3+ years.

I've always wanted to join the military, and as i'm getting older and older, I'm starting to seriously consider enlisting.

I'm thinking the marines if I want to be tough on myself versus the air force if I just want an easy ride.

I'd rather not take the easy way.

any marines here?

Using your degree as a Marine will be a long shot.

 

[Broheim]

No military experience, but he does have a divinity degree and an award from Amnesty International. Yeah, I'm sure he has some great insights into the US military

dafuq is a degree in divinity?

 

[Nintendesert]

what about the marines?

i'm in a somewhat similar situation, just turned 27, have a BSEE, worked as an engineer for 3+ years.

I've always wanted to join the military, and as i'm getting older and older, I'm starting to seriously consider enlisting.

I'm thinking the marines if I want to be tough on myself versus the air force if I just want an easy ride.

I'd rather not take the easy way.

any marines here?

I was in a similar spot, I had a BA and decided to enlist at 26 in the Marines. I went to Iraq and Afghanistan a few times each and never used my degree. I chose to go into the intelligence field and have no regrets. Now granted all of that has it's repercussions and baggage I get to deal with for the rest of my life, but I'd rather have that then the regret of not doing what I did. You'll meet a ton of people that will say things like "I was going to join..." or "I almost joined..." Living with regret is a horrible thing.

Just make sure if you choose to go through with it you contract into a field you'll enjoy or are interested in. If you're enlisting. If you want to do the officer route, good luck. The physical and mental demands are much more stringent than the enlisted route. Enlisting they will try to build you up, while if you try for the officer route you are expected to already be at a high level and will instead attempt to weed you out.

Feel free to PM if you have any other questions, or anyone else for that matter. I'm not bitter or jaded but will not sugarcoat any of it either.

 

[ichy]

what about the marines?

i'm in a somewhat similar situation, just turned 27, have a BSEE, worked as an engineer for 3+ years.

I've always wanted to join the military, and as i'm getting older and older, I'm starting to seriously consider enlisting.

I'm thinking the marines if I want to be tough on myself versus the air force if I just want an easy ride.

I'd rather not take the easy way.

any marines here?

Enlisting or going the officer route since you have a degree?

If you're thinking of becoming a Marine officer I'd suggest reading One Bullet Away. Sad to say that made me realize that even if I'd tried back when I was 22 I wouldn't have had what it took

 

[ViviTheMage]

Post what you can nintendesert, these threads pop up, someone might search and find it.

Did you enlist into E3? Did you ever go officer? What'd you end up with rank wise? Do you use your skills that you learned in the marines in the civ world? How long were you in for?

I know marines is different then the AF, but good overall view on the process is good to hear.

 

[olds]

Using your degree as a Marine will be a long shot.

The Marines need educated riflemen too....

 

[shortylickens]

PSA nobody actually enlists at E3. If you got some special program you will automatically have E3 at the end of boot camp.

 

[ViviTheMage]

PSA nobody actually enlists at E3. If you got some special program you will automatically have E3 at the end of boot camp.

well yeah, that's what I mean.

 

[Nintendesert]

Post what you can nintendesert, these threads pop up, someone might search and find it.

Did you enlist into E3? Did you ever go officer? What'd you end up with rank wise? Do you use your skills that you learned in the marines in the civ world? How long were you in for?

I know marines is different then the AF, but good overall view on the process is good to hear.

I contracted in as an E-2. I was active duty for 5 years and left as a Sgt. I never did go through the enlisted commissioning program though I did have friends that did.

The job skills were in IT, communications, intelligence related stuff so I had a clearance. The IT certifications were nice and having a really good resume afterwards was good too. Those skills translated, the general infantry and combat stuff don't, but I suppose had I got into security or cop related stuff afterwards it could have.

Now I'm looking at getting my Masters in a related field on the GI Bill. I got a government service job with the Air Force now and live in beautiful Colorado. I left with no debts and own my own house now, car, got a wife, baby and even a dog. It's the typical American dream. I don't think I would be where I am without having joined the Marines. It was the best decision I made.

The military isn't for everyone, but if you join, whichever branch, make the most of it and it'll give you back much much more in the long run. You'll make sacrifices and there is always the possibility of making the ultimate one no matter which service. My family has a few Marines and Airmen in the family, and just as many of the Airmen have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan as our Marines. So it's there no matter what you choose. I think the benefits and pride in yourself that you'll receive though are worth it.

 

[shortylickens]

well yeah, that's what I mean.

Yeah fine but a lot of guys go in and dont understand that. Then they wonder why their bank account is so low when they hit their first duty station. In the Navy your uniforms arent free. They deduct the cost from your first 2 months worth of pay. Also, in the Navy women get paid more in boot camp to pay the cost of their slightly more expensive uniforms. In fact they get 500 dollars more. I know cuz halfway through we found out some asshat accidentally entered some of us as female in the system, and we got over paid. Had to give that shit back over 6 months. Pissed me off when I found out how little I was making.

 

[OutHouse]

Post what you can nintendesert, these threads pop up, someone might search and find it.

Did you enlist into E3? Did you ever go officer? What'd you end up with rank wise? Do you use your skills that you learned in the marines in the civ world? How long were you in for?

I know marines is different then the AF, but good overall view on the process is good to hear.

Vivi have you read this? it tells you every step you need to take to become an officer.

http://www.airforce.com/joining-the-air-force/officer-overview/

watch this chicks videos, i linked the one that addresses some of your questions. its only a year old and absolutely correct. my daughter has watched every one of her vids and realizes her old man (me) isnt full of shit. lol

http://youtu.be/Gyan-gSNZ8c

 

[ViviTheMage]

Yup, I read that, i'll check that youtube channel thanks.

 

[OutHouse]

Yup, I read that, i'll check that youtube channel thanks.

cool. let me know your opinion of it. i thought they were really good and thought out.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I'll have to start from the beginning, watch what she went through exactly.

 

[OutHouse]

well keep in mind that there is a 6 week gap from when she leaves for basic and the night before BMT graduation...

 

[drahcir2381]

Good posts.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Good posts.

you deleted your post..why? It has great information!