Just finished breaking the news to my parents and family that I will be enlisting in the Air Force this fall. That in itself was tougher than the decision to go. I've decided to wait until fall, as I'd like to spend a last summer with friends before I take off for four years. I'm constantly trying to gain direction with which occupations interest me. As of now, I'm trying to keep my mind open to any job I will be given. If anyone here is current or retired air force, I'd love to chat with you. Let me know anything from your occupation, your deployment, where your home base was, etc. When I make a decision, I move forward on it, and dont look back, so please avoid bombarding me any negativity regarding joining a service. I'd much rather listen to advice than opinions. -Jack
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Military service. What they don't tell you is that you get 4-6 years of job experience AND training so that when you hit the civilian workforce, you are better qualified than your college counterparts. Good luck man. I'd have told you to go in the Navy, but Airforce works.
my friends station in delaware right now and loves it. he gets the weekends off and he has his car with him and stuff. he says once your done with training its just like a normal life with only a few restrictions
Smart decision on joining the airforce rather then the other military services. I was in the army for 5yrs and it sucked. There was maybe a handfull of airmen where I was at in Iraq, the rest were in Kuwait and that place is a lot safer then anywhere in Iraq. hahahaha now I have "Danger Zone" stuck in my head.
wow............jack, good for you man! I hope that it fulfills you in every way and makes you happy! you always seemed like a service guy to me so congrats on moving forward, its better than cleaning gary's ****!!!! goodluck and godspeed
well, I'm gonna be working for gary all summer and into the fall. I believe I will be heading to basic sometime in september. I will NOT be flying. As an enlisted I forfeited that option. I would have to do ROTC, and to be honest, I dont see myself entering the military at 24years old. Thats when I'd like to be settling down and locking into a solid job. Thanks guys. Will-Gimme a call sometime soon. It'd be sick to chill.
good decision. Make some money, see alot of places, get college paid for and find direction, or heck, stay in get your 20 or more and get pension and healthcare.
ROTC=college "paid for". It also means you enter as an officer, etc. Thats four years I want to spend in the service, before getting out at an age where I can start my civilian life. B1Bone, I guess I already listed my questions above, but mainly I'm interested in what occupations you've been in, when you started your service/ended (why you joined, why you left), where you were deployed, where you were based on home turf, etc. Just trying to get some more knowledge about what everyone else in the service is doing, and who I'll be working with.
I've been a student, instructor pilot and pilot I graduated college/rotc in 2003 to fly, bank, travel, health care, retirement, to serve etc. been to the sandbox, afganistan, diego garcia, and germany. Haven't had a 'real' deployment longer than 2 months. Started at Langley, then to whiting then to dyess and now ellsworth.
Awesome. Exactly the response I'm looking for. I just want a better knowledge of the people I will be serving with. -Thanks
I was in ROTC...army in the 80's. College wasnt paid for than. My comment is in regards to the GI Bill once you get out.
College with AFROTC is NOT paid for either. You have to be awarded a scholarship which are fairly competitive.
Good for you man! My uncle was in the airforce for ~25 years IIRC he was enlisted (chief master sergant is the top for enlisted IIRC) and he just got out a few years ago, they wanted to keep him in as the war was just starting. lets see what i can remember about his stations. he was in CA for awhile then germany, followed by NY and some other east coast states. i am sure there are ons of other places which i dont remember. he ended up in grand forks ND. The base up in ND is a nice place. but the weather is horrible. he was a boom operator in a KC-130, refueling plane. He has some sweet pictures from teh gulf war while refueling planes. a few years ago they did that big publicity thing where they brought a bunch of media people up to see a B2 stealth bomber refueled over nebrasksa, my uncle was the operator on that one. when he got out the service paid for his education (4yr comp sci) and he gets a nice pension. overall i think you will enjoy it, it is definately a solid choice. good luck man
Stay motivated and focused on your objective, boot camp and the current situation will be tough...............WHOOO RAAAAA! -Jack
airforce "boot camp" being "tough"? :roll: :roll: :roll: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Don't they still use bicycles for their physical training?
that sucks. I remember when I went through basic training at ft. knox kentucky, they closed off one of the hills that our company was going to road march up. Reason being, a tank lost control, rolled backwards and nearly took out an entire company of privates. That also reminds me, during the bayonet training, a private threw his weapon up in the air by mistake because he was trying to get over this fixed wall and when his weapon came back down, the bayonet ended up stabbing his hand into the top of the wall. Sad thing was he was half way done with basic but after he recovered he would have to start fresh with new privates.
I've heard that basic isnt easy, regardless of branch. I have a buddy just out of marine boot, and I am glad that I didnt choose to weather that training. You have to really want to be a Marine to fight your way through the psychological stuff in their training system. I'm in pretty solid physical shape, 6', 165 lbs, etc. I install docks on lake minnetonka four days a week, lifting pipe/sections and the sorts. I lift every other day, (bench 12 reps of 200#s flat, although that number is pointless) and can run 1 mile flat out, and four at a steady pace. From the people I've spoken with if I just keep up on my running and endurance training, I'll be more than ready for the physical aspect. I just have to get geared up to deal with the mental stuff, which apparently isnt as easy as people make it out to be. Bikes in boot? I hope not! I really want boot to be difficult. I'm looking forward to it as a challenge, an experience, and to leaving it with a feeling of accomplishment. I want to be forced to beat my current "thresholds" of ability, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
Good luck man! My nephew went to the air force but didn't make it through the boot camp. He had really bad asma down there in Texas. He told me the food was awsome but you can't eat it. lol He packed a ton of food for breakfeast and when he sat down the drill sergent came over and told him he only had 1 bite and for him to get his sorry as* outside and run again!! lol
whats everybody's strategy for worming more money out of their recruiting officer for their enlistment bonus. I've got around 5 months to negotiate, so I'm open to suggestions. My goal is to take my bonus, sell my bike and Jeep, and buy a sooby after I'm done with basic. That'll give me something fun to tool around the base and local area with.
Hey man Air Force is cool. Look I got to be stationed in Germany, and I love it here. I get to travel all over Europe and I get to race my car on the Nurburgring. Basic was not that hard at all, as far as I was concerned, I actually had fun there. There are no bikes anymore, the air force got rid of that years ago, now it is all running now. As far as getting a car after basic it all depends on what job you do. I am an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Tech, so my tech school was 1yr long, so I could drive in Tech school. If you have a really short tech school they won't let you get a car untill you get to your first duty station, no big deal though. Deployments are all based on your job also, I disarm IED's so EOD guys are deployed all the time. I was just in Baghdad for 6 months, and I will be deploying again probably in October. That is just my job though, most only deploy every 15-24 months. I think you already saw this as you aksed me ??'s about the Air Force but here is a link again to a vid I made..... http://mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14988
