Miltary experiences

I am thinking of joining the Air Force I would like for everyone to share their experiences in the military and give me advise on what I should do and be prepared for. I would really love the opportunity to chat.

I have several friends in the military. I think it is a great thing but you should make sure you are going in for the best of reasons. It is a very serious commitment-- it's not a 9-5 job where you can leave "work" at the office. It really does become your life. But if you have the commitment and true desire to devote yourself to it, then good for you!

Wait a second...

I thought you said you were thinking of joining the military... Then you bring up the Air Force... What gives?

Seriously, you might as well join the Coast Guard.

Best of luck.

Flamed Monkeys, not just for intra-service rivalries anymore...

[edit on 26/6/2007 by Mirthful Me]

LOL, pay not heed to Mirthful. The Air Force is the best branch of the military to join, trust me. My husband is in the air force and we live on Barksdale AFB. Hmm....if you have a problem with authority DO NOT join the military. If you dont like being told what to do you wil be very frustrated with your enlistment. Also dont have any illusions of NOT being deployed. The air force has changed alot, and many people are being deployed. Also try to get into a career feild before you join, try not to go open general. Your in for a huge wakeup call in basic, be prepared. Do lots of exercising beforehand so your ready for it. They will also play lots of mind games with you in basic training, you will beleive you will be deployed and die. Trust me. Im letting you know so you KNOW it is a mind game. Ask me anything, I know a lot about the military and the air force.

Thanks I figure it will be mentally challenging and physical I also played college basketball which is all mind games your first year there. do you think it will be anything of that nature. Lots of running yelling never getting anything right type of stuff

It is a lot like that. Try not to take anything personally and do your best not to let your squad down. No one likes having to kiss the pavement because one person in their squad blew it! Expect to make mistakes though. Why do you want to join the military?

I agree with nisurastar, I'm currently in the Air Force, and I work closely with guys from the other branches and they admit that the Air Force is by far the best branch of the military when it comes to quality of life, treatment of the airmen and military life. If your single you will live in dorms that are the best that any branch could provide, some of the guys from the other services that live in quaters are perplex when they get here and see the quaters, facilities etc. Especially those that have been to other bases before. When it comes to military life, we do excersises 3 times a week if you have a regular schedule(Mon to Fri), but is nothing like the Army or Marines that they do crazy excersises every day!.

When it comes to deployments, we deploy for 4 monts(although thats changing depending of your job), while the Army now deploys for 15 months, Marines I think go for 9 months.

Basic training I believe is now 9 weeks long (it was 6 when I went to mine), but is nothing big to worry about, just follow intructions, pay attention to detail, and dont forget your reporting statement and you will be fine. Just remember its all a big game, theres nothing crazy about AF basic training, you wake up early, do a lot of in-processing stuff, march, run, do some push ups or floater kicks if anybody screws up and eat your food fast, thats about it. Theres also the week that you go out to the field for CST (Combat Skill Training), no biggie.

The big advantage that the Army and Marines have now are the bonuses that they offering to recruit people. And the reenlistment bonuses are even better. The AF right now only offers reenlisment bonus to about 5 -10 specialties out of almost 300. The Army and Marines offer them to almost for every one.

If I where you ask your recruiter straight up questions, thats what I did and I got what I wanted with no regrets. There is a lot of jobes in the AF that are hard though so you better choose wisely depending what you want to do.

Good luck!

[edit on 26-6-2007 by Bunch]

[edit on 26-6-2007 by Bunch]

wow thanks for the information well its kind of wierd im only 21 and i have played basketball my whole life i still have little chance of going pro but i just knw how lucky u have to be its really hard to get there im just used to structure i would not mind serving my country why did u join

Originally posted by Mirthful Me
I thought you said you were thinking of joining the military... Then you bring up the Air Force... What gives?

Seriously, you might as well join the Coast Guard.

Best of luck.

That is just wrong. :shk:


Yes, the Air Force is the best branch to join. Like Bunch said, make sure you are completely sure this is what you want to do for the next 4-6 years.

Remember that recruiters lie. Any questions you have, ask them here for a second opinion. I joined because I couldn't find work in my area(other than temp work). Also, I wanted to be able to provide for my family. I have been in the Air Force for the past 4 1/2 years. I am sure I will re-enlist, because I love my job.


Like nisurastar said, make sure you pick your job before you go to basic, otherwise you will get whatever job is in high demand at that time. One of the kids in my flight signed up open general, and became a plumber!


[edit on 27/6/07 by secret titan]

I assume by your age and the fact that you played basketball that you have some kind of college education of sorts, kind of like the same situation that I found myself when I joined, the reason why I didn't became an officer at the time I joined was because I didn't took ROTC traning, I sign up as enlisted hoping that once I was in, I could become one but the process is tedious, selective and the chances right now of getting a comission from enlisted to officer is very slim, unless you are in a critical specialty and still the percentage of getting it dont increase that much,that I decided just to finish my enlistment and concentrate on other things.

Back to your question, I join because of 9/11, I always wanted it to serve my country, but since I had my degree I was going trough my options but 9-11 finally made me realize that I want it to do it. I sign up in 2005 for a 4 year enlisment, the AF paid for my Masters (not entirely but almost) and now that I'm at my end of my enlistment I have more options on what I want to do.

Like I said before make sure you know what you want to do, and that they explain the job to you, and ask around, ask here tell your recruiter to take you to the nearest base so you can see first hand the living conditions,etc.

Good Luck!

[edit on 27-6-2007 by Bunch]

Thanks Im really into computers and electronics, but I was almost done getting my degree in marketing. What jobs do they have with marketing. I also have a wife and son how will that affect me?

The only thing is going to affect is your way of living, if you going enlisted you are going to be send to basic training and then to tech school after that, that depends if your are active, reserve or national guard, but if your are joining as an active duty member,you are going to tech school (technical school where you learn your job) for the time is schedule. There is not an exact time for tech school in terms how long it can be, mine was 11 weeks long, so I was not allowed to bring any dependants, but if your tech school is more than 21 weeks long you are allowed to bring your family with you after a period of time that I believe is that 21 weeks time frame (somebody can correct me if I'm wrong).

After you are finish with the schooling you are going to get orders to you first station or base(if you are not guard or reserve) and when you get there, if the base has Base Housing which is living quaters for people with dependants ( I live in one of those), you can apply for one, but if they don't have one or you choose not to live in one of those you will leave in an apartment or house of your choosing depending of course in your income and stuff like that. Be mindful that even though you have options to choose for in regards to your first station, the military will send you wherever you are need it and thats something that recruiters sometimes fail to tell you. My personal experience was that when they gave me the option sheet, it had 8 places that you could list as places that you want it to go, I of course wrote it down in order of preferences, option number 8 was why I got, and I was lucky some people end up in crazy places that are hard to get out. (like Minot AFB, North Dakota, just ask your recruiter about that place, is an Air Force legend)

If you have any other questions feel free to ask, I understand and want to remind you that this is not an easy decision, it wasn't for me or many other people, so the more I can help you clearing your doubts the better I will feel.

Good Luck!

[edit on 28-6-2007 by Bunch]

Sorry the I forgot to answer the question pertaining your particular job interest, Im going to try to answer it to the best of my knowledge.

That I know of the AF does not have a particular AFSC that deals with marketing issues, in my opinion the job that could come close to that will be Public Affairs. They are the ones that try to sell the Air Force to everybody around them, the community, comercial entities or industries that surround the area or to even the military brass itself. Thats all they do and its not a hectic job at all, in fact I have a buddy that does that and he loves it.

Good Luck!

During the time I am in tech school do they help me provide living for my family which would be back home. Yea your not it is not easy decision I just want to do what is best for the family. Also what does your credit score have to do with the AirForce.

Originally posted by Mrknighttime32
During the time I am in tech school do they help me provide living for my family which would be back home. Yea your not it is not easy decision I just want to do what is best for the family. Also what does your credit score have to do with the AirForce.

do not expect them to provide housing for your family. You will not get an allowance for your family, only your spouse if you are married. They will have to provide their own money.

your credit score doesnt matter when applying to join.

Let me clarify something, IF you are married now, when you join in, you will receive an allowance called Separation Pay, that money is intended for you to spend for your family and it will cover you for the time you are separated from them. If you pay an apartment now and the utilities there's another allowance BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) but I'm not sure that you will get that during basic training, you might start receiving it at Tech School if it is more that 21 weeks long because they will allow you to move your family with you.

The credit score situation is very simple. When I enlisted(I dont know if the rules have changed), they will not let you join in with any unpaid traffic tickets, fines and the like. They wil check your CREDIT REPORT not your credit score (they are two different things), for any unpaid debts that you have. There are many reasons behind this but the main ones are to see if you are in any financial hardship that will prevent you from concentrating in the mission, and the fact that if you are going to sensitive job the Air Force will consider you a risk for acts like treason and the like, I know it sounds stupid but thats their rationale.

They will still let you join (but they will make sure that you have talked to your creditors and have establish a payment plan with them), I had problems with my credit when I joined, but then your options for jobs become limited to the ones that do not require something like a Top Secret clearance or anything above that. Like I said thats whats I the time I joined that it was almost 4 years ago, things might have change I dont know. What I do know is that even if you are in the AF already and you change jobs from a non-sensitive to a sensitive one, you still are going to be submitted to backgrounds checks, so is not like is something that they do only to new recruits.

Good Luck!! If you have any more question, keep asking!

[edit on 28-6-2007 by Bunch]

oo ok seems like alot of stuff but you guys are helping alot. The only thing that is really making go back and forth is that will I really have time to finish school and will I always be away from my family

You may not have time for the first year or two when you enlist, but you will have time after that. Also, depending on your job, you should have plenty of time with your family. If your Tech school is long enough the Air Force will pay for her to move to the base you are on. Also, you will recieve BAH while you are in Basic Training for whatever area you live in now which you should be able to find here.

The reason you won't have much time for school your first year or two is because they won't let you take classes during tech school, or when you are doing your CDC's (depending on your job can take a while). You can't use your G.I. Bill until your two year mark anyway.

I'm not sure about this thread, the title seems awfully misleading. Allow me to introduce some actual military experience to the discussion. If one is inclined to serve this great nation by fulfilling what in the Major's mind is an obligation, Army infantry is the only way to do it! Nothing endears the body and soul to one's country like getting up at Oh dark thirty for an extended march and live fire exercise. While the Major is well aware of the tactical and strategic benefits of the application of air superiority in theatre, it by no means implies that it is a suitable calling for our patriotic youth.

Dismissed.

Dont you need air power just as much or not more then ground