Just joined the US Air Force!
 

I went through MEPS on Monday, passed all the medical bullshit, so I am now enlisted. I have no idea what job I am going to be doing as of yet, but I am on the "quick ship" list, so whenever a slot opens up, my recruiter will be giving me a call and asking if I want that job, if not, I'll know at Basic.

I joined for quite a few reasons, but mainly due to how cheap/free schooling will be while I am enlisted, and how much it helps you out with school when you are done. I also am sick of being around here for now, and want to get away and see some new places and learn some cool shit. Ideally, I want to either do something with propulsion or something with Space/Satellite systems, but I'm not overly picky at this point. I'm excited as hell to leave and get cracking!

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Awesome congrats! Although I'd highly reconsider going in with no specified MOS. From what I've gathered, those who do that typically get the crap jobs that they need to fill. How'd you like to go into the military for 4 years, hoping to get some good free schooling, and then they assign you to be a Cook, or a Bus Driver?

The free schooling is awesome, and take advantage of it. Sign up for a job that you think you'd like to do, and get some good schooling out of it. I went into the Marines and was signed up for Avionics Repair/Technician. Got some real good school, and some real good On The Job experience, which really helped me get out and find decent paying jobs.

So if you want something to do with propulsion/space, well get signed up for it. If you leave it open, and they decide you're job is going to be cleaning rifles at the armory, that just seems like a waste to me.

Good luck though. The military is a great experience, you'll love it. Plus the AF has the hottest chicks usually too :)

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

The Air Force isn't currently allowing you specific jobs before enlisting. I am guaranteed a job in the Electrical Field if I don't get one of the 7 I chose for my top picks, but based on my ASVAB score, I will more than likely get one of my top three job choices.

The worst that could possibly happen is I end up disliking it, and come home in four years with a bachelors degree and quite a bit of money in the bank. Oh noes!

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

That is unless you're over in Japan, partying that money away, and spending your time in class staring at the asian honey's rather than staring at your books ;)

I wouldn't know anything about that tho...


You're going to have fun dude, oh the memories... And the Yellow Fever...


I'm kinda jealous!

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you. Have been thinking of joining the air force for a while now. Just liked how they run things there. It's pretty much a toss up between that, and going into law enforcement here. But could just join the forces and have my law enforcement training paid for.
But good luck, and have some fun.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

I had been throwing the idea around in my mind for years, then all of a sudden I was totally certain that I would end up regretting it if I didn't join. It's only four years (well, active duty anyways), and if I do end up enjoying it, I could have retirement after 20 years (42yo), with a masters or even a doctorate degree by that point. I also love the fact that you can change your job if you want to after three or so years!

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Probably a great decision! Thanks :)

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Make sure it's what you REALLY want to do before doing anything haha. My buddy joined the marines and just finished basic training and he was pretty gung-ho about leaving here and doing that and now that he is back from basic training, he is trying to get out of there and tells me he made a big mistake.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Hahahaha, Marines are a tad different than the Air Force. Im pretty sure Halon will agree to that one.

I think you made a great choice in going in the Air Force. But I'm with Halon too on the no MOS thing before shipping. Ive seen a lot of people get effed because of that. You REALLY dont want to be pissed about your job when your stuck in it for the next 4 years with no options, until your able to transfer MOS fields, and that's if there are slots, and your command will even let you.

But with that said, congrats man. You made a good choice.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

i'm sorry.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

I have talked to quite a few Marines, and almost all of them have said they wished they chose a different branch. Marines are WAYYYYY too fucking Military for me. I would love to go through Marine bootcamp though! Tough as hell, but you get so much god damned combat training!

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Ahhh, yeah, combat training.... Its a good feeling to know you can put rounds on target at 500yds accurately...... Kinda makes those redneck stories of shooting a deer at 150yds with a scope seem stupid.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

I agree that a majority of the Marines are a little over the edge. Fortunately I was in an MOS where you had to be somewhat intelligent, and we called each other by our first names (which is a big no-no to the hoorah hard core type). Made my experience a great one. If I had an MOS where I was surrounded by mo-tards, my experience would have been different I'm sure. So don't group all Marines into one category, there were a few, of "the few", that didn't eat and breath the Hoorah lifestyle.

Good luck though man. It's all in what you make of it. You'll have some opportunities that are damn near endless, and get to see things others typically never get to see. You'll have a blast!!

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

I think my head LITERALLY just exploded at this statement..... I didnt even think the wingers did that.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

I was a Winger, in an Air Traffic Control detachment. We were pretty much on our own. The 35 or so of us in our detachment, were pretty tight knit and really never had much to do with the rest of our Squadron. It was pretty nice!

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Man, im in the Air Force now. You had better pick a job you want to do or you WILL be a cop. The AF is not what it used to be. We are more books and regulations then we are "military". Dont get me wrong, I love the air force, but think about what job you want to do. The whole "I am guaranteed" thing, just let that go as it is so not true. Good luck with it.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

that doesnt sound too bad to me

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Cops where im at work 16 hour days with 3 days off, one of those days is for training. It doesnt look like much fun.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Gratz Man and good luck! Hopefully you wont get dicked with some stupid job. I hope the Air froce is better off then the navy right.. We are broke. Ha

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Welcome! Have fun being Security Forces, If you want any information, just ask!

< AFN Radio DJ, Lajes Air Base, Azores, Portugal

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

If you can, be a Loadmaster. You'll be able to see the whole world, literally from the South Pole to the North Pole and every place in between.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

I am trying to get a guaranteed spot in EOD. (bomb squad)

Believe me, I'm not an idiot, I won't be signing my actual enlistment contract unless I am happy with what is written on it. I am still in "Delayed Enlistment" and could back out at any time if I wanted to.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Not a lot of reserve/nat guard billets for EOD.

There are piles of Loadmaster billets though. I have a friend who spent 18 years active and has been in the Reserves at Saint Paul for the last 10. He's travelling just as much now as he did when he was 'full time'.

He might retire in a few years but his afsc is in stop loss (just like everyone else) so even at 45 yo it looks like he will be able to stay in as long as he wants to.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

I'm going Active Duty.

Loadmaster is too damn boring/not technical enough for my liking anyways. I'll be doing something electrical or trying to defuse bombs and not die.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

If you want technical, be a Nuclear weapons tech.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

If you go nuclear in the military, you are going to have plenty of job opportunities waiting for you in the civilian world, all over the globe, when you get out. Minnesota might be tougher though, as there really isn't a huge nuclear presence here other then my company and 2 plants on the outskirts of the cities.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

I'm not talking about reserve/NG for now, it's for when you eventually get out.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

So not true. This is what I do now, and there is not as many jobs out there that have somethig to do with this. Yes there are some, pay is 6 figures and hard as hell to get, but not a lot.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Explain.

Where do you work and what do you do? How many plants have you been to?

The 20 or so I've been to, there are former military nukes all over the place, and many tell me they were actually recruited by the company right out of the military.

Not to mention our place is pretty much always hiring field service personnel.

I feel lucky to be a part of the industry, as it's one of the few still doing quite well even in this economy.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

While I plan on getting a college degree in physics(or Biophysics), I really don't want to do any of the Nuclear programs.

EOD's have a pretty easy time getting a job when they get out, starting at 65-80k a year it seems. If the AF won't give me EOD, I am probably going to talk to the Army and see if they can get me a guaranteed slot for it. The more I research it, the more it is something I really want to do, as it actually interests the hell out of me. I'm going to talk to my AF recruiter on Monday to see what he says.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

EOD would definately be interesting. I'd bet that all the branches have it.

I only talked to a Marine recruiter. I wish I would have gone to recruiters of all 4 branches before making a decision. Might not hurt to just go talk with someone from each branch before making a decision.

What I can tell you is the AF lives like kings compared to what we had in the Marines. But we had a cooler uniform :D

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

I understand that you can get a job outside the military doing something like this, but not a ton of jobs are open.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Nuclear jobs are more than likely going to become more and more popular in the next decade or two, unless they can get fusion working as a power source.(They are currently constructing/just finishing up one that uses an uber powerful laser)

I am almost dead set on Explosive Ordnance now. If I was in 3x better shape, I would be doing Pararescue no questions asked, but the fitness levels of those guys are ridiculous!

I have talked to Marine, Navy, and AF recruiters already. The Navy scares me, as I think I would want to commit suicide if I got stuck on a boat for over a year (doesn't appeal to me AT ALL), the Marines are way too Military for my easy going ass, the Air Force is starting to seem almost too easy, and they never have any weapons training after basic, which would suck.(and the odds of them giving me the job I want seem to get slimmer and slimmer) I am starting to lean towards ARMY, as they can give me the job I want, and the job itself does a good job of weeding out all the morons (extremely tough schooling). My initial problem with the ARMY was that it seemed like only people with an IQ of like 30 joined, now I am a bit less ignorant.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Depends on the career field for weapons training, I am a radio DJ and have trained on M16, M4, M9 and M24.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Oh don't be fooled, there are still plenty of morons in the Army. Active Duty has a LOT bigger percentage of them compared to NG and Reserve units, it's like the only people that go active army are people that are too stupid to get a real job or really gung ho people, neither of which have any common sense or real life experiences outside of the military.

Wow, a Radio DJ qualified on a sniper rifle? thats crazy, although I was a mechanic and was qualified on the M107 in Iraq.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

Don't confuse IQ with moronic tendancies. I know a lot of IQ 120+ Morons. And a lot of IQ 100 people with more common sense and life skills than you'd find in a lot of people.

But point taken.

Re: Just joined the US Air Force!
 

^^ True, that was something I ran into with a lot of the Commo guys in the army, really book smart but stupiud as fuck common sense wise.