Air Force People would like some info.

[kickinindian]

i dont plan on making this a career just yet, if i do plan on it after my first enlistment i could finish my Bachelors Degree and commission to become an Officer anyway right? and if not i will still finish my bachelors and have some work Exp. anyway from being in the Air Force, i understand why its way better to go in as an officer (more pay right off, better everything else as well) but the GI bill will help pay for college without having having to get into Debt (also Enlisting clears $10,000 of federal loans right? i have $6000 in loans at the moment)

Plus i also Wanna GTFO of here:arrow:

[LBJefferies]

i dont plan on making this a career just yet, if i do plan on it after my first enlistment i could finish my Bachelors Degree and commission to become an Officer anyway right? and if not i will still finish my bachelors and have some work Exp. anyway from being in the Air Force, i understand why its way better to go in as an officer (more pay right off, better everything else as well) but the GI bill will help pay for college without having having to get into Debt (also Enlisting clears $10,000 of federal loans right? i have $6000 in loans at the moment)

Plus i also Wanna GTFO of here:arrow:

You can choose between loan repayment, and tuition assistance, but you don't get both. You get the GI Bill no matter what.

[kickinindian]

yea thats fine but dosent the GI bill pay for tuition anyway?

[SpeicherBimmer]

GBill, which is now the Post-911 Bill, does pay for tuition and a monthly housing allowance. Look, the AF is great in a lot of ways and it really sucks i a lot of ways. If you are ready and willing to give up the next 4-6 years of your life to the government then go ahead. But you will belong to them. You are on duty 24/7/365, period. If you're AMXS or even CMS you can be called in at a moments notice.At anytime. I got to work and some days it's great, other days I worked a 14 hour shift and am covered in jet fuel and 7808 with one meal in me. I really can't stress enough to go to school. Find a way to make it work, get a job and go part time if you have to.The difference between enlisted and officer is HUGE in every respect. I forgot who said, but it's true that if you can't make going to school work then you probably won't be a good commander of anything. While I don't regret joining I know that my life would be overall better right now had I finished school.

Guess I will have to get all First Sergeant on you for a minute....

Lets say you get married and she sticks around ( military life is HARD on new marriages, especially young new marriages), you get out after four years to go to school. Sure, school is paid for, but how are you going to support you, your wife, and probably a child by then? You still won't have regular income, will have doubled if not tippled your living expenses, and will be going to school trying to be a husband and father at the same time. So you say you'll get a job then with your new AF experience...great, you're in the exact same boat as if you just stayed in school in the first place but now have more expenses, bills, and less time. You will be making life much harder on yourself and your family. Enlisting now will just delay the problem for 4-6 years and add interest in the form of misery. Trust me, I have put myself in that very same situation and am kicking myself. It has put immense strain on my marriage and I don't know if it will last much longer. She even has a Bachelor's degree, working on an MBA and still can't find a job. You think it will be easy to support yourself after you get out with just military experience and no marketable skills? Get real. Suck it up, grow up, and stay in school. I wishI had someone telling me this stuff when I joined. Benefit from the experienced advice you are getting on here.

[SpeicherBimmer]

Also, I don't know what your fitness level is like, but get on it. You need to be running 1.5 miles in at most 12 mins and be able to knock out 60 pushups/situps in a minute to be safe. I had a huge time trying to get my run times down and to be honest I still have issues running because of my knee. Just another thing to keep in mind.

[RondoAcapriccio]

My bro posted earlier, enlistEd is not bad if you play your cards right, get a flying job trust me, im a maintainer and depending, on your jobs manning and how busy the base is life can suck. would post more but on phone.

[Eric]

You can choose between loan repayment, and tuition assistance, but you don't get both. You get the GI Bill no matter what.

incorrect, you can choose between loan repayment and GI bill.

[Albuquerque30]

Best decision I've made. I went in enlisted and like it that way. I haven't really thought about getting a commission. There's some much information for you to search for, a lot that's been posted here. Just don't go to a recruiter blind, because they will screw you.

id say go ahead and join the af. i was right about where you were when i dropped outta college and joined. its not bad gig for a 22yo such as myself lol. also college is really being encouraged within the enlisted force recently. i know numerous people that have finished their degrees while on active duty. some have even obtained their masters. they are really making a push for everyone to at least have their AA degree. i see this becoming mandatory in the future to make certain ranks. a little heads up if/when you go to choose a job, DO NOT choose security forces or anything on the flightline. YOU WILL GET SHITTED ON. The military is just like high school.

Hey hey hey, I'm on the flightline and love it. Granted, it's not for everyone, but the flightline's a place where ranks go out the window and experience and skill are what counts. As it should be. What's said is partly true. If you don't know your shit, or aren't trying to learn, you will get shit on.

It's not too hard to get your degree after you enlisted. Especially for someone like you that already has credits and can CLEP out of a lot of classes. (Hell, you might even have enough credits to already have your CCAF)

Just as a note, ATC was my first choice, but I was waiting a year to go to basic and I took a job as a crew chief. Much better than any admin or med job.

Saw this on base today, actually.
Greatest Plane In The Air!

(This is my plane if you can't tell. ;))

[kickinindian]

im going to enlist no matter what now.... my new question is what are some of the better jobs if i cant get ATC dont mind getting foreign deployments just something not as likely to go to the desert( i know its always a possibility, i can deal with it, but usualy the more in demand the less likely to go right?)

[Albuquerque30]

With my job, we don't really deploy all that much, if at all. Your mindset on deployments will change when you get married. Even more so, when you have children. I want to deploy, but it would be really difficult with a wife and three month old.

If you're a mechanic at heart, you'll thrive on the flightline. If you want something a bit more relaxed and a 9-5, find an admin job. I work 6-6 four days a week. 12 hour shifts suck, but three days off in a row are awesome.

Work your recruiter hard. Ask him everything, ask FOR everything. If you have a base near you, see if he/she can take you for a tour anywhere on base. Also, demand bonuses and such. They say there isn't any available, but it's bullsh*t. If they want to make money off of you, they will work to get you a bonus.

I have some more advice, that's just all that I can think of at the moment.

[kickinindian]

well at the moment its just me and My soon to be wife and we would really like to go to Europe as a deployment, i would like to do it before i have kids and stuff and can go travel a bit. what exactly is flight line btw? i mean i read the spec on the website but it does not ever tell you what they really are....

and with the recruiter i am sure im gonna get a pretty good ASVAB score so i plan on getting a Job promise put into my contract and maybe shoot for an enlistment bonus:nice: i am really good at computers, Mechanically inclined, and like to do hands on work (tinkering, painting, welding, etc.) so i want something where i can ether do computer stuff or networking stuff, or the mechanical stuff its just their are so many different jobs that sound similar idk what the worthwhile and non sucky ones are, thats pretty much the only thing im unsure on now.

[Ral]

Something else to consider- if you get a job that has a Top Secret clearance level, that can be worth quite a bit to some companies after you get out. It costs companies something ridiculous to pay for their employees, so if you have it beforehand it's a serious incentive to hire you.

[Albuquerque30]

^^What he said.

There's accompanied and unaccompanied tours, so be cautious about that. The flightline is where all us "maintainers" go to work on aircraft. So basically, where all the planes are parked by the runway, is the flightline. And it's all mechanical. We do roll call in the morning, go check out tool boxes and get on a truck to go out to work on a plane. Sounds pretty boring, but I love that sort of thing.

Get a good overall/balanced score on your ASVAB. That way, you'll have more options to choose from and don't get stuck cooking or wiping off sweaty basketballs. I can't really give you advice on getting a guaranteed job on your contract as the whole process for me happened in four days. Haha.

If you're interested in seeing the flightline or any squadron on base, talk your recruiter. They can sort of work the system and get you a walk-around somewhere. That way, you can kind of see how things work.

[kickinindian]

well i took a practice Asvab online and i got a 99 on my AFQT i know that the math has weighted answers but that cant be too far off right? the only thing i got a little low on was my electronics but that is easy to study up on.

flightline sounds like a pretty okay Gig at least i know if i cant find anything else i want then i know what thats about. also sounds like a job where it can pretty much be at every base too.

i am going to hopefully see the recruiter on Monday i guess one is on leave and the other is pretty busy......

[M-technik-3]

Nice hot 125 degree evening in Djibouti. I will say flying gig is so much better than my other previous career fields in USAF. But it is not the job for having a family and trying to remain married. My marriage crapped out a few years back when i had decided to retire, so I stayed with the mistress.

I do live on the road alot...abroad the last 8 days and have 5 more on this trip. Depends on your lifestyle.