Question for any and all who have served in the Air Force

[Tex32Cal]

1965-69. Worked as a munitions maintainance specialist, mostly on the M61A1 Gatlin gun. Stationed at Ubon, Thailand; Tucson, Arizona; Sherman, Texas; Tampa, Florida, and Denver, Colorado. I saw parts of the world that I would never have seen if I had not been in the military, but my job training didn't carry over into civilian life at all.

Michael

[Hanzerik]

I have held a number of different jobs in the Air Force, most of them have been enjoyable.

1989-1992 I was a Carpenter/Mason stationed at Nellis AFB, NV with the 820th RED HORSE (Air Force version of the Navy CBs). After Desert Storm I, we had an over-manning in our carrier field so I cross-trained into aircraft maintenance. First airframe was B-52G/H model bombers, stationed up at Ellsworth AFB, SD with the 99th CAMS, where I worked on the Communication and Navigation System. That ended in 95 when the unit was disbanded to the other B-52 bases. I went overseas for 3 years in the UK working on MH-53J PAVELOW III helicopters in the 352nd Special Operations Group. Same thing; avionics.

Came back stateside in 98 to McGuire AFB, NJ. This begins the changing point in my carrier. At the time I was still technically an aircraft maintainer, but the job I was assigned to was way out of my carrier field. See, back in the day, Air Mobility Command used comm/nav folks as part of their deployed command and control function. The position I was put in was called TALCE COMM/AGE; Tanker Airlift Control Element Communication, Aerospace Ground Equipment. Now we didn't do much with "Aircraft" ground equipment, we dealt with mostly tactical generators. Our job was to deploy to locations where AMC and the Air Force did not have a presence and setup a minimal command and control system for receiving, unloading, loading, and launching cargo/tanker aircraft. I was the guy who setup all of the communication systems; computer networks, satellite phones, satellite radios, voice and data comm systems. We did everything from contingency operations, to humanitarian relief operations. All of those airfields in Afghanistan and Iraq were opened by TALCE folks; the Army would go in and secure the area, a plane with the TALCE folks would land, and usually within a few hours and a phone call later AMC would start the other aircraft on their way into the airfield. The mission I will always remember the most would be Task Force Hawk/Shining Hope in Tirana Albania, we started to receive aircraft about 4 hours after we got there, and they didn't slow down for 30 days. Two birds every hour or so for 30 days is a lot of cargo.

In 2001 I was TDY(My Last Overseas Trip) to Goteburg Sweden for a presidential support mission when I got approval to PCA over to Fort Dix to the Air Mobility Warfare Center to teach a Deployable Communications system. Went to academic instructor school down at Maxwell AFB in AL on the 9th of September. First day of class was a bust due to broken air conditioners in the classrooms (AL Summer and no AC = the suckage). Well as you can guess 9/11 happened the next day but we were told to stay in place and complete the course. Well a month later I came back and was all ready to start teaching, but AMC had canceled my course due to no students (All were deployed to the "Stan" countries). So I started teaching other TALCE comm course. In 2002 I was asked to head up the integration of a communications shelter into another AMWC course "Phoenix Readiness". PR was what some folks in the Air Force would call Air Base Ground Defense but on a huge scale. We taught everything from Convoy Operations and Field Sanitation/hygiene to Foreign weapons Familarization. It was fun while it lasted though, in 2003 we taught our last PR course and brought a larger non-academic field exercise online called Eagle Flag. Eagle Flag is designed to evaluate the folks who will deploy in the upcoming Air Expeditionary Force rotations. We would watch and evaluate them during this exercise to see how they perform their duties in a deployed environment. We created different scenarios to do this; force protection, crisis management, host nation relations, etc, etc. It was fun but got pretty old real fast.

In 2006 I had had enough of NJ as I could take and volunteered to be a Missile Alert Facility Manager out in Wyoming. Got approved within a week, also got in before the whole state to state PCS freeze they implemented for most folks. So here I am stationed in wonderful Wyoming babysitting some cops and crew members out in Nebraska. Its not a glamorous job, but IMO is a great job, Where else do you work approximately 12-16 days a month and have all the others off to do what ever you feel like. And Wyoming has a lot to do if you like the outdoors and shooting sports.

So I just hit 19yrs on the 12th and have yet to decide whether I'm going to keep going or get out at 20. It has been fun and I have meet some great people and seen and done things that most folks will never get to. But I think I will go to the end of my current enlistment which will put me at 23 yrs, I think that should be a good end to a decent carrier in the Military. Plus my wife of 18 years would be happy to have her husband all to herself.

Sorry for the long post.

[Snotrules]

I know you said you wanted guys with 4 or more years, but I've been in for a little more than a year now. I was in your shoes about 2 years ago. I was working at a company that builds generators and getting sick of it, I have wanted to serve since I was 17 or so, but didn't for whatever reason. Joining the Air Force was the second best decision I've made in my life...first was to marry my wife. I got a job working on generators in the Air Force. Overall, I'm happy with the way I've been treated by them.

My recruiter was really honest, but that doesn't mean yours won't be a dirtbag. But listen to what he says, and listen carefully. I had a guy in the room with me once when I was at the recruiter's office while we were talking about the places we could go, and the recruiter said something like "we have bases all over the world, you could go to germany, japan, italy...we have a ton of bases in cool places stateside too, we have a couple in california and a couple in florida, we even have one right outside las vegas" The phone rang and the recruiter answered the phone, the guy next to me turns to me with excitment and says "did you hear that? I get to go to las vegas!!"

Just make sure you're listening to what the recruiter says, and not what you want to hear.

If you have any questions, research it on the net or feel free to ask us. If you have questions about basic, I can answer them, but they just changed to a longer BMT so I don't know what they changed.

[ColoXD_Fan]

Originally Posted by Hanzerik

Sorry for the long post.

Feel sorry for nothing. You're story was amazing to read and hear of all you've done! Thats what I wanna hear. All the fun places you've been and jobs you've worked. Thanks a ton to all who continue to post there experiences as they discover this thread.

[Snotrules]

Oh another thing, I'm at Ellsworth AFB and I love it. If you like outdoors, it is an awesome base...if you like clubbing and enjoy big city life and all that gay stuff, you'll hate it.

[Dave Starr]

It's what you make of it. If you can get a field you like, and if the officers & NCO's you work for aren't jerks, it's great.

[Black Bullitt]

April will be the 4 year mark for me. I'm currently on my second deployment. I work as a 3C0X1. I have worked at a help desk to working on a server farm floor to being a system administrator. 4 years is a good way to go just starting out, because you can get out sooner than the guy that signed up for 6 if you don't like it or you are 2 years closer to a reenlistment bonus if you decide to stay in (if the career field has one). My recruiter gave me this same advice. I have since reenlisted since I received my CJR to reserve my position as a 3C0X1. We are overmanned in this career field currently, but it's a good one to be in if you want to learn about computers and networks. This job is excellent for individuals that decide that the military isn't for them and get out. Very good paying jobs on the outside. A lot of the military depends on your attitude and the leadership above you and the base you are stationed at. For instance I've been sucked into the black hole I like to call Langley. The area has plenty of things to occupy your time and is very enjoyable. Some downsides are that Langley is headquarters for all ACC (Air Combat Command) bases, so you have a lot of brass around and everything seems to be an emergency. I enjoyed my time at first due partly to the leadership, but it seems that has taken a turn for the worst IMO. I'm at that point where it's time to move and enjoy a change of pace, command, and scenery. Unfortunately PCSing has become a little more difficult or maybe it's just me. I have met good people at this base and have seen some leave I hate to see leave, but you will keep in touch with them and you won't forget the good times you had. I have made friends stationed from all over the place...Germany, Italy, Belgum, Washington, Ohio, Japan, Colorado, California...It's amazing the life experiences you will encounter if you join.

Things to remember in your decision making:
1. Do not go open general!!!
2. Pick several jobs that look interesting and research the crap out of them.
3. Pick a job and stick with it. If your recruiter takes you to MEPS and they do not have that job open tell them you will come back when it's open. Do not settle for anything less than what you want. I did the same thing and if your recruiter is as good as mine he will get you to the MEPS center on the day of the job drop and you are almost garaunteed to get your job.

My biggest regret is that I didn't join earlier than when I did. I joined at 24 and being a lower ranking individual is a bit hard to swallow at times, because I'm older than most Staff Sergeants from the get go, but they out rank me and I have to deal with it. So, my suggestion is join at a younger age. At 18 you can retire at 38 and still be young enough to pick up another job and make two retirements and enjoy life with no worries later on. If you decide to join don't blow your money. Invest as much as you can stand to invest...you will thank yourself later. I'm sure I've carried on enough, but if you have more questions post away and I'm sure everyone will get you an answer.

[TacXD9er]

I really can't add anything for today's military recruits, since my AF service time was from 1968-72. My understanding now is it's an entirely different game. More choices, quicker rise in rank, etc. Aside from Uncle Sam giving me the shaft with a tour to isolated, frozen Labrador, I'm proud of my military service to America. SAC rules! B-52's! One thing I'm sure has not changed, learn and learn more from your superiors. If unhappy, look into crosstraining into another AFSC. Aim High!

[havoc1]

Wow, I'm a bit late to the party, but figured I'd butt in anyway. I spent 6.5 years in the AF as a comm and info officer (33S3). I came in back in May 2000 with a degree in telecom engineering and the intent to forsake comm and go into combat control, but the AF was having none of that. Along the way, there were holds on people getting out of my career field, and PCS retainability issues that kept me there. Eventually, I came to the realization that I was wasn't happy with what I was doing because there wasn't enough challenge to it. So, about 18 months ago, I dropped a Blue to Green package. And so I sit here at Fort Benning, home of the Infantry, having completed the Infantry advanced course for captains, combatives level III, Airborne, and the first two phases of Ranger school. With the last phase complete after Christmas, I'll head up to Ft Bragg with 3rd Bde, 82nd Abn. Life begins anew.

With a Korean wife, I was happy to be in Korea so much. My first station was Osan, followed by just under two years at Hurlburt Field in Fort Walton Beach, FL, followed by another tour at Osan and then 2.5 years at Camp Humphreys just south of there.
However, I've been to a LOT of AF bases, and I'll tell you one thing: generally, they're a lot nicer than those of their sister services, no matter what country you're in.

So, that said...you get from it what you put into it. I hated comm--had no interest in it whatsoever--but I love working with people. The leadership aspect of my job was what I keyed on, and that was the most rewarding part of my time in the AF. My stint as a flight commander at Camp Humphreys was simply awesome--best experience of my life. I owned a huge fleet of tactical vehicles, an armory, and had guys from a dozen AFSCs working for me: everything from mechanics to cops to CBRNE to comm and electronics mx to power production and HVAC, etc. I ran a deployment/mobility school and had basically a platoon of OPFOR that I farmed out to units all over the country. If we'd been deployable off the peninsula, it would have been the greatest job in the AF as far as I'm concerned. And a lot of that was due to the work I put into it. I was our liaison with Korean units and sister service units all over the Pacific. I ran my own show a lot of the time because my leadership saw that I knew what I was doing and it was working. It was awesome!

As far as comparison or what the AF is like? There's going to be plenty of guys who hated it, guys who loved it, and guys in the middle like me. I detested the corporate business-as-usual mindset that I encountered most of the time. There were times and places where I could have sworn I was working in the civilian sector because the fact we're at war just didn't seem to register. That's where my greatest point of friction always was, because my priority always was, "How would we do this if we were in the fight?" That didn't always register with my colleagues. I was an extremist! Apparently, I was doing something right though, as I was the CGO recipient of the Lance P. Sijan award for leadership for 7 AF back in 2005. So I'm not a nut after all. My troops generally LOVED it--there's probably a hundred out there who keep in touch--but I was considered a bit of extremist by most who encountered me. (An AF captain who fights in boxing smokers, occasionally carries the 60 for OPFOR during FTXs, and teaches his Airmen BJJ and MMA?! OMFG!!!)

Best advice is to work with your recruiter and such to put you in the career field you want. If you want to get in the fight, ask for pararescue, combat control, TACP, or something like that. If you want money for college and the "safe bet" then there's plenty of places to go as well. Just remember, as others pointed out, half of getting hired as a civilian isn't necessarily your skill sets (unless you're going for a really technical job). It's the intangibles: the leadership and character traits you develop along the way. It's confidence, poise, and a willingness to support the chain of command (up and down) that most marks you as an asset to an organization. After that, you'll get looked at for whether you can program a switch, disassemble an engine, insert a chest tube, etc.

Go for it!

[Verk]

I went into the Air Force in 1972. I spent two tours in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) assigned to B-52Ds & KC135s. This was during the cold war and we had nuclear armed B-52s on alert 24/7. Anyone who was in the Air Force, particularly in SAC, understands there was a sense of purpose during that time frame when you never knew when the claxton went off if it was the real thing or not.

For the most part, I enjoyed my time in the Air Force. My skills and experience enabled me move into the civilian Defense contracting arena which has been a very good career that has paid well. Like anything in life, it is what you make it. I'd do it all over again.