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

[ColoXD_Fan]

I am 21 will be 22 when I make my decision on whether or not to join the air force and do 4 years. My question to those who have already done 4 or made a career out of it. How did you like it overall? What job did you do? Do you feel it carried over well when you came back to the civilian world? (your job experience that is) And where all did you get stationed? I would like to do Germany if it's available. Please don't respond with you should go talk to a recruiter. I feel the info I can get from fellow XD members will be far more useful. I feel the recruiter will push more just trying to get me to sign up then give me straight forward answers. Thanks a lot for any and all info.

[leeindy]

it has its ups and downs. there were points i hated it and points were it was great. im out now well im in guard now but its basically the same thing. it really depends on your temperament and what job you chose. i did fighter jet maintenance which is a lot of long hard hours out side for the same pay as the guy handing out basket balls at the gym. whatever you do dont go in open general or open anything for that matter figure out exactly what you want to do before you talk to the recruiter and dont take anything less.

[GrandPaBob]

I did a tour in 66-70. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything, and nothing could get me to do it again. Back then, your job was more likely to be what they needed at the time, not what you wanted. And then, they needed medics badly. While it certainly was not what I wanted to do, I benefited greatly from the training and from the experience. Even with a tour in Viet Nam, I learned a lot about myself and what I wanted (and didn't want) to do in life.

If you decide to join up, you'll get A LOT out of it. AND, you'll be able to say that you stood up for your country when it needed you. Despite the rhetoric you'll get from the recruiters, it will wind up to be a maturing, stablizing, growth-inducing experience that you'll look back on with gratitude.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

[propellerhead]

I was a "blue suiter" from 86-91. I started out in nuclear cruise missile maintenance and it sucked. At the first change I got, I cross-trained into computer programming and things got much brighter from there. I got out and worked for Boeing, then Lockheed writing software for weapons systems I used to polish. I would recommend it if you can get a guaranteed job that has civilian application. Having a job that has civilian application will go a long way.

[Mrs. CAR-10]

Originally Posted by propellerhead

I was a "blue suiter" from 86-91. I started out in nuclear cruise missile maintenance and it sucked.

My husband served his first 4 years in the same job. He liked the job, and grew up a lot during those years, but realized early on that it had not much use in the civilian world. He did get experience doing just plain old hard work, leadership experience, developed life-long friendships, etc... And that also opened him up to being able to apply to a lot of federal positions only open to veterans/current federal employees and so on. So even if you get a job that isn't very transferable, it's still good basic work experience that looks good on a resume.

He is now a contracting officer, both in the AF Reserve and as a federal civilian employee. He loves it and can get a job pretty much anywhere we want to move, either as a federal employee or in a corporate setting.

My husband spent time stationed in northeast Washington state, Louisiana, and northern California. I didn't know him when he was in Washington or Louisiana, but we got married before he went to Beale AFB, California. It was a complete crap hole. People will try to convince you that they loved their time there, or that it's "2 hours from everything", but don't believe them. It is truly a place to avoid like the plague. I've also been to Patrick, Eglin, Tyndall, Fairchild, Barksdale, Wright-Pat, Davis-Monthan, Maxwell, Travis, and Lackland and liked all of them for the most part. I've heard good things about McChord, although I haven't been there yet.

I don't know much about Germany, we never had the opportunity to go there while active duty. I have heard a lot of good things about Italy. It seemed like the overseas/Europe assignments were hard to get, and a lot of people really wanted them.

Please keep in mind that all of this is from the viewpoint of a spouse.

[cid_ayrbourne]

Carrying over into the civilian world largely depends on what you do, but alot tranlates well.

I, personally, never served (they wouldn't let me and my blown knees in), but am an Air Frcoe brat, and have known many Boys In Blue over the years.

In my father's, case, he signed up to go to Nam. He served with Sky Patrol as a K-9 unit, and, when Sky Patrol was disbanded/redesignated he became a medic, and served as a medic both active and a reservist for 22 years, retiring in '95 as a SMSgt. His time in the service directly translated in the civilian world, using his GI Bill to get a degree in Criminalogy and served as a County Sheriff for 15 years before retiring from the Sheriff's Dept. While working as a reservist and sheriff, he worked as a driver for a volunteer ambilance crew. Obviously, the Air Force served him well in both his civilian roles.

A friend of the family was an F-4 pilot at the end of Nam, and continued flying F-4s as a reservist until the F-4 was retired from service - at which point he also retired a Lt Col. As a reservist, and after retiring, he taught middle school, and was a CFI (Certified Flight Instructor). Obviously, his Air Force training only applied to a portion of his civilian carreer.

[Icey101]

I joined shortly after high school and just hit my 15 year mark last year, all of which has been as a helicopter crew chief. As with several other people I have had my ups and downs. I joined and planned on making a career out of it. But arriving at my first base I really started to dislike it. We tended to work 12 hour shifts, six or seven days a week. Not always because we had work, alot of times there was work for half dozen people, the other thirty for fourty of us were just sitting around or doing busy work. Besides this we deployed or went TDY alot (the joy of a special ops unit).

After doing this for few years I reenlisted (I never got around to doing school as I planned), and was sent to Korea for year. At this point in time I had been married for four years, and over half of it had been away from my wife and the times I wasn't away I was working all the time. I was very unhappy with Air Force and they way I had seen several things working, so I planned on getting out the following year when I got back to the states.

I then arrived at Nellis AFB (Las Vegas, NV) and seen discovered the Air Force wasn't screwed up, just the places I had been were. Here we worked when we had to, not just to say we were working. I almost never had to work a weekend, except for crash recovery support or help upload/download our deploying aircraft. We still had to deploy and do TDYs, but instead of the no notice or week notice...we had sometimes a years notice. Alot of this is do to different missions though, as this was Rescue unit and not Special Operations.

After few years in Vegas, I was sent off to Okinawa. This location was great, but after just over year on island (was supposed to be four+ years) we had to leave to do medical issue for my daughter.

They ended up sending us to Kirtland AFB (albuqerque, NM) where I have spent the last three and half years so far.
As for my job as a helicopter mechanic carrying over to the civil world, there are tons of jobs out there. But a large portion center around the military. For example my current postion is a Quality Assurance inspector that oversees a civilian contractor that performs our aircraft maintenace. But vast majority of the workers are all prior military, either retired or did a few years and got out.

Over all I am happy with the Air Force, there are things over the years I have not been happy. But at the point I am at now there is no turning back. Just try to research the career you are looking towards, and beware even within the same career field your job can change greatly. Alot depends on location, supervision, etc. If you have any questions feel free to ask away.

[UncleSamsMisguidedChild]

I saw where someone had typed in that someone had a job that didn't really translate in the civilian sector, but he took things from the Air Force like leadership skills, hard work, etc. When an employer looks at you man, they're not looking so much at your training or experience, believe it or not. Remember, the US sent a monkey into space before a man. You can train anybody to do anything, it's the untouchable qualities that get you what you want. Training and experience is your foot in the door, sure, but are you dependable? Will you be to work on time, and come in when your're sick? Do what you WANT to do in the airforce, and you'll have those qualities civilian employers are looking for as a byproduct of military service. You gotta do it for YOU, not your future employer. And don't let any recruiter jerk you around, nobody can MAKE you join(unless the draft hits), make that known beforehand, listen to what he has to say when you're ready to hear it, and see if the recruiter can get you what you want. More often than not, they can. I'm on recruiting duty for the Marines, and none of the Marines I have put in have sent me hatemail yet. Just make sure you can handle it first. If you think you can, then sure, go for it. Good luck, man.

Sgt in the USMC

[yocan]

I live with a guy that loaded the planes and balanced them, which makes him a small end manager. He liked it, didn't want to load planes for a career. However he said that they treat the guys amazingly well compared to the other services. (I would argue as of which they don't get as much done, but what do I know)
Semper Fi

[stealthmode]

I'd have to agree w/ most people here that the Air Force has it's pros and cons. However I must say I enjoyed most of it after looking back at it.
Sometimes I think I had more fun in the AF then I do right here at home.

I was stationed out of Seymour Johnson AFB, Goldsboro, NC. It was pretty boring most of the time there only because we were in the corn/wheat fields but I had a blast w/ my friends riding our sportbikes and partying it up when we could. Man I had more fun w/ women there then any where else.
It was like being in college but w/ money!

I was first an Air Traffic controller. I liked that job a lot but man it sure did take a toll on me. It's a demanding and stressing job ya know. So I opted to xtrain into Satellite Communications. That was where the fun began...

Now I got friends for life all over the globe for life. Not just any friends though, real good genuine friends ya know. It's great! I would not trade that experience for the world but like someone else said before I don't think I would do it again. But you never know it all depends on where your based who's your supervisor and what your job is. Btw I got 2 buddies in Germany right now and they love it. It's so much more laxed over there compared to the states.

Anyway Good Luck Kid and if you go Enjoy your time while your there because next thing you know it's gone in a flash and you'll be just like one of us remembering all the good times.