Question For Air Force Families.....

Lounge By Fishercakes Updated 6 Jun 2007 , 7:31pm by mommapaul3

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Fishercakes Posted 5 Jun 2007 , 4:54pm
post #1 of 9

I have a 17 year-old son who is quite smitten with the idea of joining the Air Force.

My question is whether anyone in the our CC Air Force families mite be willing to communicate with my son through email to give him a better account of what really to expect if he should join the Air Force. He is interested in becoming a jet engine technician.

I am just worried that he will not be getting all the right and true information from the recruiters.

Thanks!

Kristina

8 replies
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mbelgard Posted 5 Jun 2007 , 6:45pm
post #2 of 9

I'm an Army brat, my oldest brother was in the Air Force for about 6 years and my sister and her husband have both been in the Air Guard.
Generally speaking they treat their people the best, my father encouraged my brother to go to the Air Force because of this.

A couple basic things to remember when speaking to a recruiter from any branch is the length of commitment, you are active for a certain number of years but after that are in at least the inactive reserves and can be recalled. The total will be 8 years, if your son serves 4 active years then he'll be inactive or active (his choice) for the remaining 4. The other is that what he wants to go into isn't assured unless he has it in writing. If his scores aren't high enough for the field he wants or they're full or just need more people to do other things he could end up in something he doesn't want to do. I had an uncle that was promised he'd get to be an MP and he was put in something else and couldn't do anything about it.

The pay is not good, it sounds like a lot to a high school kid but it really isn't, there are lots of families in the military that qualify for food stamps. If he's single and living in the barracks and isn't throwing money around he'll have plenty since they feed them.

Is he thinking of making it his career or just being in a few years?

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captrick Posted 6 Jun 2007 , 12:22am
post #3 of 9

I spent 5 years AD, my Dad is retired Air Force (was an A-10 Crew Chief), my brother is a Mistle Cylo Commander in the Air Force, and my DH was AD Army for 5 years...so...I guess you could say...I know the in's and the out's...LOL He's more than welcome to email me with any questions.

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Fishercakes Posted 6 Jun 2007 , 1:17pm
post #4 of 9

Thank you for your responses.

I believe that he is wanting to make a career out of it and further his education along with seeing parts of the world. But as a mother, I am extremely worried about him being in harm's way.

What is the difference between Air Force and Air Guard?

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captrick Posted 6 Jun 2007 , 2:05pm
post #5 of 9

The Air National Guard usually is a 1 weekend a month deal and 2 weeks of the summer for "training" after completing the initial Basic Training and Tech School program. They are the ones usually activated for homeland issues...like Hurricane Katrina and things. The "Reserves" are the ones that get activated to help support (with more man power) the things like the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The good thing about the Air Force is that we "most of the time" aren't in the middle of the fighting. We're usually located further away in a "support" mode. Now, my Dad did serve in Desert Storm and was gone for more than a year....he wasn't in what would be considered a "hot zone", but was still in a higher risk of danger than he would've been on a typical base. It's all based on job description. I was a secure communications technician...with a Mobile Identifier (meaning I'd served in a Mobile unit that directly supported the Army on the groud) which put me at high risk for deployments to hot zones. (big reason I'm out..LOL) But I got the mobile identifier by being stationed in a mobile unit, not based on my particular job title....it was just bad "luck". I did the same job in Germany at a fixed unit with no field time or anything...it was basically an 8 to 5 job.

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mbelgard Posted 6 Jun 2007 , 4:11pm
post #6 of 9

When my dad was in a mood to make comments about officers and stuff used to say that the Air Force was the only branch that had it right because they send just their officers into harms way. icon_rolleyes.gif

Seriously the Air Force generally doesn't have as much risk and an infantry soldier.
Your son is probably well aware of the cost it might take, it's something very few people in the service aren't aware of, I don't remember NOT knowing that my father's job was to prepare for combat (he was a tanker).

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Fishercakes Posted 6 Jun 2007 , 5:43pm
post #7 of 9

Thank you again for your input. You have set my mind and heart at ease knowing that the Air Force would be the safest choice of military branch that he can choose.

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mbelgard Posted 6 Jun 2007 , 6:36pm
post #8 of 9

Something I forgot to mention is the great irony that our military that protects our freedoms does not enjoy all of those same freedoms they are charged with protecting. They have restrictions on airing views on US policies at times and life on post/base can have rules that restrict freedoms and such. An example of the second would be getting chewed out at work because your child did something at school or failed to stop riding his bike at 5pm.
It's something that people not familiar with the service might not be aware of and he should make this decision with all info he can get about what his life might be like.

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mommapaul3 Posted 6 Jun 2007 , 7:31pm
post #9 of 9
Quote:
Originally Posted by captrick

The Air National Guard usually is a 1 weekend a month deal and 2 weeks of the summer for "training" after completing the initial Basic Training and Tech School program. They are the ones usually activated for homeland issues...like Hurricane Katrina and things. The "Reserves" are the ones that get activated to help support (with more man power) the things like the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.




Actually, the National Guard gets deployed overseas quite frequently as well as the Reserves, at least in my state. So joining the Guard is no guarantee you won't be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan (or anywhere else). My DH is full time with the Army National Guard and they're getting sent over all the time - even the Air Guard. One thing to keep in mind is that if he joins the military anywhere, he has a very good chance of being sent over. I have to agree, though that the Air Force is probably your safest bet, and they're the best as far as being family friendly. If he wants to make it a career, it can be difficult to support a family on an enlisted salary, though, so he may want to keep that in mind.

You may want to check out this thread for military families: http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-251501.html
You can probably find even more people to answer your question. HTH

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