Air Force Vets....I have a question...

[Postman]

My daughter is thinking about enlisting in the Air Force.

Is there an Air Force occupation she should avoid?

Any words of wisdom would be helpful. Thanks.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. Probably at risk in any case, but medic might be riskiest.

[Zech Marquis]

2. tell her about the asvab test

and also to really consider what she'd like to do in the air force. the higher your asvab score is, the more likely she'll get her choice of jobs.

[enlightenment]

3. Been many years, but I trained in a couple of different ones --

auto-tracking radar repair/operation. Pretty intense training time. They stationed me at Nellis (NV) and we'd go out in the desert and track the jets practicing.
Not a great deal of fun, really.

I also did mobile aerial port -- cargo operations (that field also covers the passenger side of flying; working in the airports and such). That I liked -- learned to drive big trucks and stuff!

I am female, btw.

Of the two, these days I suspect the first is "safer" -- MAP squadrons used to be the ones they sent to supply front-line troops. I don't know how they do it these days, though.

[benddem]

4. I was going to suggest

language school. You have to score high on the DLAT (Army test) which is composed of learning a made up language. BUT I heard on Randi or Ed yesterday a woman say her son was a Korean linguist and he was headed to Iraq.

[Postman]

5. Wow. What's next from these morans....

sending Mountain Ski Troops to Iraq?

[JesterCS]

6. Avoid Anything to do with

Solid Fuel, Liquid Fuel Systems, Missileer

Those you're bound to end up as crew or a technician for ground launch missile systems.

[symbolman]

7. I had a Great Job

as a Purchasing Agent.. got a VRB (Variable Reenlistment Bonus) offer of $20K (in 1973! Could have bought a house with that) and we were working with Computers (well, 80 column punch cards) way back in 71..

Plus once you get out and into the public sector you can make TONS of money at it..

I should have kept doing that job, I'd be rich today..

Hope she gets a CHOICE, the test will give the AF an idea of where they'll stick her.. if you do bad on the test it may be off to the Motor Pool for you..

Plenty of cool jobs in the AF, most of them have to do with supplying death weapons or parts, feeding the troops or paying them.

Best of Luck to her, I considered the AF the top of the services but only cause my whole family was an AF family :)

[lonestarnot]

8. Stupid question and stupid idea. Borrow money and go to college.

[uppityperson]

9. Why is she considering it? Thanks

[SeattleVet]

10. Joining the Air Force is still probably a better option than going in

to the military! :toast:

Seriously, though, a LOT of the Air Force's specialties are directly transferrable to civilian life. I spent 12 years in; 6 as an avionics technician on FB-111A fighter/bombers (intense electronics training, school lasted almost a year), then another 6 years as a Electronic Computer Repair specialist. I was *very* hireable when I got out.

Most of the highly technical jobs tend to be rear of the lines. (I always thought that the Air Force did it right - I got to sit in a nice air conditioned shop and fix electonics boxes, and they sent the officers up in the planes to get shot at. Sounded like a pretty good deal to me, as an enlisted person!)

Good luck to your daughter. Make sure she takes all of the pre-enlistment testing sessions seriously - they base most everything on them, and higher scores will open up whole new categories of training to be available to her.

[Corgigal]

11. I was in the air force

and became an air traffic controller. Very good re-enlistment bonus and it's one of the only enlisted jobs that you are treated better then anyone else. You must have so many hours off, aren't assigned to do those "special projects", ex cutting the lawn. Now it's a hard profession to get into and you have to make sure the recruiter has that career field numbers down on her enlistment form.

If she's interested in the above please tell her to PM me. I was in for 8 years.