Jedi Council Forums - Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?

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Author	Topic: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
Bravo Registered: Sep '01	Date Posted: 6/9 1:09pm Subject: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	Okay, I'm thinking about joining the Air Force or Air Force Reserve. I couldn't join back in the day because of some 'medical' issues, but i'm going to try again and I don't think those same issuses will be a problem. But anyways, here's the thing: I'm almost twenty-four years old. Is it worth it, being as old as I am (since most people join between 18 and 20)? Also, I've heard the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about the armed forces. What dos everyone think? If I go fully active duty and not reserve, I would have to kiss my Fire Service Career good-bye probably for good. But I'm at that point of where, I almost don't care, I just want to serve God more and explore the world and the Fire Service is not allowing me to do that. But on the flip side, if I don't go for twenty years (which joining this late in the game I just might go twenty years), I want a branch of the service that will take care of me afterwards. And from what hear on the news, see in news reports (sucide rates that the Army or Marine Corps for whatever reason can't explain---which I don't buy, we spend all this money on weapons, but can't stop or serve men and women from killing themselves, I don't get it---why their Soldiers and Marines want to kill themselves and their famiies) and hear from veterans, the Army (no offense to anyone here who's an Army vet) isn't doing a good job at promoting itself as caring to people who serve their country. The Marine Corps does a little bit better of a job---but I've heard horror stories from vets who got out too---and it seems that the Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard are doing the best job at caring for their people both on duty and after they get out or retire. -----signature----- Believer in Jesus Christ "All right, I'll give it a try." - Luke Skywalker, ESB "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." - Yoda, ESB "Now, be brave, and don't look back. Don't look back." - Shmi Skywalker, TPM
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Grimby the Hutt Title: JCC SUPER MOD GENIUS MAN & RMFF Web Guy Registered: Apr '00	Date Posted: 6/9 1:43pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	While the army spends a huge chunk of money on advertising and paying enlistment bonuses, the Air Force puts that money into better quality of living. You can always tell an army post from an air force base when you look at the base housing and dorms. Bill will probably tell you this as well - if you're going to choose a branch to serve, choose the air force or the navy. If you're looking at joining the reserves, look into the ROTC program as well. You could get your degree and then go full active duty as an officer. Oh, and I don't know if you knew this or not, but you can join the air force as a firefighter. I'm sure you'd qualify for that job. When I enlisted in the air force, I was 22. True, I was one of the oldest guys in basic training and tech school, but I didn't think it was really that big a deal. Besides, the "old" guy in our class was 34 so I didn't feel out of place. Once you get out of tech school, you'll be hanging out and working with people who are older than you, who will most likely treat you less like a kid than the 18-20 year-olds. You may even find that you'll be older than some of your supervisors, which is also kind of a cool situation as you'll be given more respect than the younger guys. If there's anything else you want to know about the air force, let me know. -----signature----- fhqwhgads!
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ArchaicRebel Registered: May '04	Date Posted: 6/9 2:01pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions? - Date Edited: 6/9 2:04pm (1 edits total) Edited By: ArchaicRebel
	Bravo posted: But I'm at that point of where, I almost don't care, I just want to serve God more and explore the world and the Fire Service is not allowing me to do that. Dude, serving God does not necessarily mean joining the armed forces. No offence to the guys in the armed forces--they do a hell of a bang-up job--but they're serving the country (our democracy and our Constitution)--not God. There are times when they are required to take lives to save lives. Unless you're Old Testament, that's not cool. So, you have to decide: Do you want to serve God first, or serve your country first and then serve God? If you want to serve God, there are missionary positions, relief efforts (there's a reason it's called the Red Cross), and monasteries you can serve God from. That said, unless your medical issues have gone away, cleared up, or been cleared for enlistment, you won't make it to boot camp. You won't make it past a medical discharge. I wish you the best of luck, though. And my two cents: unless you can swim (Navy req), go for the Air Force. -----signature----- Zoom: At what point in the evolutionary process does a beaver decide to have sex with a duck? Snarkiteer, Apprentice to Zoom_Cthooga, Brother of FenigDurak Russian Satellite Orbiting Heavenly Body Attitude Last Adjusted On: Sunday, 17 August 2008
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Darth_Tofu Registered: Mar '02	Date Posted: 6/9 2:08pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	They do have military fire fighters The air force seems like it would be an ok place to go if you're looking for some direction, but also remember: "not all who wander are lost" -Tolkein -----signature----- Some people are like a Slinky ... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.
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Grimby the Hutt Title: JCC SUPER MOD GENIUS MAN & RMFF Web Guy Registered: Apr '00	Date Posted: 6/9 2:19pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	ArchaicRebel posted: If you want to serve God, there are missionary positions, relief efforts (there's a reason it's called the Red Cross), and monasteries you can serve God from. There are many other ways to serve God than by being a priest or joining the Red Cross. There are Chaplains in every branch of the service who are vital to the lives of many who serve in the military. There are churches on every military base that are always looking for volunteers to help with services. And the military is far more than just about killing people. Most of the people who serve in the military are never called upon to engage in combat or go anywhere near a battlefield. They have a job just like the rest of us. -----signature----- fhqwhgads!
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ArchaicRebel Registered: May '04	Date Posted: 6/9 3:17pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	Grimby the Hutt posted: There are churches on every military base that are always looking for volunteers to help with services. And the military is far more than just about killing people. Most of the people who serve in the military are never called upon to engage in combat or go anywhere near a battlefield. They have a job just like the rest of us. This is true. I concede that point. But it's a possibility of joining the armed forces. -----signature----- Zoom: At what point in the evolutionary process does a beaver decide to have sex with a duck? Snarkiteer, Apprentice to Zoom_Cthooga, Brother of FenigDurak Russian Satellite Orbiting Heavenly Body Attitude Last Adjusted On: Sunday, 17 August 2008
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Obey Wann Title: Former RMFF CR & SW Region RSA Registered: Jan '00	Date Posted: 6/10 2:45pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	I'm a Christian, yet have no problem taking a life if it comes down to that in the course of duty. Then again, I also like the Old Testament wrath of God. He is also the same yesterday, today and forever. But I won't get into that --this isn't about a religious debate. There are plenty of well meaning Christians serving every day in the US military, and some of them are in combat roles. No big deal. I'll answer your questions as best I can.... Okay, I'm thinking about joining the Air Force or Air Force Reserve. I couldn't join back in the day because of some 'medical' issues, but i'm going to try again and I don't think those same issuses will be a problem. Those medical issues better be well documented as going away, or cleared up, or you might not make it through MEPS. But anyways, here's the thing: I'm almost twenty-four years old. Is it worth it, being as old as I am (since most people join between 18 and 20)? 24 --big deal. You're not an olde man, yet. 28-34, now that's old for boot camp. I'd die if I had to go back now.... or I'd have to do a 6 month serious workout plan to get back in shape before going. Since you've been doing the firefighting thing, I'd assume you're in better than average shape. So if the thought of running 1-5 miles a day + rounds of callastenics (PT) with push ups, sit ups, pull ups and generally getting your @$$ kicked by DI's doesn't bother you much, then no big deal. But then again, you're talking Air Scouts.... it might just be a bike ride and lollipops for all I know. :P Google the Air Force physical fitness standards and see what they are, and make sure that you can exceed them. If you can exceed it for an 18 year old, then you'll survive the physical part of boot camp just fine. Also, I've heard the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about the armed forces. What dos everyone think? (Some serious sarcasm ahead, based on observation and discussion with other troops) The old joke amongst the services is that the Army and Marines buy tanks, guns and bullets first, then maybe think about housing and perks for the troops. Navy builds ships first. The Air Scouts build the golf course, commissary, barracks and dining hall first, and use up all the budget. Then they conveniently go back to Congress and ask for the money to buy the runway that they didn't build or the planes they didn't buy, 'cause it wouldn't be an AFB without a runway, right? I was stationed at Pearl Harbor Hawaii, and in my 4 years there, I saw how every service lived, slept and treated their people. Army & Marine folks --if they have a roof over their heads for 1-2 weeks a month, they're living in the lap of luxury. Navy folks spend on average 6+ months at sea (either on deployment, workups, or local ops). Their barracks are OK, but not hotels. Frakking Air Scouts, if they had more than 2 people to a room and had to share a bathroom with more than 3 people got frakking hardship pay. Carpeted rooms, fridges, A/C, the hotel treatment. The living conditions, base ameneties, food and general living are ALL better in the AF, with the Navy as the next best. Marines and Army ... you'd better like dirt and lenolium. And getting treated like bantha poodoo. What the AF doesn't have as much is rapid career progression. You won't promote as fast. I made E-5 in under 2 years. Why is that? Because even with $30-45,000 reinlistment bonuses, they couldn't keep people in my job in the Navy. (Nuclear Power propulsion) Folks do 20 in the AF, because they work banker's hours and call their officer's Mike. Call an Marine officer by his first name and he'll tie your tongue around your ankles and beat you senseless with your jawbone. Big cultural difference. If I go fully active duty and not reserve, I would have to kiss my Fire Service Career good-bye probably for good. But I'm at that point of where, I almost don't care, I just want to serve God more and explore the world and the Fire Service is not allowing me to do that. Don't even consider doing the reserves if you don't ahve a real job and life set up. Go active duty, get outta the dodge you're in, and jump in with both feet. Besides, if you go reserves, they'll just call you up and send you to the Sandbox as a gun-toter, even if you're an air conditioning tech. Fire service: What is it that you like the most about this? Fighting fires, saving lives? "Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for another?" If so, consider the Coast Guard. Honestly, they do more real-world life saving and cool ** than all the other services combined. Busting up drug runners? Check. Saving stranded boaters? Check. Fighting fires? Check (anyone on any ship is a firefighter). Don't leave out the coasties. Honestly, looking back.... I could have enjoyed a helluva career in the Coasties, and might've had more fun and done more good. //shrugs// You can choose to serve God wherever you are. Maybe it's taken you this long to figure out where you want to go. If you really want some fun, try reading Ecclesiastes in the Message translation... that'll frak with your mind a bit (the wife and I did today --it's high-larious!) What the military will do for you: Give you a job for X amount of years. You will generally have at minumum 3 hot meals a day (maybe a week if you're Army) and a cot to sleep in. Room and board generally covered. Insurance, medical, dental, vision, the whole shebang. You will also be at the bottom of the totem pole and be given every *-job there is for the first few years... kinda like beeing a n00b firefighter. But you won't be the only n00b. There are others to commiserate with. You will have the opportunity to go to all kinds of armpits of the world, and some nice places... if you're lucky. I have been stationed in: Orlando, FL (closed), upstate Yew York, Pearl Harbor, HI, Bangor Maine / Kittery New Hampshire and travelled to Washington State, Alaska, Korea, Guam, Japan (more times than I want to count), through the Panama Canal, below the equator and almost to the artic circle, into the land of the Golden Dragon, up and down both coasts of the US, a few places I'll never be able to talk about, Kuwait, Qatar, Ireland, the Netherlands... in general .... all but about 5 time zones on the planet. I worked my @$$ off in most places, but I have a lot of good memories all the same. Some bad ones, too. And I think Grimby went to... Montana and... Tex-@$$. Not sure. But on the flip side, if I don't go for twenty years (which joining this late in the game I just might go twenty years),* Don't make this decision until AFTER your first duty station, or at least 3 years of active duty. Not a day sooner. Trust me. I want a branch of the service that will take care of me afterwards. And from what hear on the news, see in news reports (sucide rates that the Army or Marine Corps for whatever reason can't explain---which I don't buy, we spend all this money on weapons, but can't stop or serve men and women from killing themselves, I don't get it---why their Soldiers and Marines want to kill themselves and their famiies) and hear from veterans, the Army (no offense to anyone here who's an Army vet) isn't doing a good job at promoting itself as caring to people who serve their country. The Marine Corps does a little bit better of a job---but I've heard horror stories from vets who got out too---and it seems that the Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard are doing the best job at caring for their people both on duty and after they get out or retire. All branches of the service have the same retirement package. Some just treat their people differently. You don't strike me as a Army or Marine type, so start looking up the Coast Guard (because it's often overlooked), the AF and the Navy. Any of them will give you the stability, paycheck and brotherhood that you seem to need. My brother in law joined the Army at 24, and it did him a world of good. Straightened him up, cleaned him up and gave him the discipline and motivation he was lacking. He was a slack-arsed loser before he joined, but now he's cleaned up, squared away, and a brother I am proud of. But he also got hurt pretty bad while in Germany, and has to live with that pain for the rest of his life. He has 30% disability, gets a monthly check that practically pays for his mortgage, and the Army is paying for some great education. His back may be frakked up, but that beats being a 28 year old low life living on people's couches --that's what he did before we told him to join up and do something with his life, because we were tired of supporting him. I'm not saying you are my bro-in-law, but he was in a similar situation... and I think it did him more good than harm. Just don't try moving super-heavy army desks on your own. That's how he jacked his back up. .... So... it's a big commitment to join. But you don't have any dependants, or real connections tying you down. You will have an opportunity to get a new skill or trade, and a steady paycheck for at least 4 years. You will get the GI Bill and have education and training opportunities. You will get poodooed upon, and treated like poodoo. But you will make friends and experiences for life, and it can offer you a change from what you've had. But it's not all roses and kisses. Some of it sucks. My job sucked enough for me to get out. If they would have let me get into Fire Control (the guys who work with putting weapons on targets) or Sonar, I'd still be on submarines today. But I was a "nuke" and was stuck in a very controlled career field. You might want something that fits your personality better (all I saw at 17 was rapid promotion, "intellectual challenge" and huge reimlistment bonuses --that I never took advantage of, because the job sucked. So look at the options, AF and Coasties. Maybe navy. The AF seems to have some some serious leadership and identity issues right now. Good luck. -----signature----- There's a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people. William Adama
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Grimby the Hutt Title: JCC SUPER MOD GENIUS MAN & RMFF Web Guy Registered: Apr '00	Date Posted: 6/10 5:27pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	Air Scouts lol. Bill is pretty spot on about everything (despite the AF bashing ). Though I guess I can add that in addition to Montana and San Antonio, Texas, I was stationed in Augusta, Georgia and Osan, Korea. -----signature----- fhqwhgads!
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Obey Wann Title: Former RMFF CR & SW Region RSA Registered: Jan '00	Date Posted: 6/11 9:31am Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	LOL, just a little good olde-fashioned inter-service rivalry. And/or jealousy at how you get treated. Part of my is still p!$$ed at the AF recruiter from HS. I went to his office, with an ASVAP of 91 and 5 years of Civil Air Patrol, looking to join, and after he got done reading his paper, threw a book in my general direction, and said something to the effect of "look at this, and let me know if anything looks interesting", then went back to reading his paper. He showed no interest in having a smart, eager recruit (must have had his quota), and his attutude made me mad. So I went Navy. Then again, I met my wife in the Navy, so it wasn't all bad. -----signature----- There's a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people. William Adama
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Grimby the Hutt Title: JCC SUPER MOD GENIUS MAN & RMFF Web Guy Registered: Apr '00	Date Posted: 6/11 12:13pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	My best friend in HS had a similar story with the AF recruiter. It wasn't so much that the recruiter didn't care about seeing him, but that the recruiting office for Westminster was way over in Thornton off Washington and Thornton Parkway, it kept pretty short hours during the week, and it was understaffed. So after a couple weeks of failed attempts at meeting with the AF recruiter, he gave up and went army instead. I had no problem though when I decided to join about 3 years later. I went in with a 25 ACT score, got a 93 on the practice ASVAB test, and they treated me like gold from that moment on. -----signature----- fhqwhgads!
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RubberDuckTape Title: Southern CO Chapter Rep Registered: Oct '03	Date Posted: 6/11 12:56pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	I don't remember what my score was on that, but my dad decided I should take it to help me decide on my 'future'. All I know is that they were really excited and kept calling me for several months after I took it and telling me I could do anything I wanted. I thought about the coast guard, but they didn't have a physics program, so I ended up going to regular college -----signature----- Am I supposed to feel my eyebrows? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A masked wrestling unicorn has been dispatched. The mythical LUCHADORICORN! She's the last of her kind. I won her in a high-stakes game of freecell against Bill Gates.
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Mistress Title: Former CR SCFF Registered: Oct '02	Date Posted: 6/11 1:08pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	I had a similar experience when I took it. They kept hounding me after. The recruiter told me I one of the highest scores ever from that area (LaJunta). He was prolly just buttering me up. -----signature----- "For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all." Aristotle Proud to have a sand free love box. Innocent victim of a magnitude 10.0 paradigm shift.
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Jyn Registered: Aug '06	Date Posted: 6/11 1:16pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	The hounded me too, until I told them I had undiagnosed exercise-induced asthma... hehe
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Grimby the Hutt Title: JCC SUPER MOD GENIUS MAN & RMFF Web Guy Registered: Apr '00	Date Posted: 6/11 1:31pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	Tell 'em you only have one eye. That usually works. -----signature----- fhqwhgads!
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Jedi_Knight_Birr Title: Southwest RSA Registered: Jun '02	Date Posted: 6/11 1:38pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	creepy stalkers. took that test and they didnt leave me alone for 6 months. -----signature----- She Threatened me with Physics!!! I have youthful exuberance His words exactly, "that boy worries me." I deny your uber cool awsomeness and substitute my own. Blessed be the Noodly Appendage that deftly spreads the holy marinara, ramen
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Obey Wann Title: Former RMFF CR & SW Region RSA Registered: Jan '00	Date Posted: 6/11 2:11pm Subject: RE: Thinking about the Air Force...suggestions?
	They leave you alone? I've been in the reserves for... 5 years now. I still get calls from the recruiters every couple of months. They usually hang up pretty quick after I tell them I've been mobilized twice and I'm not ready to go back until everyone else from my unit has been called up at least once. My wife even gets calls every six months or so... and she's been out since 1998. -----signature----- There's a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people. William Adama
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