Could the Air Force guys help me here???

Im really researching on what i want to do in the air force after college, and there are so many jobs i would be interested in doing.....so could u help me with some descriptions from your own experience??

My goal is to do OTS so ill list officer jobs first, but after that ill list the enlisted jobs...

Air Liaison Officer

Aircraft Maintenance Officer

Combat Rescue Officer

Security Forces Officer

Munitions and Missile Maintenance Officer

ok, now I'm going to list the enlisted jobs I'm interested in...

Aerial Gunner

Aircraft Armament Systems

Combat Control

In-Flight Refueling

Helicopter Maintenance

Pararescue

Security Forces Specialist

those are the careers I've been looking at, I'm really interested to hear what you guys have to say, and i have to say I'm really excited to join as soon as i finish college...any input is also greatly appreciated!

 

I am NOT AF, but I have met/worked with guys in some of these specialities.

ALO embeds/trains with/works with ground units. You get a lot of training from the pilot side of the house that helps you think like them/speak their language-but from the ground. Coordinating close air support (if that's the right term any more...) and mission planning are the majority of the ALO work load.

AMO manages the guy who fix the planes. Not that AMO isn't a good job- but there is a LOT OF paperwork and people management and not a lot else. (Part my opinion and part feedback from 2 AMOs I know).

CRO- Is a pararescue officer. Manages the PJs/SERE guys and does some of the pointy end of the spear stuff. Expeditionary ATC, special tactics, etc are all within the CRO job description. Fairly limited number IIRC...but I only talked with the guy for a few mins and that was a while ago....

I won't call it a "definitive" guide- but this link has the basics of what each job entails. The tricky part about saying "This job/billet/person does these things: X,Y,Z" is that you WILL find someone who does other things.

(IE- I am a pilot- but I'm also a motorcycle aficionado so I'm training to be a motorcycle safety foundation RiderCoach) Totally out of specialty for me- but I do it cause it makes me happy. Sorry for the ramble. Good luck deciding!

 

thank you very much for your input! thats awesome that your a pilot in the CG....is your avatar (the dauphin) the chopper you fly?

 

The mighty Tupper-Wulf-That is my ride. Spend about 30 hours a month in the air in one of those....Makes me happy.

 

thats epically awesome man!!! yeah, my ultimate goal is to be an officer in the air force and to have the ability to be in an aircraft of any kind, because my passion is flight and aircraft....i just know that being a pilot is out of my reach because of whats involved, but also because of the budget cuts

 

If you don't have a slot/contract lined up already...I would get to talking with a recruiter ASAP....It's a budget contraction period because of the economy-so it can take a LONG time to get in. (Over a year for the CG right now IIRC)

 

this is for anyone or just the pilot slots?

 

For the Coast Guard...Everyone. I'm not sure it's same for the AF...There are less slots-just not sure by how much.

 

I'll give my take on what you will go through (both good and bad) if you become a maintenance officer. Also note, that us maintainers are usually a rough breed no matter where you go in the AF. Even as a young LT, you will most likely be an OIC for something which means you immediately have some responsibility for maintenance in your unit which is driven by the enlisted folks. Now, if we all did our jobs and got the planes fixed in a timely manner on a daily basis then your job would be cake but that doesn't happen so you are usually explaining to someone higher up than you why is the 12 hr fix rate in the shitter or why has this plane been broke for a week? As you move up the chain, you will no doubt have way more responsibility which only means you will answer to even higher ranking people. It's not all bad, there are some good units out there which I can honestly say that I am in right now, and our officer leadership has it pretty damn good. They will no doubtedly be moving up the ladder soon but even still, they have to deal with hiccups often. Enough of the bad, and here is the good. I think the flightline is an awesome place to work and we are almost in a total different world of the Air Force. Most of us think that WE are the backbone to the Air Force and without us, there would be no point in existing. Theres also no feeling like deploying with fighter/bomber/gunships and knowing you had a direct contribution to blowing some stuff up or helping the folks on the ground out. To be in the aircraft maintenance world you have to take the bad (long hours, exercises, environment) with the good. (sweet TDY's, cool missions, working with aircraft). Good luck on your future choice and I hope that my rant did not scare you off. Just figured I would be truthful and not sugar coat it.

 

no, you didn't scare me off at all lol, in fact this is exactly how i want to hear it, because on the air force website they seem to sugar coat it, so i figured id ask the real guys that do the jobs... sounds like a great job and a real challenge which i like. i would love to work with the planes, i just love aircraft in general so this job would be a dream come true for me... thanks so much for your input, and a huge thank you for your service!

 

lol i agree with u there, and yeah thats nice to know about the security forces guys, what exactly happens to them that screws them???

 

yeah, thats what my dad keeps telling me, he doesn't want me to join the military, but if I'm going to do it, finish my college education first so i have a chance to be an officer..... so thats why I'm still in college. and thanks so much for your input i really appreciate it!

 

Sub'd! I Really want to consider joining after I get my Paramedic associates degree (almost done).

And I know you need a degree to be an officer and need to be an officer to fly, but is it a 2 or 4 yr degree?

 

i believe you need your 4 year bachelors.....im not positive tho...

 

From the jobs you listed I would personaly choose in flight refueling. Badass job. you get to travel around the world. you get good bonus pay from this job too.

I was munitions when I was in and from what I could tell the munitions officer's were basicaly a paper pushers.

90% of the security forces guys I know dont like thier job.

aircraft armament (loaders) was the other half of my job. We would take all the munitons to the flight line and the loaders whould then load the plane up with missiles, bombs, bullets, ect... You also get to work on the bomb racks (holds the missiles, bombs onto the jet) and also work on the gun.

I dont know anything about the rest. if you have any questions about the ones I commented on you can PM me. good luck!

 

this. 12 hour shifts and that does not include the 30-45 mins you have to be there before and after your shift is over for change over.

 

I'm an Aerospace Medical Technician, Basically a Medic/EMT when deployed and a Nurses bitch when working in a hospital. I love it. I work with the wounded warriors that come back from Iraq and Afghanistan at Brooke Army Medical Center, and it's cool to get to see Army, Air Force, Marines, and Navy come back and go through there rehab. A lot of the guys are really cool.

I think the medical field in the AF is totally different than any other AFSC. I like it because most of the officers I work with are really cool and shoot the shit with us enlisted guys all the time.

And as F16 said don't go Security Forces. It's not worth it. I know a lot of guys that are Sec Fo, and they hate it. They do have shit hours but I work the same hours as them so I can't complain about that.

Become an officer and do what you want. I regret not finishing college and getting my degree. So get it done and do what you want! Good luck with it.

 

It is 4 years bachelors..

 

thanks guys for all the input, i really do appreciate it, i really would like to work on the planes one way or the other, honestly aircraft and flight is my passion so its why i want to be in the air force on the flight line or something that has to do with the aircraft

 

lol i hear ya there lol, but yeah i really want to be around aircraft and definitely want to be an officer! I'm really excited to get involved, and everything you guys tell me just motivates me more and excites me more for my future! i can't thank you guys enough!