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Could the Air Force guys help me here???

Discussion in 'Military' started by tacomathunder, Nov 1, 2011.

  1. Nov 2, 2011 at 10:20 PM
    #21
    Taco Gunner

    Taco Gunner Well-Known Member

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    Let me add a couple to think about:

    Loadmaster...C17 or C5. You will see the big world..a lot. Good gig.

    Sensor Operator on UAV's. Great contract work post AF life. If you like making 20-25K..a MONTH..do this job.

    Flight Engineer...see LM (except C-17) above. Stay away from anything with 4 motors and a radar dish..or that calls itself JSTARS. BORING!

    Contracting: HUGE bonus...HUGE! Good contract and/or government gig on the outside.

    Anything INTEL. See UAV Sensor dude.

    As far as being an 0, be a pilot, intel, or any rated flying position. Anything more than that I would find...mmm...not fulfilling.
     
  2. Nov 2, 2011 at 10:37 PM
    #22
    tacomathunder

    tacomathunder [OP] Well-Known Member

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    hey, thanks for the input! i like that its not sugar coated, every little bit helps, so thanks a lot! :D
     
  3. Nov 3, 2011 at 5:16 PM
    #23
    rodwa4

    rodwa4 Member

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    I would definitely recommend going in as an officer of money matters, and if you like having a little more control over your own career. However, if you want to get your hands dirty and actually be the one taking care of things for yourself, I'd say avoid it. Once you hit Captain you'll see a lot more time behind a desk, and once you hit Major it's pretty much staff jobs from then on unless you are a pilot or nav.

    It's already been said, but I'll say it again...avoid anything that has to do with security forces. SF will get you all pumped up through the training, thinking you're about to run off to war with the Rangers....then you'll finish training and spend 6 months a year checking IDs at the chow hall in some shit hole in Afghanistan.

    Aerial Gunner really does suck, it sounds badass, but in reality your job is to load the guns for someone else to shoot. Unless loading guns all day sounds like fun, avoid this one.

    Combat Control is in fact badass, and well worth the sacrifices it takes to become an operator. Just be sure you understand what you're getting into, like Taco Gunner said above, you're looking at 2-3 (maybe more) years of training, then a steady diet of deployments. After training you'll probably spend more time deployed than home. Also realize that CCT is a no shit combat position, most of the Combat Controllers I've known only made it through 2 enlistments before they had to call it quits, just due to the hazard involved. Granted they loved it and wouldn't have done anything else, but those kinds of conditions are going to mentally exhaust anyone who's not cut from the same stuff as Chuck Norris.

    Pretty much the same goes for PJ as CCT, but PJ is a little safer, and I personally like the idea of your main responsibility being to save lives and not take them, but that's just me.

    In-Flight Refueling is pretty awesome to witness, at least the first few times. Not sure how much the actual boomers enjoy it after the novelty wears off though. Good travel options for sure though.

    I also endorse Taco Gunner's suggestions for other things to consider, he pretty much hits the nail on the head. I can't emphasize enough the part about avoiding anything with 4 engines or a radar dish, unless it's mission is purely transport, big planes suck. When I first saw this thread the first suggestion I thought of was sensor operator (UAVs or manned aircraft) or contracting, both those jobs have earned the slogan "6 years...6 figures" (6 year enlistment, 6 figures on the outside after that).

    I'd also say if CCT interests you, consider TACP, it's like a tame version of CCT, the training isn't as rigorous, and the deployments aren't as dangerous or frequent. Also, if you want to fly but don't want to be a pilot, look into being a NAV or a non-rated flying intel officer. Both of those jobs have tons of flexibility in terms of assignments and career paths, and they get to do some pretty cool shit.

    One thing that is universal to the Air Force that they will never tell you about: bullshit. If you join, be prepared to wade through a lot of bullshit, red tape, politics, etc. A lot of people I know aren't bothered by it, but a lot of others are. And trust me, it's going to be more annoying shit then you have encountered before, if you think you're ok with that, then do it. Just make sure you aren't disillusioned.

    Hope that's helpful, let me know if you have any specific questions about any of the jobs I mentioned, I can either answer them or ask someone who does that job. Best of luck man!
     
  4. Nov 3, 2011 at 5:22 PM
    #24
    nelson18matt

    nelson18matt Well-Known Member

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    if you have any specific questions about PJ or CRO shoot me a PM. i was a part of that community. i have a limited amount of knowledge about the CCT career field as well
     
  5. Nov 3, 2011 at 6:59 PM
    #25
    mtn3172

    mtn3172 Well-Known Member

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  6. Nov 3, 2011 at 7:25 PM
    #26
    tacomathunder

    tacomathunder [OP] Well-Known Member

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    thanks for all of these inputs guys! it really helps, I'm really looking into what each of you said and weighing my options and thinking ahead to maybe after AF life, like i stated before though, i definitely want to be an officer and ill do what ever it takes for me to do that even if it means waiting (which is probably the hardest part lol)
     
  7. Nov 3, 2011 at 8:38 PM
    #27
    Taco Gunner

    Taco Gunner Well-Known Member

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    Carry on.
     
  8. Nov 3, 2011 at 11:45 PM
    #28
    rodwa4

    rodwa4 Member

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    My comments about gunners only loading is purely based off what my gunner friends have said, I would listen to Taco Gunner since he is a gunner himself haha. I probably just hear people's complaints...they mostly only hear mine! :)

    I'm not sure exactly what you are calling horseshit though. CCT has the highest fatality rate of any AFSC in the air force by a massive margin, no other AFSC is even close. They also have the highest deployment rates, although not by nearly as large an amount. Those are both facts, and well worth knowing if you are deciding between the two.

    I didn't say anything negative about the TACP dudes, nobody who has been around them down range would, but nobody who has been with both TACP and CCT would try to say that CCT isn't both more dangerous and more difficult. I'm not trying to say one group is better than the other, just trying to give this guy some solid information to consider when he is making an extremely important decision.
     
  9. Nov 4, 2011 at 7:38 AM
    #29
    Taco Gunner

    Taco Gunner Well-Known Member

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    What is your AFSC?

    I agree that the OP should make the best choice for HIM based on factual information. If you want to be a trigger puller, the USAF is probably not the best choice. PJ's do not do it..not much at least. CCT/TACP/JTAC..it is really not their job. They are there to support direct action missions. They do get in the thick of things but their primary mission is not as a shooter. Not say what they do is not "high speed", but a US Army Ranger will find himself in more firefights than your average Airman. With that Ranger will be a JTAC or Controller...coordinating air assets.
     
  10. Nov 7, 2011 at 2:46 PM
    #30
    Deliman619

    Deliman619 No bad days

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    What year are you in at college? Is AFROTC available? You can get into AFROTC as a sophmore and know some guys who got in as late as a junior.

    I went the ROTC route in college as they paid for everything and I could not turn down free education. I managed to get a pilot slot, so I cannot comment on what the other AFSCs experience, but if you have any questions on ROTC let me know.

    The main thing to point out is that it is all needs of the Air Force. If I did not get 92TO, I would have been a developmental engineer as they paid for my engineering degree and need engineers. A good friend of mine got medically DQ'd from flight and got tossed into engineering even though he wanted CRO because once again the AF needs engineers.
     
  11. Nov 7, 2011 at 7:32 PM
    #31
    tacomathunder

    tacomathunder [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Im a sophomore, but my university doesn't offer any ROTC yet its too young of a school... i really wish they did
     
  12. Nov 8, 2011 at 12:41 PM
    #32
    Deliman619

    Deliman619 No bad days

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    How about neighboring universities? Know guys who went to a small private school and did ROTC at a State school. The ROTC detachments will work with you.
     
  13. Nov 8, 2011 at 9:31 PM
    #33
    tacomathunder

    tacomathunder [OP] Well-Known Member

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    the closest school with AFROTC is 2 hours away from me
     
  14. Feb 26, 2012 at 2:15 AM
    #34
    tacomathunder

    tacomathunder [OP] Well-Known Member

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    well guys, i think I'm close to joining, only thing in my way is my weight, really need to get it down...cuz i won't be making it in at mine
     
  15. Apr 3, 2012 at 9:55 PM
    #35
    CNEDEER

    CNEDEER If ya ain't first, your last!

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    http://usmilitary.about.com/od/officerjobs/a/afoffjobs.htm

    I have been considering the AF as well, still in college with a semester left to go. I looked at the above site and numbers 14 and 71 caught my eye.

    14: Intelligence Field

    71: Special Investigations Field

    Anybody familiar with these two areas and what they actually do, as opposed to the long and fancy description given by the website. Is it a lot of traveling, overseas...etc?

    Do the guys you know enjoy it?
     
  16. Apr 4, 2012 at 7:31 AM
    #36
    Alderleet

    Alderleet Ace of Spades

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    From what i've seen at the NSA side of the house at ft meade, I wouldnt want to be intel. Most of the job involves living in a cubicle, lurking deepweb, trying to intercept packets off exit nodes in TOR. The amount of work required to conclude an identity after it has passed through multiple nodes and gotten picked up by you is mind numbing, compound that by adding the fun of secured hard drives, truecrypted volumes, SWAP disabled ram on the end targets computer. The just to piss in your cheerios, it turns out to be joe schmo, who wasnt doing anything, is you end target. Waste of fucking time and resources.


    To add the the amazing discussion going on so far, it really doesnt matter to much what you get your degree in, as long as its useful. Be sure to be a LEADER first and foremost. If you cant lead your way out of a wet paper bag, and you got your degree in zoology or something equally fucking worthless, you will get the axe. it make not be quick, but if you manage to make Capt, you will get passed over for Maj and axed at you HYT.

    Also as a fresh 2lt, do not ever assumed you are smarter than your enlisted folks because you've got your bachelors in something. I've gotten into a pissing match before with a LT because they assumed their degree made them smarter than me, and much better qualified to lead than me. I promptly tore him apart. Dont ever go up against a mech engineer, who doubles as an amateur fusioneer with your worthless piece of shit of OSU bachelors degree that states you studied phytoplankton for 4 years and smoked weed everyday.
     
  17. Apr 4, 2012 at 11:05 AM
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    CNEDEER

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    What about the special investigations field? Any info on that?
     
  18. Apr 4, 2012 at 12:39 PM
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    ross123

    ross123 Well-Known Member

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  19. Apr 4, 2012 at 12:44 PM
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    :confused:
     
  20. Apr 4, 2012 at 3:39 PM
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    nelson18matt

    nelson18matt Well-Known Member

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