My Son wants to join Air Force I dont think its good idea. Help me out.

OP, I didn't read every post in the thread but I will share my thoughts.

I 100% understand your concern. There are so many reasons for a parent to worry about their child joining any branch of service. From "wasting" years/time to being injured or worse...I get it.

But, I will say not joining is one thing I regret having not done in my youth. It is one of the few things, given the opportunity, I would change. Knowing what I know now, I would have served.

I say give him your feelings and let it go. Don't attempt guilting him into doing what you want him to do. After you've given you thoughts, I think you should support him and help him choose a path that fits him and turns into the best benefit for him.

Maybe college isn't for him right now. I'm not a college graduate or retired military but, I work in an industry that hires a lot of ex AF and make an okay living.

Not sure how it works but, is there anything that can be done in an attempt to ensure he is able to achieve his goals while serving? In other words will he be assured he's allowed to pursue his career path of choice prior to joining?

Either way, sounds like you have a son you can be very proud of...

Good luck & keep us posted.

 

I am pretty sure he was just making a joke. Hell even I took it as a joke. Relax man.

 

The Navy also uses gas turbines in the small and mid sized ships now, have for awhile. It isn't the cost of fuel they don't use natural gas. It is the high cost of owning and operating a steam plant with the feed, generation, expansion, and condensation phases in both people and equipment.

In the Navy it is called propulsion engineer, at a power plant it is called a stationary engineer. The stationary engineers have a trade magazine called Power and in the back page is a section called "Salty Dog". All those stationary engineers for the most part are ex Navy pit snipes. Salty Dog had an article years ago before I was ready to retire saying computer systems would take over the job of many people currently employed in the power industry. I talked to several power generation companies before I retired and sure enough every one of them was laying off and automating systems getting rid of staff. People are your number one operating cost in most every organization. Everyone gave me a hard time for working on my degrees in my spare time and claimed when they got out they would be making more at a power plant than I was with a degree. As a Machinist Mate you also were expected to know AC&R and could not advance without a working knowledge of it. I assume there are a few AC&R jobs in Az. yet...

I decided to not only get back into computer systems but process and workflow mapping and improvement. HOW did these systems get in the door and why? First 4 years after retiring from the Navy I was in many vertical markets. The computer systems we put in changed a lot of lives, I said I never was responsible for laying someone off but allocated their resources for use elsewhere. Many older people elected to retire instead of learn new skills and some younger people left for other jobs. In today's changing world you have to be agile no matter what you do.

Cold Iron is a Navy Engineering term that means the plant is shutdown and you are receiving hotel services from the pier. You are home finally... It also is the title of a poem written by Rudyard Kipling which is the reason many of us joined in the first place. When the posturing and talking is over there is only one thing that wins every time. And in every place, although some don't like to hear it or believe it. It is called Real World Shit by the Seals.

Gold is for the mistress — silver for the maid —
Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.
"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall,
"But Iron — Cold Iron — is master of them all."

 

i say let him. He can still go to school while in the military. You should support him cause the last say so is his.Its best for him to see you support him. I have been in the army for 12 yrs and my parents supported me and it makes all the differents

 

It doesn't matter what anyone of say about what he should do...the bottom line is that HIS father supports his decision, shows him love, and gives him all the blessing a young man deserves from his Hero..and that my friend.... is you....

 

I haven't read all the posts in this thread, but thought I'd put in my 2 cents. I dropped out of college after a bit over a year and enlisted in the Navy. The college background helped a lot in the Navy technical school I attended and the Navy discipline (and the GI Bill) helped me a lot when I got out and returned to school. I noticed the ex-GIs in my classes all did better than those fresh out of high school. I think that in the long run your son will be a better person for having served in the military.

 

I agree . My nephew was in the air force and just got out and it was the best thing he could of done

 

My parents would not let me go into the military after high school. Still hold it against them 10 years later. I now just do whatever i want..lol

 

Well, I almost read all of the posts but I stopped.

I have been in for 11 years and enlisted as an Aircraft Mechanic for six years which helped me to get me civilian ratings to work on civilian aircraft (Air frame & Power plant)

Tuition assistance helped me get my degree and allowed me to get my commission which led me to be a Navigator for a couple years. I then retrained to be a Pilot which also led to my civilian ratings to fly. I am still in and have enjoyed the ever changing ride.

My wife has followed me since the beginning and we both agree that it was one of the best decisions we have ever made.

The AF has been cutting people since I joined in 2003 but I have always never had to worry about getting cut. If you do well and continue to have good performance reports you should be fine if you understand what a good performance report requires. They will continue to accept people because if they don't there will be a career gap for the entire life the cycle for those they didn't accept. There are a lot of details and possibilities but it's not a bad decision.

My brother told me that he thinks the military is a good place for those who don't know what they want to do in life, but don't be fooled. I have known that I want to be here my whole life and the AF has helped me help myself achieve some of the greatest goals I have ever had. If you have questions PM me and I would be happy to talk to you or him. I will not however tell anyone it is a bad decision, but it may not be for everyone.

 

I have a good friend who wanted to join the Air Force out of high school, and his parents made him go to a 4 year college instead. He now has a 4 year degree in getting hammered, $100k in student debt and works as a bank teller, and still wants to join the air guard. so Its a tough one for sure.

 

I determined I was "too smart" for college after one year and enlisted in the USAF...retired after 20 years...now living a life I wouldn't have otherwise had without college...and the experience/training goes a long way. Just encourage him to get a guaranteed job in a career field with a future both in and out of the service...


The USAF is the most high-tech service (valuable training and experience) and they treat their peeps better than any other service... (Everyone else - bring on the attacks)

 

I know a guy who enlisted in the AF when he was college age. He was getting drafted into the Army and chose to volunteer for the AF instead. He's 60 now, learned computers while he was in and followed it up with a college degree (software engineering) paid for by the GI bill. I don't know what kind of money he makes, but he's doing very, very well by the looks of it. If I recall correctly he never left the country either. To be honest, I wish I'd done something similar, military service opens a lot of doors, and from what I have heard joining the Navy or AF is a lot lower threat level than joining the Army or Marines. And, of course, serving our country is a very admirable thing, God bless him for stepping up.

 

I took a "break" from college at 19 to join the Army National Guard. Best choice I've ever made. Got back and hit college with a new outlook and GI bill to boot. Now I have the choice to retire in 6 years… Oh and I finished all 4 years with a slight interruption to be deployed for a year.

 

A little off topic but, how does this happen? Can parents actually stop a child from going to the military once they are 18?

 

No, I know a guy who didn't tell his parents he was going to the army until the day he left. Pretty crappy for them but I guess they didn't get along.

 

And I wanted to say the same god bless future, current and past service men and women for what risk. Did 12 years army getting med boarded now

 

Looks like there are lots of replies here, but here is another vote for 2 things:

Don't try and keep him from doing what he wants, this is his life.

Joining is an excellent thing, and he should do it.

Feel lucky he is choosing the AF! I spent 6 years in, and know hundreds of people from all services. 99.9% will admit that they would join the AF if given the chance again. The AF treats its people the best, period.

It doesn't take much to research GI Bill and other benefits, I highly suggest you do so. It is not difficult to qualify for full GI Bill (even less than the 4 year tour gets you 100% bennies.) YES, it will pay to finish his college for him. If he is extra smart, he will finish his bachelors while in (taking advantage of TA while it still exists) and use GI Bill for the Masters or whatever he wants next if/when he gets out.

Cyber security is a great field to join. It is one of the FEW that directly correlate to a civilian job. That is what I do, and I have had 0 issues finding employment outside the AF. I have way more job offers than I could ever need, and my AF experience and training is what allowed that. I make much more than a person with a bachelors degree and several years of experience would, with my 10 years (6 AF, 4 out) of experience in the field. It is a GOOD idea.

That is all.

-Ron

 

Joining the military was one of the best decisions of my life.

 

A year and a half into college I bailed and volunteered for the draft, US Army, served in the Nam as a cook in a combat engineer Co. Thought I'd like to operated heavy equipment, got the chance on time off, got my mind changed, got out and went back to college and got a BS. Best thing for me. A great learning experience that has lasted a life time.

The sacrifices you made for your son are commendable but don't use them to force your will on him. It will just make him resentful. They were a gift you gave and once given they are no longer yours. You did your best it's time to let him fly and for you to stand back and watch and be ready to get him back on his feet if things don't work out. Over and over again if needed.

Been there done that with my own two kids.

 

Yes there is a small amount of uncertanty in job security. But if it comes down to it and he enlists and does 4 years and than gets out or gets forced out he will still get his GI bill and has a free college and money for housing. So that ends up saving you money in the long run. So yes it pushes his education back a couple years but he can also work towards his degree while in the service. We get $4500 a year for college for free not to mention all the CLEP/DANTES and NCPACE stuff. It makes it very easy to get a college degree in the military and for next to nothing.