enlisting in air force.......

[Looneybomber]

I'm not familiar with too many reserve jobs. Actually, I don't know of any. Everyone in my flight at basic was either active or guard.

Why do you say nat guard jobs are crappy?

[jsturges18]

oooh ok i just wonder if it has the same jobs as active air force and what i mean is that when i was talking to the recruiter the jobs were either you are a infantryman or some type of mechanic. which im not enlisting just to be a mechanic. i want a specialty job but i dont know. maybe i should wait alittle and jst get my mind set on going active

[Hijacker]

Take the pre-ASVAB to get an idea of what your job choices will be. The Air Force is being REALLY selective right now since there's a glut of incoming enlistees but we're still going through a troop drawdown. I was talking with my line officer recruiter about this back in '09, and the enlisted recruiter in his office had a quota of 1 per month, and there was still a year's wait just to EAD. So basically, if you score low on the ASVAB, the AF will probably turn you away. They're also looking for any reason to drop people from recruiting as well.

I nearly got caught up in that mechanism last year. I was at OTS in Maxwell AFB, AL, and fell out from heat stroke. A month later, I'm being medically disenrolled and told to go home and get better before returning. I filed my paperwork with the OTS CV like instructed, and then AETC caught wind of what happened and basically told me I had no chance of getting back in due to my discharge conditions. I spent the last 9 months pushing through the medical systems with a new MEPS physical and a new flight physical and managed to get my waivers for re-entry. I know there are OTs who weren't so lucky. A girl in the class after mine fell during the confidence course and suffered a concussion. They sent her home and denied her re-entry as well (if she managed to get waivers, I don't know). So, the best advice is to make sure that whatever you had surgery on is a waiverable thing. And trust me, your MEPS doctor will put it through the surgeon general for a waiver. A year's wait is a long time for recovery since I know getting a hernia operation is a 6 month wait (or 3 month if you can get the waiver), and lord knows doing situps after having abdominal surgery SUCKS.

I would say go active before looking at the guard. If you go guard, you've still got the 8 year reserve obligation, and they have no problem calling you to active at any point during those 8 years. If you go active, you get good pay, great benefits, and while you still have the reserve obligation, the likeliness of being recalled to active status after your contract is up is very minimal. I have a friend who's in the Army Nat' Guard, and his reserve time is up in October. His unit is deploying within the month, and he was stop lossed till January. Just one of the many ways Uncle Sam gets his time out of you.

As for getting physically prepared, I would find some friends who have been active before and PT with them if they still keep it up. The biggest mistake you can do is what I did when I shipped last year: spend a long time preparing and getting burnt out a month or two before you EAD. I also didn't practice good form when I was preparing, so when it came time to do our PFB (baseline PFA), I failed hard from the combo of being slightly out of shape and not being able to hold proper military form when I was doing the test. Half of my class failed the PFB, but I was the worst offender.

The last piece of advice I have is: HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE. That was the final nail in my coffin last year. We had to drink two camel backs' worth of water as well as 3 glasses of liquid (water or Gatorade) per meal. Maxwell is hot and humid, and the summer weather saps everything from you quickly. San Antonio is just as bad, so if you ship in a warm month, HYDRATE.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

While we're on the subject...I ship on August 3rd for the Navy, any experience there?

[Hijacker]

The wife was a nuke for 8 years, Just make sure your ***hole is lubed up since I do believe that's going to be your rate, IIRC

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

No, got every question right on the ASVAB, got into the Nuke Officer's office, then he informs me I'm colorblind...weak. So that left me with few choices, Aircraft Maintenance Administration being the most enticing.

[Ace2cool]

You like paperwork? That's all an AZ is. You keep logbooks on each aircraft for your squadron. Lots of reading, lots of dealing with higher ranks, LOTS AND LOTS of paperwork.

Gimme a list of jobs they offered you and I'll tell you the best. Being colorblind really puts a damper on all the really kush rates, but there are still some good ones if you're qualified for them.

Also, be prepared to be a janitor for the next 6 months to 3 years, depending on how fast you advance and how long your school is. AZ isn't a bad job if you like paperwork though. I personally can't stand not going out and turning a wrench all day every day. Good thing is, on the carrier, you'll always have air conditioning.

Keep your head down, stay out of sight, out of mind. Don't volunteer for anything. It doesn't give you any brownie points, unless you're coming in as E-1, in which case you may get a meritorious promotion. Best advice is just keep your head down though. Also, just because it is listed on the Plan of the Day, doesn't mean it's going to happen. We were scheduled 4 or 5 phone calls, but we got 2. One was because we won best drilled. Anything that they "guarantee" you, don't count on it. Going to Chapel on Sunday is a privilege that you earn by squaring away your locker and uniforms. Don't be surprised if Chief "finds" something to hit you on during a locker inspection.

[Looneybomber]

Hijacker: How similar is OTS to BMT? I plan on going for my commission once I finish my degree. The guard calls it ALS, but it's the same thing. I'm told it's less physically demanding than BMT, but still just as...I dont want to say dumb...strict? I.E. do you still have to roll shirts, socks, etc. perfectly? How about reporting statements?

[Hijacker]

Compared to BMT, OTS is more mental in nature than physical. There's no physical repercussions when you screw up, instead you just get your flight's collective a** chewed out for a long while. And then once you start making the fake ranks, you start amassing demerits, revoked privileges, and letters of counseling.

I asked the priors in my old flight which was harder, BMT or OTS. It was unanimous that OTS was the more challenging because the staff leaves choices open. At BMT, every decision is made, just keep your head down and follow the plan. At OTS, there's a skeleton of what a plan should be, and the trainees are supposed to fill in the gaps. And I think that's how it should be since the people being commissioned through Maxwell are supposed to be leaders.

As for all the usual military school stuff, yeah. We have to properly roll our clothes, maintain the dorm rooms, etc. There are weekly MTI inspections, and three demerits on the area they inspect will net you an LOC and a failed inspection. I think it's 3 inspections can technically bring you up for a failure to adjust to military life and you can be washed back to the next incoming class.

All of our reporting statements are very by the book. No sir sandwiches, you report (not reporting. I was asked if I was reporting the weather when I did that), etc. Procedure is very big down there, but if you get it down quickly, you don't get hassled as much. If you want to take a look at the rules and regs of OTS, here's the OTSMAN. The OTS website has the Sep '10 manual up. I haven't compared it to my May '10 manual, so I don't know what was changed. But I have a feeling it's probably about heat stress after what happened to me

Now remember, my experience is for BOT. COT and ROTC are different, but they still go through OTS like us 90 day wonders. Guard definitely rolls into BOT.