A few months ago, I wrote an article outlining the myths of being in a military family. Most of them were negative, but they were true. However, I am very proud to be a member of the United States Air Force. There may be someone out there that is thinking about joining the military but not sure which branch to join. With obvious bias, I would say the Air Force and from my experiences here is why.
Your Coworkers are a cut above the rest. When you decide to join the military, you have to take a test called the ASVAB which stands for Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. It just sees what basic skills you have in different areas like mechanical, electrical, administrative, etc. The higher your score, the more job options you have. The Air Force’s minimum score is always higher than the other branches. The Army’s minimum overall score is 31 out of 99, whereas the Air Force’s is 36. However, if you take a look at the minimum scores required to qualify for certain jobs, you’ll see that the qualifications can be tough. Even working in public affairs requires a score of at least 69 in the General category!
Housing Is Better. I lived near Fort Bragg, a huge Army base in Fayetteville, North Carolina. In the middle of the place was a small Air Force Base called Pope Air Force Base. Comparing the housing, it was like crossing the railroad tracks to the wrong side of town when you left Pope Housing and went to Army Housing. I’ve even been to another base where different branches worked and Air Force had priority over other branches when it came to getting better-conditioned homes. Even the new Air Force members have it nice.
Less than 10 years ago I was living in the dorms. I lived in a single room with air conditioning, plenty of closet and drawer space and only had to share the bathroom with one other person. And I was in an outdated dorm. The Air Force eventually built newer dorms for us that came with reclining chairs, captain’s beds, personal phone/cable/internet lines, and a shared kitchen and bathroom. And now even those are outdated because the Air Force is leaning towards a more modern, college-like dorm set up. Ask the Marine Corps and Army guys how many roommates they have. My brother had 3 roommates and his room was only slightly bigger than my room from 10 years ago!
Education. You can practically get an Associate’s degree by showing up to work everyday and training. I acquired Associates in Applied Maintenance Technology after taking 6 months of REQUIRED training courses within 4 years as well as working on the job. Fortunately I came in with college experience so I only had to take one outside course. But even if you have to take general courses on the side while you work, you can get years of work experience in a technical field, an Associate’s degree and an opportunity to go to school within 4 years! There are people flipping burgers 7 nights a week to pay for school and you did it while working something a little more career-driven.
The G.I. Bill benefits alone are worth it if you don’t want to take classes while in the Air Force. I paid 100 bucks a month for a year so I could get money to cover grad school. That was 10 years ago. Right now if I got out the Air Force I have almost $50,000 in education money, all for investing $100 a month for a year! And if I took classes while I was in, tuition assistance covers the cost. What kind of opportunities can compare to that for your average 18 year-old?
Hi-Tech Work Experience. On the most basic of levels, I’m a jet engine mechanic by trade. However, I’m a jet engine mechanic on the C-17 Globemaster, the Air Force’s premiere airlifter. It’s the most technologically advanced cargo aircraft in the world. If you saw the amount of wires, diagrams, computer schematics that involved changing any parts on the aircraft, your jaw would drop. You have to halfway become a pilot to run the engines for operational checkouts. The flight decks are all digital. Even our work manuals are digital. You have to know PSI, hydraulics, pneumatics, ohms, and volts, all kinds of technical and mechanical systems before you even open the engine doors to see what is wrong. And that’s just being a jet mechanic or aerospace propulsion craftsman as we put it now. There are dozens of jobs that are more technical than that in the Air Force as well. We don’t get everything from here to there in a matter of days by using an abacus.
Shorter Deployments. An Army friend of mine spent a year in Afghanistan as an Air Force traffic controller. She managed to help coordinate when the planes took off, landed, and who went in what order. The whole time she was there she worked with Air Force people in the same job, except there was one difference: a new crew came in every 3 or 4 months, while she stayed there. That’s the nature of the Air Force. We’re pretty committed to getting people back at least every few months so we can recuperate, spend time with the families and go back out as opposed to keeping us away for lengthy periods of time, draining morale. The nature of our business doesn’t require long, extended deployments on a consistent basis because we have the technology and training capability to keep it short and effective.
I could go on about more and more benefits you get from being in the Air Force, but a lot of them you can only appreciate once you are in. I only intended to stay 4 years to pay for my Master’s Degree. I had no intent of being an officer or anything like that. But 10 years later, I have no regrets for serving my country in this way. It is still hard work regardless of your field, but at least you are taken care of better than any of the other services. If you are thinking about joining the service, I encourage you to look long and hard at the Air Force.
