Air Force Questions.?

Question

These are a few questions pertaining to my interests to get some background. I have talked to a recruiter, she mentioned a lot of this, but now after talking about all the good things I want to know how "good" they are or is it just sloganeering.
1. Do you get free time (weekends)? Do you get around an hour to yourself every day?
2. The schools they pay for are military schools or any schools?
3. How long do you stay at a base, averagely, until you move?
4. Is becoming an E3 (taking the 6 year over the 4 year) ranking worth it?
5. Is it easy going to college while in the Air Force?
6. How much you are getting a month be financially suitable? Will you be able to save money or will most of it go to weekly costs.

That is all for now.

Answer 1

If you have doubts about the recruiter's information, then you don't want to enlist. Weekends to yourself, generally that is almost always the case, but you have to remember that you are in the military 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year around. The schools they pay for are any accredited schools. Your stay at any particular base is determined by the needs of the military. Being and E3 certainly would benefit you more financially. You can go to college while in on active duty, but only during your off duty time such as night schools. Money? You can only save money if you know how to save. Your call.

Answer 2

1. Yes, you will get free time. depending on you job it may not be much. My husband is a crew chief and work 12 hour shifts. He does have most weekends off. He is required to work one weekend a month though.
2. I'm not sure what you mean by schools. If you are talking about college, you can go to any accredited school to get a degree. Due to work, most Acitve Duty people can get an associates in about 4 years a bachelors in 6. You will go to tech at a military installation and go to many military schools over your career
3. How ong you stay on a base differs. Some people will be on one base for thier entire career, while others will move every 2 years. Some is by choice, some is not. Depends on your job and what the demand is where you are and where you wnat to go
4. the E-3 rank is well worth it. My husband took the 6 year to get the extra stripe. He made SSgt in 3 years.
5. It's not that easy to go to school while working. Like I said it depends on your shift and job. There are many acredited on-line schools but it would be hard to devote yourself to more than 1 or 2 classes at a time.
6. My husband is a E-5 and wwe have 1 child. We save very very little. When he was an E-3 and E-4 there were NO savings left after living. If you are single, have no bills and live in the dorms, you could definitely save some money. But it won't be much. You will need a car for sure. Most bases do not have public transportation (shuttle service) and most dorms are not near the majority of the work areas.

Answer 3

1- Yes, you get most weekends off but there are always times when a training exercise is happening or some sort of "mandatory fun" is required or even the occassional desk duty for a day but for the most part your weekends are your own.
2- They'll pay for just about any school. Just talk to your recruiter.
3- Average is a couple of years I believe. Some request to stay longer and remain in the same place their entire time in service, other's move on. You have a little bit of control over the situation. Not much, but you can make requests. On average, expect to spend at least 2 years in the same place unless you go overseas, in which case the tour of duty may be shorter.
4- E3 is a significantly higher level of pay, however, extended time in service is not the only way to obtain this rank. You can work your way into it. Another question for the recruiter. Your chosen MOS may affect how quickly you can gain rank. That's an important factor to look into!
5- Yes.
6- It all depends on how much personal debt you incur. If you're wise and do not take on large credit card debts then you'll have sufficient money to make a car payment and still have spending money. You won't have to worry about food, shelter or medical expenses. Many young people make the mistake of running out to purchase an expensive car and rack up hundreds and thousands of dollars in credit card debt. Just spend your money wisely and you'll have more than enough!

Answer 4

1. Depends on what job (AFSC) you come in as. I get about an hour lunch break everyday, and I work from 0730 to 1630 (4:30 pm, sorry)
2. Not sure, haven't gotten that far yet.
3. Depends on what job you have. I'll tell you right now, Security Forces (cops) come and go a lot more often than I do as an Information Manager
4. I only signed up for four years, but a friend of mine from Tech School signed for six. I didn't think it was worth it at first, especially right when I was in Basic, but I may change my mind. If the town you live in is low on economy (like mine was), the military may be the best thing for you.
5. Don't know about that one.
6. E-2 (Airman) gets a pretty good paycheck, until you blow it on car insurance (don't do what I did!!). The higher up the ranks you go, the more money you make, and you can save it or blow it.

Answer 5

#1 The Air Force is a 24/7 operation, so shift work is common, but yes you will normally get days off. Most of the time the hours are much like a normal civilian job.
#2 any school
#3 The Air Force has found that moving people around all the time is not always in their best interest. Now they do have over seas commitments that need to be filled, but here in the states they don't move you around every three years like they use to. There are lots of guys that when they go over seas they will request where they were as their returning duty station and get it. This is cool when you have a family.
#4 Absolutely,,, that is unless you don't like getting paid. This is one of the best incentives they offer.
#5 Depends,,, it is difficult with some jobs because of the amount of travel (medi-vac, crew chiefs, etc,etc)
#6 It isn't bad, of course rank makes a huge difference, and it is up to you how quickly rank comes along,,,, or not

Answer 6

1. eventually. Basic training, not so much, but afterwards, yes.

2. Military run. they are NOTHING like civilian schools in the sense of you learning misc. stuff.. your entire concentration will be on your primary job. so, no English or History(unless it's AF history)

3. Each job will have a rotation..as little as 2 years to as long as 5 years in any one place.

4. more pay, more responsibility, slightly less crap to deal with. yeah, it's worth it.

5. yes, and no. the AF will always have priority, so the job will come first. is it possible to do? yes, but it will take a lot longer(average is 7 years to complete a 4 yr degree) and in some cases, your Command may not allow you to take classes on your own time if the job isn't getting done.

6. Basic pay is based on rank and Time in Service. Married personnel also qualify for some additional allowances. As a single, however, it is VERY easy to save a lot of money.. room and board is provided so you won't have those expenses..so long as you live inthe Barracks and eat in the galley and not spend money foolishly. Invest in the Thrift Savings plan and the GI Bill.

Answer 7

First, the Air Force is not fading away. If anything, its role in warfare is expanding. The battles of the future will not be fought on the seas by a surface Navy. Certainly ground troops will be needed, but the vast majority of damage will be caused from the air. The diferences between an enlisted person and an officer are these: Enlisted personnel volunteer for service. They do not receive commissions, and usually have no college degrees. Officers are commissioned. They almost without exception have college degrees. Officers give orders to enlisted personnel. Officers are "superior" to enlisted personnel. What you will do with your son, should you choose to enlist would be your problem to solve. The military does not baby sit, its enlisted personnel or their offspring. Do I think it's a good idea? I can't answer that for you. All I can say is that it was the right decision for me.

Answer 8

In the Air force as with any other job, your free time will be the off hours. My two sisters were in Supply so they had their weekends and all the government holidays. I was in a technical position in a 24/7 operation and I only had days off that I was scheduled to be off or took leave.
Many schools work their degree program with classes right on base. i.e. University of Maryland.
The time you are on base again depends on what job you do. I was back in the states for 13 months when I recieved my orders to go back overseas. My sisters stayed at their bases for years.
Taking the e-3 for the extra time is totally up to you. Everyone is different.
yes it's easy to go to college in the Air Force. Again, alot of it depends on your job.
You alone can determine what is financially suitable. They publish their salaries, so look at what they offer compaired to what your bills are and make the determination for yourself.

Answer 9

1-Yes,you get free time everyday.Once you finish all of your training and get to a unit,it's just like a regular job with hours.Usually 0700 to 1630 with an 1130 to 1300 chow time.Just remember it's the military and they pretty much own you.

2-The schools they pay for is what they send you to.Now if you opt to put money into your GI bill (100 dollars a month for 12 months) then you get upto 30,000 after your enlistment for college or trade school.

3-Depends.I think Air force training is 6 weeks,then however long your mos school is (depends on what you choose.Anything having to do with aircraft repair,or intel will be a looooong school!),then you'll do probably a three year stay at a base,unless it's over seas than it's one year.

4-Generally in any branch except the Marines,you'll be an E-5 within four years.I'd go with a four year enlistment for right now.

5-While in the Marines it was a pain in the rear.You'll have to deal with you platoon sgt and the rest of your command always saying crap like,"Oh don't think because you got classes..."In the Air Force I'm willing to bet that it's not like that.

6-Yes.Once you get to e-3 with 3 years in it'll start to be not bad money.Everyone has to start at the bottom.While living on base,everything is provided for you,so your expenses are what you choose to have,such as car insurance/registration,phone /cable/internet in your room,things like that.You'll be able to save money if you don't blow your money at the bar or strip club like alot of other dudes will.And trust me they will,and they'll ask to borrow money from you.A tip I learned the hard way.DON'T GIVE THEM CRAP!!!

Answer 10

Your duty station and job assignment will determine what shift and hours you have.

If you are a clerk in an office you may have M-F hours, if you work in the Mess hall you may work weekends, if you work on the flight line you can work any and all shifts,

It is just like jobs in private life, police, fire fighters, hospital, restraunts and so work every day.

They will provide needed military training, you will get opportunity to do college courses.

yes starting out as a E3 is worth in,

saving money depends on how much you spend and waste just like if you went to work at Walmart