Does anyone who has done it this way have any thoughts? She is an excellant student but didnt apply for any scholarships since they would pay for her schooling. I see her with some doubts now weather she is making the right choice. She is against student loans and doesnt want the debt. It could just be senioritis also but I realy want to help ease her mind and relieve some of the pressure.
2007-01-28 07:34:46 · 18 answers · asked by grizleygal 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
It is nice that you got a bunch of non military point of views from a bunch of burger flippers.
I can ease your mind some. The Air Force was great to me. I spent 23 years active duty. My son and daughter are also in AF. You have to keep in mind that in the Air Force 99% of the fighting we do is with our jets. Why I say that is we do have special forces in the AF and that makes up less than 1% of our force so they are in the real mix of things. My job in AF was a Jet Mechanic, just what my son does, My daughter is in Life Support she works with the pilots. There are many jobs to be had in AF we are not like what these non military people are telling you. I would not hesitate one bit to have my child go into Air Force, is a great way to grow up and learn to be on your own and not spend 30K a year for school! Best of luck!
2007-01-28 07:52:58 · answer #1 · answered by tbird 3 · 7⤊ 0⤋
My son joined the Navy through the delayed entry program when he was a high school senior.It has turned out to be an excellent choice for him as his job is in nuclear electronics.If your daughter hasn't taken the ASVAB test yet,she should do so soon.Her score will assist determining the jobs she qualifies for.When she has that information,she can make an intelligent and informed decision.
The Air Force offers some of the best training in the world and many of the training schools also count toward college credits.And yes,there is always a chance that she might be in harms way,but there are dangers in daily life,too.
I am proud of my son for his choice of service and I would hope that you are being supportive of your daughter in her choice.I also encourage you to be there at basic training graduation ceremony.It is a time that will be forever etched in your memory.If you need help of any kind with her decision,please look up my profile and email me.I will give you what information and support I can.
2007-01-28 21:03:53 · answer #2 · answered by Michael R 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I've been on active duty with the Air Force for 13 years now, and it has been a great career so far. Thanks to the military, I now have my masters degree, I have no student loans to pay off, I've seen parts of the world most people only read about, my family has full health care benefits, and I have a nice retirement package waiting for me in another 7 years. Even if your daughter just stays in long enough to take advantage of the education benefits, learn a trade, and then leaves the military for a civlian job, she'll be well set, because military experience is a big plus for many companies looking to hire people.
No matter which service your daughter joins, she could potentially find herself in a combat hot-spot at some point in the future. The odds of that are much less in the Air Force though, because as some people have already pointed out, we do most of our fighting with planes that fly from bases outside of the combat area.
If you haven't already spoken with a recruiter, that should be your next step. Take your time though, and make sure this is what she really wants to do before she signs on the dotted line.
2007-01-28 16:38:12 · answer #3 · answered by Gonzo 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
it is one of the best decisions your daughter may have made. I enlisted in the Air Force back in September and i am also a Senior. She is making a wise choice. The benefits are good. even the educational benefits. After she serves at least three yrs on active duty, she can start to take advantage of the GI Bill, which pays basically anything needed for college, room/board,books,even tuition. and while going to college she'll still be getting a paycheck from the military. I will be leaving for bootcamp in the summer and i can tell you that seeing my classmates running around trying to figure out which college they want to go to or what scholarship they should apply for. It is nice to know that everything is taking care of everything for me. She will be taken care of. Our core values in the Air Force are: Integrity First, Service Before Self and Excellence in all we do. your daughter will be safe. and i'm not lying to you, the air force is the safest branch in the military.
2007-01-28 18:52:59 · answer #4 · answered by matt f 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Good question. This was my situation 10yrs ago with the Army. I joined right out of HS cuz I had always wanted to be a soldier. I had no intention to got to college, as it was too expensive for me anyway. I'm glad I joined, however, if I could do over again, I'd have went ROTC in the Army and done the college first, then served as an officer for 4yrs. If no ROTC, I'd atleast have racked up student loans, then joined the army. They'll pay up to $60k of loans for a 4yr enlistment. It's quite a good deal if you want to join the military for the right reasons to begin with. The Air Force is a great service to join if you want to have employability when you get out and either way, she'll be a better person after her enlistment. One last bit of advice: your daughter should have a couple ideas of jobs she wants to do and DON'T settle for the bad jobs they'll try to high pressure sales her with. Good luck!
2007-01-28 18:29:43 · answer #5 · answered by dlondo99 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Has she spoken to a recruiter yet? If not, I suggest that both of you jump in the car and take a drive down to the recruiter's office and get the straight story from him/her. The recruiter can answer a lot of your questions.
It's normal for a senior to be second-guessing their career choice post-high school, especially if they're considering military service. I did the same thing, and ended up staying in the Air Force for a career. Without a doubt, it was the best thing I ever did in my entire life!
For obvious reasons, I think an Air Force career is an outstanding idea, (take a look at my profile and you'll see what I mean) but what it all boils down to is what your daughter thinks of the idea.
Time to take a ride down to the recruiter, don't you think?
Oh, and just ignore all of the lesser-informed, useless comments to the negative that you're going to get from the locals. They know nothing of which they speak.
Especially Debra.
2007-01-28 15:42:40 · answer #6 · answered by Team Chief 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I went into the Air Force after High School and never regretted doing so. Wound up spending 20 years in the AF. Got some crappy assignments, but got to see parts of the world that I never would have otherwise. She has a better chance of getting shot in Washington, D.C. than she does in Iraq.
The retirement benefits are great. You will notice a great change in her after she completes basic training. The crowd she used to associate will seem like children to her. She will learn to accept responsibility for her actions.
All this presupposes she tries her best to make a go of the military. If she doesn't, it can be an unpleasant experience. Even if she just spends one hitch, it will change her forever, most of the time making her a better person.
2007-01-28 15:55:14 · answer #7 · answered by Michael C 2 · 6⤊ 0⤋
From the responses, you can see those will REAL knowledge, and those who have done nothing, and have no knowledge whatsoever.
As others have said, unless she selects a combat-related AFSC, like , enlisted air crew, Security Forces, Tactical Air Control, and Combat Communications, it's unlikely she will she imminent danger. Though, she WILL most likely deploy to Iraq sometime during her career. (Unless we pull out in the near future-possible.)
I just retired about almost 21 years, and have no regrets. I agree that enlisted promotions are slower in the AF than the Army, but quality of life is immeasurable better.
The best thing is for both of you to visit a recruiter. Keep in mind, that contrary to what you may have heard, the AF is actually CUTTING personnel, and we have close to 100% retention. So, the recruiter's not going to be under a lot of pressure to sign anyone up. But, there are jobs that are more popular than others; if you aren't prepared, they may try to push those-like any other salesman. Be frank about your concerns. I suggest you and your daughter discuss what she wants to do, so she's armed going in.
If she, or you, have questions about different AF jobs, feel free to PM me.
2007-01-28 16:37:07 · answer #8 · answered by jim 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I'm with TBird. His answer is solid, intelligent, balanced, and he speaks from experience, of course. I was in the Army, but didn't make a career of it. I now work for the Department of Defense, though.
I don't know whether the negative-sounding answers came from burger flippers, but they certainly didn't sound like answers an intelligent, experienced adult would provide.
Among all the services, I tend to think that promotions come more slowly in the Air Force. I think TBird would agree. However, there are certain quality of life issues that can significantly affect ones decision about which branch of the service to join and it's not much of a secret that the Air Force has the advantage when it comes to the quality of life aspect of this matter, too.
Good luck, Godspeed to your daughter, and thank her for thinking about serving our country ... An honorable and noble purpose, indeed.
2007-01-28 16:02:45 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I think that with the current political climate I personally would try to dissuade my daughter from the service but in the service you do get great training for many jobs that translate into good money after the term of service is over, decent pay(for a single girl) considering they buy the clothes, the housing, the food, unless she chooses to live off base. There are good and bad in every decision but this one will absolutely require her to stay for 4 years, if she stays home and goes to community college for a couple terms then decides to go into the service that would I think be better. She would be making her decision based on rational thinking instead of worry about the cost. If she looks she can go to college and not end up in debt, she can get grants and scholarships, work a job part time and pay some for school with it, some employers have great programs that pay you to go to school (you show them a report card with an A on it they give you certain amount of money for it to go toward next term).
2007-01-28 15:50:35 · answer #10 · answered by Amberlyn4 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋