I have a 5year old and my husband is active army,can I join the air force?

Question

I am 23 years old,married to an active army medic.I would like to join the air force,but the airforce is giving me a lot of red tape.They said I cannot be enlisted because I have a five year old and my husband is active military.I would have my sister- in -law take care of my daughter while I am at basic and AIT,they said I still cannot enlist.Is there any way around the red tapes.I really want to enlist.Please help! Any answers would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Good for you!!! I don't know why you'd have a problem besides the military trying to station both of you somewhere together would be quite hard. I don't know of any AF/Army bases. Why don't you wanna be in the Army too? That might solve your problem. As long as you have a "Family Care Plan" you shouldn't have any problems in the Army.

Answer 2

Sad to say you are your own person, therefore you can do what you want to do but seeing how you are already partially in a section of the military you may have a hard time with red tape. That is the red tape you should be talking about is whether or not your husband is willing to have you in another service.. Go to your Army Personnel Office and first get information about depende spouse joining another section of the military and then go to an Air Force Recruiter and begin the process of joining them. I would really go to the Air Force recruiter first and see if he can help you. If he is not on your side your chances of getting in are nil. You have to pass your ASVAB also in order to get in to the Air Force. The AF recruiter will help you to take that. My sister went from the Air Force into the Army reserves and she had two children so I am quite sure it is possible but you must pass that test. Now the military has shrunk down since my sister and I were both in so there is a possibility that the test and requirements may have become stricter since then. Good luck and don't give up easily.

Answer 3

You are not looking at the bigger picture. You have to take several things into consideration. For one, your husband is in the Army and you would be in the Air Force.....when will you ever see him? You will be stationed one place and him another place. Second, the Air Force does deploy. Have you thought what would happen to your daughter if you were to deploy the same time your husband was deployed? Sure, the in-laws sounds like a perfect plan, but are you thinking about how unstable that would be for your child? The Air Force is not taking you because they have dealt with this situation more than once and are tired of wasting their money on people who separate under hardship....and trust me, that is what would happen. Is your will to join the military more powerful than thinking about your child's best interest? Sounds to me you want to join for more reasons than just supporting your country....selfish reasons maybe? I find it strange for someone with a military spouse and a child that is depending on you as the only constant thing in their life to want to leave....almost like you are running away from something

Answer 4

For your type of job ( Husband too) you both will have to have a college degree. Also the military stays away from 18 year olds who have children. ( Who will take care of the little ones) They will consider you but please remember the first three years in the military you will be gone over seas most of the time. If you do get state side you will work 60 to 70 hours a week. The veterinarian field is now done by civilians with college degrees. I would say if you get into the military school is not an option. ( remember you work 60 to 70 hours a week) All you do is Eat, sleep and work.

Answer 5

Wow, I'm really suprised by that. Many married couples are in the military and have children whom live and are cared by extended family members. I'm not too sure, I'd love to know why not though, have you taken this question further up the chain of command? I'd ask that of maybe another recruting office elsewhere perhaps, see what they say. Your husband is active military, would he be able to ask anyone? I wonder if it's an airforce thing maybe, they all have their different enlistment requirements you could say. Good luck!

Answer 6

That would be extremely difficult. First, you might not both be stationed at the same place....maybe not even in the same state. Then, what happens if you are both deployed?? Do you have someone who can take care of your child for a year or more?? The only possibility that I could see would be joining the Army.....though I wouldn't recommend it. Having ONE parent gone for years at a time is hard enough on a child, never mind having both gone. Think of your child.......

Answer 7

You husband is active..... GOD FORBID something should happen to HIM while you are off to basic training or if YOU should get deployed somewhere like IRAQ and then your little girl has SUCH a big chance of becoming an ORPHAN---is that really fair to your daughter? Do you want to be in TEXAS somewhere unable to leave if anything should happen to your CHILD too??? (Texas being where Lackland Air Force Base is where you probably would go for basic training)......... That child doesn't know from military to war to anything except that her Daddy is gone and if YOU go, that will CRUSH that child emotionally....and I do NOT want to hear---"OH SHE IS ONLY 5, SHE WILL GET OVER IT" because I am almost 57 and I REMEMBER being 5 and MOST of what happened way back then....you want to do something productive with your life? GET A JOB that you like and one that doesn't take you away from your CHILD.. if that child isn't the NUMBER 1 PRIORITY IN YOUR LIFE, you should NOT HAVE GIVEN BIRTH TO HER.

Answer 8

I understand your desire to serve - i too felt the pull when my husband endedup getting deployed to Iraq - it quickly desolved when i saw what my kids went through. I would hate to have them with anyone else but one of their parents during that time. But that is my opinion. now on to the facts.
The Air Force has regulations and this is one of them - no way around it - http://airforce.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/airforce.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=126&p_created=1043963338&p_sid=fcs9gYEi&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MSZwX3Byb2RzPSZwX2NhdHM9MTgmcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0xLjE4JnBfcGFnZT0xJnBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9UGFyZW50&p_li=&p_topview=1
Question
Can I give up custody of my dependent(s) to join the Air Force?

Answer
The AF recognizes that some individuals, for personal reasons, have given up custody of a child or children. Transferring custody of family members for the purpose of entering the AF is prohibited and renders the enlisted program applicant "Permanently disqualified”. It is not the intent or desire of the Air Force to require any person to relinquish custody of his or her children to qualify for enlistment. Single member parent applicants who, at the time of initial processing for enlistment, indicate they have a child or children in the custody of the other parent or another adult will be advised and required to acknowledge by certification that their intent at the time of enlistment was not to enter the Air Force with the express intention of regaining custody after enlistment. These applicants must execute an Air Education and Training Command Form 1328, Statement of Understanding for Single Member Parent Having Dependents in the Custody of Another

Answer 9

they will not let you join due to your husband being active already and plus you have the baby.and your sister in law can not take care of your baby remember your are married to a memeber of the armed forces and i twould like to say thank you to him .and god bless the 3 of you . and i would also like to say thank you for wanting to join and serve .you ar edoing alot right now for your husband and there is alot more you can do for the other that are in look into the support groups where you can help others do things .but for you to enlist there is nothing no one can do for you

Answer 10

Don't know what the prob is there are a lot of single parents in the military, try and contact another recruiter and see if they are saying the same thing.

Thank your husband for serving and if you succeed in joining congratulations and Thank you.

Vet-USAF 44MMS