I was thinking about joining the U.S. Air Force but is it really worth it?

Question

Well im a freshman in college and im strongly intrested in joining the U.S Air Force as a Commanding Officer. Even though im taking zero credit courses now my major is strongly related to computer science. More into computer information sciences. I know what President Bush is doing in Iraq is really fuc%ed up. Is it really worth it? If it is what do i need to do in order to be fully prepared? I'm just not sure.

Answer 1

If you are asking if serving your country is "worth it," then my answer is, "ABSOLUTELY."

You don't join any service as a Commanding Officer. You join it as as a raw O-1 with nothing between you ears but a drive to serve your country. If you join a good service, you are promoted based only on your performance evaluations, the recommendations of your superiors, and the needs of the service. If you are ready for command, you'll get it.

As I recall... way back when... computer science courses were 3-4-unit courses. They were when I was Computer Department Chair. The only way one would get zero credits is by failing. If you're talking about "project management,: it's a total waste of time. My doctoral thesis bashes project management "education." You can no more teach a person to be a manager in a classroom than you can teach a pilot to fly in a classroom, or a dancer to dance by reading a book.

You want to get prepared? Do what I did. I enlisted with a degree. If you do that, you learn what guys think, what motivates them, the kinds of people for whom they want to work. Three years later my CO suggested I become an officer and recommended me to OCS.

What you don't want to do is leave school with delusions of grandeur. Don't think that, because you have some "zero-credit" degree "related" to "information science" that you have any concept of your subject, that you're fit for command, or that you know anything about the military. Don't even come out of OCS with those delusions.

Finally, in a quarter of a century I served under several Presidents. Personal opinion, only the one under which I joined was worthy to hold te office of Commander and Chief of the military. But, kid, they were all at the top of my food chain, and it was my job to "well and faithfully execute the duties of the office" I chose to enter. You don't have to like your boss. If you want to keep your job, you have to show him the respect his position demands. You can't sit in a corner and sulk, saying, "If you don't play the way I want... I just won't plan." That's part of growing up.

If you can't do that, I'd suggest that, at least for you, it's not worth it. You don't love your country enough.

Answer 2

First off, I think that anyone who can serve their country should serve their country. Enlisting in the Air Force was the best thing that I could have done to ensure a sucessful life. If you ever graduate from college you can either enlist or go into a commisioning program. There are only a handful of "Commanding Officers" in the Air Force. I'm sure you were talking about becoming a commissioned officer. If not, and you just want to be in charge, you are better off staying a civillian. Oh, and because you stated that you are a freshman in college let me be very clear on something...

YOU DON'T "KNOW" ANYTHING!

You aren't old enough to "know" anything. You have just entered another level of education. What you "know" is just propaganda that the liberal college you attend has shoved down your throat and convinced you of its "truth". There are facts and there is truth. Facts are real. Truth is perception.

What is fact, is that if you ever want to join the Air Force you will have to ensure that you do you best to LEARN how to be a leader AND a follower. The PT and the indoctrination come during training. It will change you as a person. No matter what military service you join, after you've been through training you aren't the same person as you were before.

Off of my soapbox now. Cheers!

Answer 3

Suppose you want to make the US military your career choice. How long will you be there, assuming you don't get killed or disabled? 20 years 40 years?

Look back over the last 30 years or so of the US military. How much of what it has done has been something that can give you pride?

e.g. Strategic Air gave US freedom and survival during the Cold War.

How many conflicts were embarrassing ... Vietnam Iraq
How many were glorious ... Grenada Korea

Your career will span both glorious and embarrassing conflict. Once in, you cannot be criticising your assignments.

This is similar to being in business. You get a job. Your boss asks you to do stuff you don't like. You see the company is doing stuff of which you do not approve.

Well you can find another job, but it can be very difficult to find a job when your reason for leaving the prior one is that you had moral qualms about them doing stuff that all businesses are doing.

You don't get to join the military as a commanding officer.
You don't get to join a business as a top boss (unless you own the company).

People join at the lowest rung. They get experience. They get opportunities for education. If they do a good job they get opportunities for advancement.

Perhaps you could take some classes via the ROTC to see if this stuff is to your liking.

Answer 4

I'm in the Air Force and if you want to be a "commanding officer" it will take you about 15+ years of service to get into a Commander's position. Usually Lt. Colonel and above. The BEST degrees for being commissioned as an officer are engineering degrees. Also keep in mind that the Air Force is also in the middle of separating thousands of officers due to over manning.

Answer 5

Not in my words but the words of Sgt. Eddie Jeffers
"We are the hope of the Iraqi people. They want what everyone else wants in life: safety, security, somewhere to call home. They want a country that is safe to raise their children in. Not a place where their children will be abducted, raped and murdered if they do not comply with the terrorists demands. They want to live on, rebuild and prosper. And America has given them the opportunity, but only if we stay true to the cause and see it to its end. But the country must unite in this endeavor...we cannot place the burden on our military alone. We must all stand up and fight, whether in uniform or not. And supporting us is more than sticking yellow ribbon stickers on your cars. It's supporting our President, our troops and our cause.

Right now, the burden is all on the American soldiers. Right now, hope rides alone. But it can change, it must change. Because there is only failure and darkness ahead for us as a country, as a people, if it doesn't.

Let's stop all the political nonsense, let's stop all the bickering, let's stop all the bad news and let's stand and fight!

Isn't that what America is about anyway?"


We are being lied to not by Bush but by the media.
You want the truth ask the men and women that have ben there.

Answer 6

Be real careful, lots of guys have enlisted in both the Navy and Air Force and have been used as ground troops attached to Army units in Iraq. They thought they would be on a ship or station at an air base hundreds of miles away from the fighting. Sadly things didn't turn out they way they thought.

Right now there is a big shortage of grunts on the front line and they might not care about your talents in computer science. Also beware and do not believe anything a recruiter tells you -the military is the only branch of government you can not sue for breach of contract so they can tell you anything and even if every last word of it is a bold face lie there is nothing you can do about it.

Answer 7

one does not JOIN as a CO, one must work their way up the ranks and fill a whole bunch of positions before you will even be considered for CO.

Politics has no place in the decision to join.. you join because you want to serve your country..no matter WHO is in charge.

if your school has an AFROTC unit.. join. the first two years(as long as you do not accept any money from them) you incur no military obligation. After that you must contract if you wish to be Commissioned. Minimum is 5 years of Active Duty service in exchange.

you want a 3.5 or better GPA in your major.. and that means taking credit coruses NOW and as much math and science as you canget your hands on. Leadership roles are important, as is community involvement and sports.

Answer 8

It IS ABSOLUTELY worth it to join the US Air Force or any of the branches of the US Armed Forces. It is lots better to start at the bottom of the rank structure to get the full feel of the US Military than to start as an officer. Anyway, you
WILL NOT start as a Commanding Officer.
That takes 15+ years to achieve that.
I concur with gugliamoOO's statement!

Answer 9

If you will be a commanding officer then you might want to look into the Constitution and the treaties signed by us before jointing also.

Many people say that it's possible for Commanding officers to be tried and convicted of war crimes because this is an illegal war.
I would check it out before signing anything.
You never know what could happen when the Bush administration is out of office.

If you think about it, they do put our own military in prison and let Blackwater walk.

I would find out every thing before I signed.
Like... if you are told to follow through with something that may be considered a war crime. If you do this then you have a chance of being convicted. If you don't then the military can charge you for not following orders.
Are you ready to make that decision?

Answer 10

Check out AFROTC. Some of the other writers made very good points. Everybody wants to be a commander but its something you work for every single day for about 15 years. There is no commitment with AFROTC until you contract and you will know before that whether you like it or not. And AFROTC is a four commitment. Not five. Army and Navy ROTC require a five year commitment.