Air Force Mech???

Question

Hey im leaving fo BMT on Jan 1st, as of right now im in open mech field, i woould like to work on a kc-135, kc-10 or a big transport reason being i want to fly and travel with the plane, so if i want a job like that do i get to ask for this job in basic, or how does this work????

Answer 1

There are no aircraft maintainers that travel "with" the plane, per se. It's not like a 135 takes off with a crew of maintainers with them. Sorry. That said, you may deploy with the planes if and when they get sent down range, and you may go TDY with them. Even then, some maintenance career fields send lots of folks on a deployment while others send 1 or 2.
Hubby has been a maintainer for 22 years as of 3 Jan, and is now on his 10th airframe. Some careers are like that... you can work on any plane. Those can be nicer, as you have a wider choice of bases. Then there are careers where you are airframe specific, and you are stuck with that 1 airframe. Ex. If you are a B52 crew chief, you can only work B52s and there are only 2 bases which have them, both stateside. With hubbys career, we've been worldwide and have been stationed with both fighters and heavies. Personally, hubby really enjoys the change and the challenge of a new airframe!

Good luck!!

Answer 2

Your best bet is to become a Crew Chief (Aerospace Maintenance Apprentice). Open Mechanical does encompass alot of jobs some of which allow you to work on aircraft.
You will not be guaranteed any travel opportunities on any airframe but a Crew Chief has a leg up on becoming a Flying Crew Chief as the name implies you could fly with the aircraft. I know for a FACT that the transports like the C5, C130 and C17 fly with FCCs, I was one on 130s and flew with alot on C5s. You could also deploy with the jet as part of a maintenance contingent.
On the C130, I flew on it as a FCC and traveled to Germany, England, Australia, Hawaii and lots of places stateside. This job is dependent on the base and on the squadrons and mainly on manning. Being a FCC is a tough job, cause when you are away from home station you are the only person working the jet which could mean long days while the aircrew is partying at the hotel.(happened to me plenty of times, that's one of the reasons I cross-trained)
So try the maintenance gig but if you really want to enjoy the travel aspect you may want to consider cross-training in the future.

Answer 3

Being opened Mechanical field you can be put anywhere within that field...Aerospace Maintenance Apprentice,Aerospace Propulsion Apprentice,Aerospace Propulsion Apprentice, Turboprop and Turboshaft Propulsion,Air Transportation Apprentice,Air Traffic Control Operations Apprentice,Aircraft Armament Systems Apprentice etc. The list goes on and on. You need to make sure you have that job before you join or go to basic training. Pretty much they can stick you anywhere within open Mechanical once in Basic. I know this for a fact considering i'm in the Air Force. Also a bit of advice, don't drop you bags once you get to basic, just sit them down...LOL