ztrouble

I am joining the Air Force in March and i was wonder what are some good career fields? I was looking at becoming an SP, anyone ahve any input on that?

bradl1982

iTrader: (9)

Yeah, don't do it! I worked in the cop squadron for over 2 years and about 95% of them hated their job.

turtle313

iTrader: (1)

Everybody I've ever met in the AF says advancement in the AF is horrible. very difficult to make rank. I don't like the navy much but at least I advance and higher rank means more money!!

PotentialZ28

i love the AF, i think you progress in rank just in time, because with rank comes responsibility, and someone who has been in the military 2 yrs shouldnt be supervising people, i think the AF has the rank figured out right. Job wise, it really depends on what YOU want to do. I wanted to work as a maintainer on heavy acft, i am now a c17/c5 crewchief. The only advice i can give you is pick 1 job, tell the person at MEPS that you want only 1 job (cause they are going to lie to you and try and make you pick a couple more), sign the contract with that 1 job on it, and keep your hand down and your mouth shut in basic.

TurboXL

I dunno bout that... I think making rank in the AF is bout the same as any other branch. As far as being an SP, DON'T DO IT. If there are any career fields to stay out of in the AF its Security Forces, and Services.
I'm PMEL(look it up: 2P051) and love it. It takes a high ASVAB score to get into, and isn't always available as a choice in the DEP because its a small career field, but nonetheless its awesome.
I've also heard good things about EOD, Med Techs, Weather, Ammo, Fabrication, and of course anything officer side really if you have your degree, or plan on getting one. Or if you wanna be a paper pusher(or your only stayin in for one enlistment) go for an Admin job. They get treated like gold and their job is easy as ****.

2002TAWS6Pontiac

can't go wrong with most medical jobs, great people most the time and atomosphere. SP no, unless you like working 14 hour days with no holidays off standing at a gate or flightline. if you wanna be a cop/security then its the job for you but if your not 110% to be a cop don't do it.

TurboXL

^^agreed^^ either that, or if you really wanna do something like that, be a Raven(flying cop) or of course something on the special ops side. Or OSI(kinda like the AF's version of the FBI).

ztrouble

thanks for the suggestions y'all

i deff dont want to be a paper pusher, thats what i am now (work for an insurance company), and at this point im thinking about it being an actual career instad of just one enlisment but i can answer that yet. ammo and fabrication sound cool, im not so good with being on the bomb squad or a medic lol.... any other suggestions?

Z28/2002

iTrader: (27)

Look into fire protection. We are getting ready convert to a 24 on/ 48 off schedule. If you would take 30 days of leave a year, you would only work 100 days out of the year

jasonk

iTrader: (29)

agreed, decide what you are into, as for SF's it is long hours and you seem to get crapped on alot. Look into flying jobs as well. Flight pay is always nice, the Operations side of the Air Force is good to there people, you get to see a lot of the world, if you are into travel. And depending where you are at, flying and associated duties can sometimes get you out of a lot of shitty things... I.E. I am in a squadron that does not participate in any exercises, my longest TDY's are 2 weeks, and I only get Deployed if i volunteer for it... And as a nice side note, most flying careers still have SRB's to them... bonus's are your freind

ztrouble

are you suggesting something such as an aerial gunner? I am still a civilian so some of the jargon and acronyms are a foreign language to me

Splitz

iTrader: (1)

I thought PMEL was killed by Raytheon? I really thought that went ALL contractor as of 2004?

pengu

Supposedly army does advance in ranks quicker than airforce but they have a "lower quality" of lifestyle. If you wanted a "non combat" type job or get deployed less often then air force would prob be a safer choice but that is definitally not guaranteed

SF is a sucky job from the people I have talked too
(pros: lots of deployments, badge/beret, get away with illegal activities)
(cons: lots of deployments, LONG shifts, not much education/advancement unless you are doing criminal justice type work on the outside)

I would personally pick a job based on benefits and education/skills you can use on the outside incase you decide not to go career. You can always crosstrain if you plan on going career which seems to be common lately.

If you like to travel then pick flying jobs like load master (they have a lot of days/hours on then a lot of downtime once home)

If you want a lot of money pick jobs that deploy often like SF (a lot of people I talk to say money isnt worth "losing time" being deployed

If you plan on being in for th short term pick jobs you can use on the outside or give sign on bonuses like certain medical jobs or linguists/special forces/EOD

If I could do it all over I would have gone linguist (signing bonus and spend 2 years in california to learn a free language. Do my job another 2 years then get out with an honorable discharge/MGIB plus all the free education/experience)

BTW- PMEL is civilians on my base

405dave

In my opinion the ONLY job for enlisted (if your not scared to fly) is 1A (flying) jobs. A great day in maint. can not even compare. There are very few jobs that people look forward to going to work. I did. Then every now and then you get to do something that makes you look around and say-WOW they are paying me extra (TDY pay) to do this. A 3 week trip to Austraila qualified! LOL

TurboXL

Nope, that was just an idea. It fell thru. SOME PMELs are indeed civilian only(we only have about 15 bases worldwide that we can go to Active Duty), but not all. We have lost a lot of labs to contractors, some good bases, like hawaii lol. Can only go there if you get out and go civvy side now. We are one of the smallest career fields in the AF.

jester177

go into fuels P.O.L. you put gas on airplanes. its the best of both worlds you are around a/c but you could get a lab, or maint or accounting jobs within the flight. plus nobody is really out to **** fuels off cause we just lock out keys and they dont get gas. or we take our sweet time getting them gas and they get in trouble for running out or low.

rons 00z

iTrader: (10)

i'm a satcom guy (AFSC 2e1x1) and i love it. but i havnt done the main part of the field more of the special duty and rare jobs. right now i work as a flyer as special duty and if i could do it all over again i would go in as a 1a (BUT NOT AS A LINGUIST) but i've been in 7 years and i don't want to play catch up since most those guys are maxed out in medal points with the same TIS (time in service). in my field i'm ahead of the game and understand satcom so i figure dont fix it unless it's broke. if you can choose be a 1a you'll never regret it, plus some 1a jobs are critically manned so the recruiter might pull some strings for you. i cant find the list but i'm sure the recruiter will know about it if he shows you

AFjoe

i wouldnt say become a cop unless you A. want to be a cop when u get out, B. u can score high enough on the test to get a better job, and C. love getting treated like **** and being deployed alot... intel is the way to go

PotentialZ28

CREW CHIEF, takes a college education to break it and a high school education to fix it!

69Nova355

Ditto on not becoming an SP, you'll be working 12 + hr shifts and 6 month deployments VERY frequently, you'll also get to go outside the wire and maybe shoot some insurgents....

Also when you go in DO NOT put "open general" down for your job, or you most likely WILL become an SP.