JHL88

hey everybody well just graduated bmt a week ago now im at sheppard for tech school thought id stop in and say whats up and wondering if the people who are considering joining had any questions about the process/basic/tech school let me know id like to help. sure is good to be back here!

bene

iTrader: (16)

Enjoying TEXAS HEAT yet?

Furious_George

iTrader: (12)

hey congrats man, what's your AFSC?

Compg

Who was your instructor? Did you ever have a crazy Academics Instructor named SSgt Tate? He was such an a$$hole, who thought he knew everything. Oh wait that's me.
Tate

Splitz

iTrader: (1)

Congrats!

What's your AFSC?

JHL88

afsc is aircraft fuels systems or at tech school they call it "weapons". start classes tuesday. cant wait to get out of sheppard!

Vee 6

Don't blow all your money at Maximus, lol.

frisky2101

iTrader: (8)

LOL

I remember those days it used to be fun at sheppard, but they pretty much did away with the small amount of fun you could have there..

Sheppard isn't that bas though, just hope and pray you aren't taking the LSD trip

(Lackland, Sheppard, Dyess)

allbaugh_04

iTrader: (6)

It was fun during football season, just waste away every saturday at BWW. That's the only thing i found to do there. The road system is kinda screwed up.

I'd stay away from maximus if i were you. The library has a crap load of movies you can rent, check it out. Oh and don't buy one of those internet services they got there that have a contract that you can't get out of, so you have to transfer it to someone else. Just a few things I noticed about that place.

tj1986c

iTrader: (1)

What's up? I'm about to join the Air Force soon. I have to take the ASVAB again first. I'm currently a college student (haven't been the last few semesters though, lol) who needs extra money to finish school. Do you have any advice as to how to prepare for basic and perhaps any good bases to try to get stationed at?

TJ

bhz28

iTrader: (35)

lol how long have you been there? I may have had you as an academic instructor. I went through BMT in 05

Compg

I was pushing flights at the 320 TRS then, I didn't go to Academics until Mar 07.
Tate

JHL88

first off, theres really no way to prepare for basic in a sense. as far as PT is concerened run 2-3 miles everyday do pushups situps etc. learn how to eat a full course mean in 3 min.so your stomach gets used to it. the best advice i can give you is make 150% sure that its what you want to do and your motivated. if thats the case you'll do great. stay away from bases in north/south dakota unless you like wide open country.

JHL88

what exactly did you teach?? i know that sounds so familiar i graduated 2 weeks ago from 331st - TSgt. Fonseca's first flight. i was actually considering being an instructor/MTI

allbaugh_04

iTrader: (6)

Well, you can't really pick your base. The dream sheet thing never gets you what you want. I am the only person i have ever heard of that got the base of their choice. It NEVER happens. We talk about this stuff all the time and i've never heard of one person getting theirs besides me.

Like someone else said. Make sure this is something you WANT to do. I cannot stress that enough. Make sure you are absolutely sure you want to commit for that long. BTW do the 4 year. DON'T do the 6. Everyone i talk to regrets their 6 year commitment. It's just NOT worth it. If you have over 20 credits you will come in as an airman. Which is nice.

For preparation? Well it's pretty easy if you ask me. Just realize that the TIs have a job to do. They are pretty much paid actors that never show it. Thats how i look at it. Do what they say and you will never **** up. This is how people usually **** up is cuz they simply didnt remember how the TI said how to do it. Never take a threat or get offended from a TI....they are just actors.

Physically: well this is even easier. Just jog, sprint, jog, sprint. It's easy, builds endurance. If you aren't hurting it ain't working. Do this for about 30 minutes every other day or MWF during the week. Take the weekend off. That will work. Jog 100m, sprint 50. Your endurance should be good to go if you are pushing yourself like you should. I went from a 12 min mile and a half to a 9 something when i got there and thats how they trained us.

Do lots of pushups and situps and you will be fine.

Please take all this advice seriously...i really could of used every single word of it before I went it.

Remember in the military...sometimes your job isn't necessarily your job, you do other peoples job and do jobs past your work schedule a lot. It happens if you are aircraft maintenance thats for sure. It all depends on the job you get....i got lots of advice and i don't find myself biased about my opinions on the subject of the air force life.

tj1986c

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info guys!! I'm pretty sure that I will be able to pass basic training. I recently finished training to be a firefighter and it wasn't too bad, although I'm sure that those two types of training are pretty different.

How about the buddy program? My best friend also wants to go in with me, but from what I've heard the buddy program is just a bunch of garbage.

TJ

allbaugh_04

iTrader: (6)

idk if it is or not...but it will be the best/memorable experience of your guys' life i bet. if you actually are in the same flight and stuff

bradl1982

iTrader: (9)

Congratulations man! Welcome to the AF.

99WS7

iTrader: (13)

7 level was fun though...lol...

NightWindDriftr

iTrader: (4)

I generally agree with allbaugh, but this needs to be considered more.

If you plan to become a career airman, the advantage of doing 4 years is that you can get a re-enlistment bonus twice. If you do 6, you'll only get a re-enlistment bonus once. This is because you can get a bonus only if you're under 10 years, special AFSCs excluding. As a 4-year enlistee, that means you'll re-enlist at the 4 year mark, and 8 year mark. As a 6-year, you only re-enlist at the 6 year mark.

The re-enlistment bonus far outweighs the E-3 headstart in pay you get as a 6-year enlistee. If you really want those stripes ASAP, get some college under the belt.

Even if you don't go career, 6 years isn't necessarily a bad idea. What if you think you want to spend more than 4 years in, but don't want to re-enlist? If you were a 4-year enlistee and wanted to keep your job a little while longer, you only have one real option (without special provisions for extensions) and that's to re-enlist for another 4. If you're a 6-year, it's like doing your 4 with another guaranteed 2 years of work. A great compromise for people unsure of what they want to do after the shorter 4-year term.

Lastly, there is a new memo circulating around the AF about slowing the rate of PCSs. You now need 4 years minimum time on station (TOS) before being considered for reassignment. You do 6 years and you'll at least see two bases. Of course, like everything else, there are special circumstances like special duties that break the 4-year TOS requirement.

I'm a 6-year enlistee and regretted it at the 2-year mark when I got stuck at Mountain Home AFB. Now I'm close to my 4-year mark with orders to Key West. If I were a 4-year enlistee, I wouldn't have enough retention for re-assignment.