00siandrew

I had a meeting with an AF recruiter yesterday and she explained to me that first I take the asvab (which I'm scheduled to do tomorrow) then I go to the MEPS center for my physical and to speak to job councelors about what I'm qualified for and what jobs I'm interested in, THEN I swear in, THEN I'm given a contract for the job they are offering me and at that point I take it or leave it. Those last two steps threw me because I thought you were given your contract for the particular job you will have before swaring in. That's how it went for my cousin, but he enlisted nearly 4 years ago and he's unsure if things have changed since then.

She told me that even once I swear in I'm still not technically AF property. I only become theirs once I sign that contract saying I'll accept the job they have offered. Is it unrealistic of me to expect a job offer before I swear in? I know the AF is not really hurting for more man power so I'm not trying to be picky. I'm just curious if this was the typical way they did things.

jester177

yup thats how it goes, you are technically not in until the final swear in at your BMT graduation. dont sweat it if the job is not what you want tell them you wont sign until you get the job you want.

Shamson5.7

iTrader: (5)

Yea it sounds typical. You swear in twice, first time being sworn into DEP. From that point they look over your list of jobs you want and they look for an open slot. Then you get a ship date, go back to MEPS for a quick look over, sign a contract for your actual job, swear in and ship out.

00siandrew

Thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate it because swearing in has me nervous. It feels good to know that even once I swear in the first time I'm not fully committing myself to something. I am very serious about this and the last thing I want to do is waste the AF's time but I am scared of jumping in all the way only to find out I'm getting a job I absolutely do not want.

sparky1397r

try and get a job lock, not the meps random special.

00siandrew

Yeah that's what I'm shooting for. I've got ten jobs I am interested in and woulb be happy to get so I don't feel like I'm being super picky. I have already told my recruiter I absolutely do not want to go in open general and she told me that if I refuse to sign the first contract they give me I will be DEP discharged. I'm not sure what that means or if there is any truth to it. Everyone I've spoke to said you can wait them out if you really want to and if you're patient enough they'll get you the job you want.

sparky1397r

10 jobs? that sounds pretty broad already, what are you interested in?

00siandrew

Well I guess 3 of the jobs fall under the same category. Avionic Systems for the F-15, F-16, F-111, B-1, and B-2 are all jobs I have looked into. Fire protection is possibly my number one. The others are in flight refueling, airborne command and control, air traffic control, and secure communications systems. The last one which I'm trying to decide if it's realistic of me to expect is TACP. I know everyone wants to do that job, and I hear they are always looking for people to fill that spot but I know it's a very hard job to qualify for. I scored well enough on the asvab to qualify in that area, but I hear the physical requirements are very challenging. I'm confident in myself though.

That's only 9 jobs, my recruiter told me to try to come up with 15 because I get to list 8 when at MEPS but I may not physically qualify for half of those 8 I put down. As far as vision testing, specifically the depth perception test. Apparently quite a few people don't do so well on that one? How about you guys? What jobs do/did you have and what was your experience like?

Shamson5.7

iTrader: (5)

That depth perception test is a fkin joke. I have perfect vision, didnt miss any on the test but I struggled for sure. Most of the people I talked to it sounded like a crapshoot. What didnt you qualify for physically? Are you talking about the PULHES? Believe TACP is all 1's.

Z28/2002

iTrader: (27)

I was Fire Protection for six years and loved it. I've heard they were cutting firefighters AF wide so it might be hard to get it. I was in the DEP for six months before heading to basic

Shamson5.7

iTrader: (5)

Heard a lot of good things from guys in Fire Protection. Actually Put down FP and Aerial gunner at my 2 jobs mainly because I know I wont get them and theyd give me TAC P first...but if I did manage to land one Id be happy.

99WS7

iTrader: (13)

Fire Protection is a overall pretty good job. Been in it for 2 1/2 years. Before that I was a B1 Bomber Crew Chief of 8 years. Had good times in that job for sure but glad I was able to re train...even though I was forced too.

If you have a interest in Fire, Medical, Hazmat, Rescue, Air Planes...etc...then Id look into Fire Protection. You learn way more then people have a clue of.

00siandrew

I haven't not qualified for anything yet. I am having my physical done in two weeks. Would be next week but my recruiter's got a lot going on with this being a holliday weekend and a pretty busy schedule next week. What do you mean by all 1's?

Shamson5.7

iTrader: (5)

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joini.../l/blpulse.htm

00siandrew

Thanks a lot. That would have been pretty hard to explain without the link haha. It makes sense that the TACP requires all 1's from what I've been hearing about the physical requirements. We'll see though, I've got some time before I sit down with the job councelors.

KC&97TA

iTrader: (1)

DEP discharge is a scary term they tossed out to try and get you to sign what ever the fawk they put in front of you.

Have you talked to the Marine Corps Recruiter?

"We promise you sleep deprivation, mental torment, and muscles so sore
you'll puke, but we don't like to sugar-coat things."

One more month it will have been 11 years, there's been some blood, band-aids, tears and alot of sweat, but no regrets.

ss1129

iTrader: (16)

When we send kids to take the asvab before they go to meps, we call that a rock run. It means we're not sure if your going to pass it. LOL.

BTW I hate people that come to me and want to sign up and then are ******* wishy washy for weeks. Either do it or dont. We should be allowed to beat the **** out of dep discharges too. One poolie called my boss a douche bag, and said all recruiters were retards. LOL I thought that was funny. I like to believe he was refering to 8412's.

Anyways the airforce is easy, and dont fall for their air force associates degree college bullshit, its not accredited or good for anything.

99WS7

iTrader: (13)

^ Are you refering to the CCAF? If so...you are a fool for you comment.

IH8EVRY1

iTrader: (5)

^ I don't like to name call, but I agree! It may not be a lot but it does help. If you plan to make an AD career, it also looks pretty good on EPR's. I'm active guard now so I can't speak 100%, maybe some AD AF types can chime in, but if you want to make E-8 or E-9 oneday, I hear you don't have much of a chance without some college and the CCAF helps with that too.

00siandrew

I've got somewhere between 80 and 85 college credits. I'm only 3 semesters away from a bachelors. I know I know, everyone here thinks I should just stick it out and finish school before joining the AF. But my degree will be in History, and to be honest that is not something I'm excited about. I'm not really working towards anything real and I don't like my odds of becoming an Officer with a History degree. Although being an Officer really isn't a goal of mine. It'd be nice, but I'm not hell bent on it.

As far as the wishy washy thing. I'm not wishy washy on joining the AF, I've made my mind up it's what I want to do. I'm just wishy washy on signing for a shitty job. I've told my recruiter that this is definitely what I want to do but I'm not going to just jump in head first for a job I know I don't want. And as I've said before there are roughly 10 jobs I would not mind having so I don't feel like I'm being a pain in the *** for my recruiter.