AF Cadet looking for some answers....

[Detachment340AFcadet]

Hi all,

I'm about to be a college freshmen this August and I'm looking for some help. I've decided to be a part of the AFROTC program at my college because I'd love to fight for my country's ideologies, and its people! I am not doing the scholarship because I don't want to jump quite onto a commitment yet. I want to hear from some people who have been through the military (air force preferably) and have some experience on knowing what military life is like. What do you miss most about being a civilian? What do like most about being a civil servant? What type of people should consider being a part of the Air Fore...Really I'm just looking from thoughts of different people who are a part of the military and what they think about their experience so far. Thank you all I'd appreciate some responses!

[Silver Fox]

Well we're not civil servants BUT....

Things I miss the most about being a civillian:
1) 8 hour shifts.
2) 8 hour shifts.
3) 8 hour shifts.
4) Weekends and holidays
5) Weekends and holidays
6) Weekends and holidays
7) A day off from work that is really a day off, and not an admin day, a training day, etc.
8) Sleep
9) Sleep
10) Sleep
11) Not waking up before 6am
12) Not waking up before 6am
13) Not waking up before 6am
14) Being able to quit a job if it's not where I want to be
15) Being able to curse at anyone if I feel they deserve it and not worry about legal repercussions
16) Not playing "hurry up and wait"
17) 24 hour gyms
18) Not shaving
19) Lunch breaks
20) Being able to grow my hair out
21) Not having to sit down and talk with a safety guy anytime I want to do something exciting
22) Not having to watch fire extinguisher videos
23) Not having to sit through sexual assault prevention briefings, smokers cessation briefings, or any of the other crap I stopped listening to years ago.
24) The freedom of choice
25) Not having people tell me what I do and don't want and what I do and don't like
26) Not having to deal with the same amount of bureaucracy and politics
27) Not having to respect someone's title when they haven't earned the respect that should go with it
28) Being able to put my hands in my pockets and drive and talk on a cell phone
29) Not wearing hats all the time


What do I like about being in the military?
1) Hungarian women
2) Romanian women
3) The rare skate deployment with skate leadership
4) The more rare (for AF) intense deployment where you might actually get to fire your weapon
5) 30 vacation days.... when you can actually take them
6) Drinking. No matter how much they say we enlisted men don't enjoy drinking, what do they know? Of course we do.
7) Shooting lots of great weapons, though some of them are absolute pieces of shit that I can't wait for someone to find a decent replacement too, though that probably won't happen
8) The satisfaction of training someone to do a good job, then watching them do a good job
9) The satisfaction of putting a boot in someones ass when you train them to do a good job, and they do a bad job

[Detachment340AFcadet]

See I needed a list like this! It comes really handy when deciding weather or not being a civil servant is for me...Now I just need to weigh in the plus and minuses of everything and prioritize what I feel is most important to me...Thanks a lot silver fox!

Anyone else want to throw in some opinions please feel free! You'll be voicing yourself out and be heard...but most importantly you'll be helping me out with making a big choice! Thanks All once again!

[Master Tanker]

AFROTC cadet. I was 4 years AF (SSGT) and afterwards went to college and joined ROTC. But NOT AFROTC (I could have). This might surprise you. Why? There is a distinct class system in the AF that no General since then has been able to get a grip on. It's like this: A pilot (preferably a fighter pilot) or bomber pilot is in the top non plus ultra class, number one. They are the pampered guys. In the 2nd class are all others on flying status. Then there is a long gap and the in the 3rd class are the rest: Class 3A : Technical jobs, jet engine, electronics, tower, missile etc. 3B: Crew chiefs, arrival, parking, ground power etc. 3C: Cooks, painters, truck drivers etc. I am making all this up but it has a lot of truth in it. What I am telling you don't go USAF ROTC unless you are darn sure you can be a pilot. Everything else is a desk jockey. If you really want leadership of men, go Army or Marine. There, everyone fights as a team and you are the team leader (in Combat Arms, Combat engineers, aviation etc.) and the job is more challenging. I must admit that the USAF bases are much better maintained than US Army Posts. Why that is so has escaped me to this day.

[Seasons]

AFROTC cadet. I was 4 years AF (SSGT) and afterwards went to college and joined ROTC. But NOT AFROTC (I could have). This might surprise you. Why? There is a distinct class system in the AF that no General since then has been able to get a grip on. It's like this: A pilot (preferably a fighter pilot) or bomber pilot is in the top non plus ultra class, number one. They are the pampered guys. In the 2nd class are all others on flying status. Then there is a long gap and the in the 3rd class are the rest: Class 3A : Technical jobs, jet engine, electronics, tower, missile etc. 3B: Crew chiefs, arrival, parking, ground power etc. 3C: Cooks, painters, truck drivers etc. I am making all this up but it has a lot of truth in it. What I am telling you don't go USAF ROTC unless you are darn sure you can be a pilot. Everything else is a desk jockey. If you really want leadership of men, go Army or Marine. There, everyone fights as a team and you are the team leader (in Combat Arms, Combat engineers, aviation etc.) and the job is more challenging. I must admit that the USAF bases are much better maintained than US Army Posts. Why that is so has escaped me to this day.

While some might take his statements to be rather harsh, there's unfortunate truth to the underlying issue. However, there is also a major fallacy. AFROTC is not just for pilots and desk jockeys. Its also for FACs, ALOs, Spec Ops, SF, OSI, and a slew of other jobs. There are officers in almost every position. It doesn't matter what you went through to get there. What matters is that you want to get there.

I'm an AFROTC graduate. I could've been a pilot, nav, or whatever. I had the scores for it. I choose to be a developmental engineer. Its an interesting career field, and has involved a lot of field work. From here I could move to green door if I wanted, but I'm more likely to cross train to OSI in hopes of doing computer forensics. I would've gone straight in but listened to my wife's fears instead.

[Wolf]

Silver Fox, you are listing the cons of being a crew chief or a cop lol.