Thread: Anyone in the Air Force? Or a paid Firefighter?

Originally Posted by Anti-Squeaker

See, i would join the ROTC at my college of choice. But none of the Officer careers interest me. I don't have 20/20 vision, I don't like science that much, and frankly, I like to use my hands alot (don't even go there AK). And really, i like guns. Alot. So door gunner seems like the job for me.

Anti-Squeaker - You like to work with your hands and you like weapons. Door gunner sounds like fun, and I am sure it is if ever deployed to a combat zone and allowed to actually pull the trigger but if you want to fire and maintain just about every kind of weapon available, INCLUDING the .50 Cal that you would be operating as a door gunner (or in some cases the M60) you want to go CATM. Combat Arms Training and Maintenance. You fix and upkeep weapons, run the firing range for EVERYONE who needs to qualify (which is all of the cops, every six months, each squadron that deploys which is an ever rotating cycle, and with that much time to do nothing but tinker with, repair and test fire weapons...how could you go wrong? CATM is where its at, wear the red hat, teach combat arms and marksmanship, shoot stuff and play with cool shit all day for your job.

If you are more interested in being an MP as you said earlier I can certainly answer any questions you have about that as well and depending on your location, one of my good friends who I served in Europe with actually cross trained from being a cop to being a recruiter. I can get you over to him and you won't have to worry about getting screwed over like is the case with many of the recruiters.

No offense to you Bueller. But Squeeker try another career field. Unless you like working 16 hour shifts guarding a gate. Don't be a SP.

AK, like Bueller said, the AF had a fire fighters too. A PJ I thought were always cool. They can kill people and sew them back up.

I chose to go into the electronics field and I love it.

Originally Posted by Bueller

Sup AK - I was in the Air Force as an MP for one enlistment (4 years) and got out as a Staff Sergeant. If you want to be a PJ, good for you man, but beware it is about a 96% wash out rate. Not saying you can't hack it, just saying be prepared physically and mentally and be damn careful not to get hurt or you will end up in medical flight or eliminated from the program altogether. You know, the Air Force has firefighters too. Why not go in guaranteed firefighter? After you serve for a while as a firefighter if you still have that itching to go Pararescue then go for it at that time. You don't have to go into PJ school directly from the get go, you can apply and try out at any time.

Yeah I know about the drop out rate. But that just makes it all the more appealing to me. I want to be one of the guys that makes it. Maybe I will do the Firefighting thing and try for a PJ after a little while. Thanks Bueller!

Originally Posted by WorstPE

No offense to you Bueller. But Squeeker try another career field. Unless you like working 16 hour shifts guarding a gate. Don't be a SP.

AK, like Bueller said, the AF had a fire fighters too. A PJ I thought were always cool. They can kill people and sew them back up.

I chose to go into the electronics field and I love it.

No offense taken at all. The reason I chose that career field in the Air Force over other ones that were offered is simply to gain the experience so I could apply to my home town police department when I got out. If I was going Air Force to go Air Force, I would have chosen air traffic controller or one of the other cool jobs they offered me at MEPS. Back when I went in I was able to get guaranteed law enforcement as the two careers were separate ASPC's. Now law enforcement and security are combined into what they call "Security Forces" and its luck of the draw on the base you are assigned and your daily duties. I can tell you that no matter where you are stationed, you will put some time in at the gate - which actually kicks ass because I got more DUI's at the gate then I ever got out on patrol. Not only that you listen to music and stand around and BS with your buddies all night. It's actually a pretty sweet post. But again Squeaker, if you are going in to play with guns, go CATM. They don't do shit and they get to play with everything.

I thought CATM was part of SPs?

I have my application in right now for the Air Force. I applied for Officer. If you don't go ROTC you have to go another route that has its obstacles. I find out May 18th if I got accepted to attend OTS.

I applied for ABM, job sounded really fun. If I don't make this board I am going for Inteligence or Space and Missle Command.

There are plenty of jobs the Air Force has, check them out on the website. I personaly would go in as an Officer, life is much better when you are an Officer. I have also heard that if you go in Enlisted and try to switch to Officer later down the road, it is much harder then one typically thinks.