Considering joining Air National Guard or enlisting in the Air Force. Info please!

[Jer]

So, I'm 33 years old and have been job searching for quite some time now. I've even posted here, facebook, other forums and reached out to people I know. I was quite successful out of high school and had a great decade or so run which was both a blessing and a curse. It was a curse because I never attained secondary education and as such it's made my job search now quite difficult as many doors are closed to me. I considered ROTC a couple years ago but found out that I would just miss the age cutoff of when I had to be commissioned. I back burnered that and went back to the job hunt. Needless to say that has got me nowhere and I'm once again considering but with the ROTC no longer an option I'm considering other possible options. I'm married with no kids and my wife has stated that she is okay with moving if we have to. I've traveled a fair amount around the nation and some international and I LOVE Colorado as well as our house so I would prefer not moving. This is why I was thinking Air National Guard (henceforth referred to as: ANG) as opposed to enlisting because I could do that and it sounds like there are even full time positions that come available in the ANG. I'm ridiculously overweight by the standards I'm sure and have been working out already lately and would obviously ramp that up even more.

I'm looking for some information and opinion on the subject. If you've done one, the other or both please enlighten me. No, I will not post nudes of myself so you'll just have to offer to help out of the goodness of your heart.

Thanks for the help!

[brokenscout]

My Dad told me not to join the Army(atleast as the MOS I chose),he was retired Army. He told me to join the Air Force. Should have listened. Good Luck.

[Jer]

My Dad told me not to join the Army(atleast as the MOS I chose),he was retired Army. He told me to join the Air Force. Should have listened. Good Luck.

I've actually heard this from more than one person who was in another branch or several other branches who said that if they had to do over again they wold have either chose Air Force or just gone right to it first for those who started elsewhere then went there afterward. So, I'm relatively sure that if I go military that I'm going to go ANG or Air Force.

[brokenscout]

I've actually heard this from more than one person who was in another branch or several other branches who said that if they had to do over again they wold have either chose Air Force or just gone right to it first for those who started elsewhere then went there afterward. So, I'm relatively sure that if I go military that I'm going to go ANG or Air Force.

Don't go Nasty Girl, active is the way to go.

[ghettodub]

Good luck, and I commend your choice. I did the same thing at 31, but with the Navy Reserve. Reserve isn't a bad option either; you're gonna deploy, but it's still a bit lighter of a load, and then you can enlist full time after a couple of years.

Just make sure you're in awesome shape, that's my only advice. I'd say go full AF. That way you can start the ball rolling to your retirement, and even at 33, you could retire at 53 with pay.

[Mazin]

I work (contracted for) the USDA / NFC and out of all the employees here with all branches of service they all agree join the AF. Expecially if you want to get or stay into IT and eat well, hands down join the AF.

[Bailey Guns]

Well, being prior service AF for 10 years, I'll tell you it was some of the best years of my life. Working for the military can be a PITA because, like everyone else, political correctness is a way of life.

After my 10 years active I did 2 years in the Guard and 2 years in the Reserves. Just started missing too much paying work so I didn't stay for 20. I wish I would've but that's water under the bridge now.

If you like the thought of being part of something larger than you are, go for it. It's a great opportunity, you'll get some great experience and training, you can get an education (my wife got 2 AA degrees and a BA and didn't pay a dime) and nobody says you have to stay in forever...though if you do 20 you most likely won't regret it.

PM me if you want more info. Also, my son is an active duty Air Force guy (Sharpienads) on his 6th deployment right now. He might be able to offer you some more recent info than I can...I got off active duty in 89 and did my last few years with the reserves in 98.

Good luck with your decision.

[Ronin13]

Okay, coming from a recently separated veteran (army) I will say from my experience with both NG guys and AD guys- you are not guaranteed a job after you get out (active) or complete training (NG)... remember this. If you go active there are considerations- you'll get paid once you head out, and it's pretty much a pay check every month as long as you're in. Make sure to talk things over and move elsewhere if you get a bad recruiter. Find one that will help you, not one that is concerned with another number on his roster. I can give you all the advice I know of from my experience (both good and bad).

[Jer]

Well, being prior service AF for 10 years, I'll tell you it was some of the best years of my life. Working for the military can be a PITA because, like everyone else, political correctness is a way of life.

After my 10 years active I did 2 years in the Guard and 2 years in the Reserves. Just started missing too much paying work so I didn't stay for 20. I wish I would've but that's water under the bridge now.

If you like the thought of being part of something larger than you are, go for it. It's a great opportunity, you'll get some great experience and training, you can get an education (my wife got 2 AA degrees and a BA and didn't pay a dime) and nobody says you have to stay in forever...though if you do 20 you most likely won't regret it.

PM me if you want more info. Also, my son is an active duty Air Force guy (Sharpienads) on his 6th deployment right now. He might be able to offer you some more recent info than I can...I got off active duty in 89 and did my last few years with the reserves in 98.

Good luck with your decision.

I actually talked a lot of joining the Air Force when I was younger but lost focus due to my chase of the almighty dollar. Now I very much want to be part of something larger than myself. We don't have children and it's not looking like we ever will. I'm getting to the point in life where I'm taking stock on what it is I've done or accomplished and the list of real meaningful things is much shorter than I thought it would be at this point in my life. I love this country and would love to do my part to give back to society. It's just a large commitment at this point in my life and it could end up being the best thing ever but still... commitment.

Was your wife in the military too or was she able to get education benefits from you be enlisted? Did your 2yrs guard and 2yrs reserves count towards that 20yrs or no? I think I read it does not. Why did you only do 2yrs each in the guard and reserve? What were the downsides to those and the reason you didn't stick with either one?

[Tweety Bird]

USAF was a great start for me. I knew aviation was going to be my life so that narrowed it down to Navy or AF. Navy offered me a scholarship but my eyesight would have kept me out of flight training. So I enlisted in the USAF instead. I was in from 1975 to 1979 so my experience is very dated but after boot camp (6 weeks of taking orders, nothing too physically strenuous although throwing hay bales all summer put me in pretty good shape for it), I went to Keesler AFB for tech school (Inertial and Radar Navigation). From there, they sent me to Homestead AFB for the rest of my hitch to fix F-4 Phantoms.

It was a great way to learn a trade and get some experience. Like others have said, they have very good tuition benefits, as well, not to mention the VA loan program if you want to buy a home when you get out.

4 years in the service has paid off in spades for me. Although I don't have any degrees, I'm now teaching airplane maintenance for the largest airline in the world. And I couldn't have done it without a good foundation. Matter of fact, we have a lot of USAF and Navy vets in our ranks.

The ANG will still require you to go through boot camp and tech school; depending on your school, you could be away from home for up to a year anyway, so don't rule out going the way of the Regular USAF. If you're considering making it a career, check into a longer enlistment benefits if they still do it (when I went in, a 6-year enlistment took you straight to E-3 right out of tech school).