Basic Air Force Questions

Question

I am 17 years old, and I am a freshman in college(Doing distance education). I will be 18 this October and I currently live with my fiance of over 2 and a half years. I grew up in a Military family(Although my parents were not Military).

I was proscessing for the U.S Navy and was all set for MEPS. Thing is, I want to serve my country, but I do not want to spend more time away from my fiance than I have to. Basic Training, AIT, and deployments are one thing and I do not mind them at all. It's just 6 months before a 6-month Cruise(Deployment) in the Navy, you go out for 2 weeks, back in one week, back out 8 weeks, back in 9,etc. Just things of that nature, and that will NOT be healthy for my relationship.

I decided to end the proscessing, and go back to my family roots: The U.S Air Force. So my questions are,

What is family life like in the U.S Air Force?

How is Boot camp(I already know it can be h**l so elaborate more in depth)

How long do deployments usually last(Not scared of Iraq so no bs about that, if I have to go for the sake of my country so be it)

How is the housing?

How is the food on deployments?

Do you really get to tell your recruiter a date that you dont want to leave on?(I asked if I could wait till the first of the year and he said I could put down a date(Such as Jan 2nd) and would not leave before that date, is this true)

Is this a better choice in terms of seeing my soon to be wife more?

Do you ride a bus to Basic in TX, or do you fly on a plane some of the way?

etc.

Answer 1

You have many question but all tell you life in the military and family is not easy.  Being in the military is a sacrifice for all.  The AF give the a good life to there people but depending the job you have is the time for deployment.  I have friend officer in iraq for more than 5 mounth and there in the AF.  Your soon wife will need to be as to be very tolerent. I respect and think about the soldiers wifes.  They make the bigest sacrifice than the soldies.  Have that in consideration when you dicide.

Answer 2

You're too young to get married! But, hey that's just my opinion.

You fly on a plane to Lackland AFB in TX.

If you want a job that gives you the most time with your wife, pick something that has regular working hours and short deployments. See About.com and search for the military job you are looking for and it will tell you how long the deployments are on average.

The housing is pretty good if you can get in--on most bases there is a 6month to 1 year wait.

Food is the same on most deployments as it is on base state-side--good.

Deployment lengths vary depending on job. Again, see About.com for averages....your recruiter can also give you a good idea of what has longer deployments. Off the top of my head, Security Forces, Linguists, Combat Controllers, TACP, EOD, and Top Secret clearance jobs have the longest lengths of deployments.

In general, the AF takes the best care of your family--so you made a good choice there. Your wife will have to be supportive and mature...and I hope she likes to connect with other people on the base because they will be her lifeline while you're away.  

Answer 3

My dad is in the Air Force so i think i can answer a couple questions from a different perspective.

The family life is alright. My dad works in personnel and is able to get time off and he works decent hours so its not like we never get to see him. depending on what you do, you move around a lot. I move about every 2 years. Right now my dad is stationed in Ramstein, Germany which is nice, but me and my brother and my mom all miss the states. My dad did get deployed and he was gone for a year-but he wasnt out there fighting really. He stayed in the green zone in Baghdad.  Base housing depends on the base but its always pretty small. If its just you and your fiance then it should be alright.

Again, im not sure about the other jobs but i know if you work personnel then you will get to see your fiance and family a lot. My dad goes on TDY's pretty often, but they're only a couple of days or a week at the most.

I hope i helped answer some of your questions!

Answer 4

Family life in the Air Force is good if you have a strong and supportive family.  

Boot camp isn't fun, but if you're in shape you'll have no problems.  It's only 6 weeks long and for me, 11 years later, it feels like only 6 minutes of my life.  It'll fly by.

Deployments depend on your job.  Most are 6 months long, not including training.  You also have to remember that while the Army says they have 15 month deployments, the AF calls these short tours, they are a PCS and your duty station is where ever you are even if it's a deployed location for other services.  

Housing depends on where you are stationed.  Most housing has been redone in the last 8 years, but they are still working on it at some bases.  

Food depends on where you are and what you like.

Not sure about the recruiter thing, I left as soon as I could.  

I think AF life is the best for families, but that is my opinion.  You and your fiance will have to discuss this.  She will have to understand the possibility that you could be gone for awhile.  There are services on base to help her and there will be other wives for her to communicate with.  

I went to basic from CA, so I took a plane to San Antonio.