Husband is AF and stationed at an Army base, Should I go Army or AF?

Question

My husband is currently a linguist at Fort Gordon. He's AF and has been in for 4 years now.

I'm looking into joining up myself (meant to at the start but thought to wait...wish i didn't). I'm torn between AF and Army.

Army

Pro- Basic close to Gordon, Can get Stationed at Gordon Easier, Did 4 years of Drill Teams so I am familiar with Army Reg, Those cool Beret things

Con- Probably more deployments, (very slim slim chance) he might get stationed overseas at an AF base, would be harder to go with him

AF

Pro- Same branch, Easier to follow around if stationed over seas, I have done 4 years AFJROTC so I am more familiar with AF ranks, Texas is nice...

Con- Harder to get based at Fort Gordon, Family will travel farther for Basic, Flight Caps... Closest AF base is 1 hour away if i cant be stationed at Fort Gordon

I think either branch I'd be going for an Intel/Admin job, tho the Army recruiter mentioned Supply being a possibility. I'm really stressing witch branch more than what job at this point.

Any Advice?

Answer 1

Either way you go you stand a chance of not being stationed where your husband is. While each service will try to station married couples together where you go at really depends on the needs of the service. Having the same MOS as him may be helpful but even that is not a guarentee. Job is just as important as branch though - be in the same branch and go to a base that doesn't need his MOS and he isn't going to be there.

If I had to choose, I would say go with the AF since he will not spend forever at Fort Gordon.

To be honest, the benefits you learned from drill team and JROTC should not be a factor in this at all. Join the Army and you will very quickly learn the ranks. Join the AF and you are going to learn how to march....at best it gives you a 4 hour head start on the people that did not do drill team or JROTC.

Update: If he is likely to spend the rest of his career on an Army base then go Army. Supply is one option since they are everywhere but not the only option - there is also HR, Medical, MP and so forth.

The real problem that you will run into though is the Army isn't going to let you sit at one post the entire time. They tend to move their people more often then the Air Force does.

Either way you go you have a good chance of having a seperation from him. Have you thought about doing national guard or reserves? That way if he moves you can still move with him.

Answer 2

Air Force.   You have a better chance of getting joint spouse assignments than if you are in different services.   Just because he is at an Army base now does not mean he will ever be at an Army base again.  More likely he will be at Air Force bases and that is where you want to be too.

Answer 3

Do you want to be near your husband or do you want the military to provide you with an excuse not to be with him?

Answer 4

If you join the army they will tell you that you will not be guaranteed to be stationed with your man all the times. Whereas if you don't join the army nor the AF, you get to follow your husband every where he is stationed beside Iraq,South Korea and Afghanistan and those other areas classified as risk zones !

Answer 5

Even if you are both Air force or you are in the Army, you are not guaranteed you will always live on the same base.  Really think about it before you do it.

Choose Army or Air Force based on the one you like more.  For the Army, in administration the MOS 27D (Paralegal Specialist) would be a good MOS.  It would be easier to find a promotable position because their are much less 27D over 42As (Human Resourse Specialist/Adamant).  Just a quick thought.