My husband is thinking of joining the Air Force...?

Question

Yesterday he found out that his job (a very good job as a pressman at the local paper) were going to be laying off 150+ jobs. This made him realize that this job is all he has to fall back on. After graduating h.s. he got this job and hasn't been to college and this is all that he knows as far as special training. We both agreed when we met that we wanted to travel but due to life circumstances that has never happened. So he was thinking the AF could provide him with special training, travel, and its the 'safest' branch of the military. He also said that he has this itch to serve his country. I totally support him, my only concern is the debt that we have and how we can pay it off if he decides to join the AF. I know that the money can't be all that great starting off, and we have bills that have to be paid. I won't be out of school and would like to finish but still have nursing school ahead of me. Has anyone been in the same situation as me?? Or are in the AF and can explain how it all works in the beginning? We also have a dog and i want to be sure that she is allowed to go where ever we go.

any input is helpful!

Answer 1

Im sure you wont go wrong in joining the Airforce and that "itch" he have must be scratched by a recruiter indeed. As far as the debts you have... the military will usually ask if ur debt is more than 20,000$ and if ur being chased by debt collectors. If u have more than 20,000 debt they might not let him in yet.. they will tell him to pay them first. But if he gets in the airforce and still have debts.. he might wana tell his chief about it. Coz the last thing the military wana have is some debt collectors calling the base asking about ur husband so he can pay his debts! yeah the military dnt wana be bothered about it. Hopefully AF is giving enough money signup bonus to help u financially.  As we all know.. entering the military is strict especially the Airforce.. its not a right to get it but a privilage due to all the bonus ull get from the military. Airforce age limit is up to 28 i think and he must have a good Asvab score to get in. But once he gets in the airforce.. its good coz its very family friendly job.

Im not really familiar with airforce but what i know is about the army. They offered me 20,000$ bonus after the 9 weeks bct and another 20,000$ after the linguist MOS training. And you will get housing packages from the military as well as food. They will usually pay for your rent if u and ur hubby will not leave in a "barracks village". usually that barracks vill for military is sweet and nice and they offer big free house for couples like u. So food and house rent is the least of ur worries when he gets in. And tell him not to do drugs coz it will greatly affect his choices of job in military. One thing i could share bout the army too is that they promote people fast in there. So good luck and dnt worry you and your hubby will make it through.

Edited: I remember i met a friend who was in AF but got kicked out for tatoos and is now applying for navy! theyre strict!

Answer 2

Having a lot of debt is problematic. They do an income to debt check and if it's too much for the income he'll have they won't allow him to enlist. His score on the ASVAB test will determine what sort of jobs he'll be eligible for. He'll have to meet age, height and weight, high school graduate, U.S. citizen, medical requirements. Most places you could get based you could take your dog. It would only be limited by finding housing that allows pets. However, Great Britain has restrictions on pets. http://www.dogfriendly.com/server/travel...

I went into the Air Force particularly for job training and ended up staying in 20 years. I met my husband, had a daughter, was assigned to 7 different places. My husband and I were lucky I suppose in that we only spent 6 months apart in 16 years before we retired.

His income to begin with will only be around $1300 for a couple of months. He'll be authorized BAH (Housing allowance) from the day he starts active duty and BAS (separate rations) after he completes training and you two start living together again. The BAH is dependent on several things and the amount can vary, but both will add about another $1300 dollars a month (tax free).

All bases have education offices and colleges offer classes on base. Spouses can attend those classes but you'll have to pay out of state tuition I think until you've been there a year. If some of your debt is student loans if you join the Air Force too, they have a program that will pay off up to $10,000. Also if you're active duty military you can defer paying on your student loans. You could finish your bachelor's degree on active duty using tuition assistance to pay for classes and when you get out use the GI Bill to pay for your nursing classes.

Besides the info on http://airforce.com/, this web site has a lot of info on joining and what all the qualifications are.

http://www.military.com/Recruiting/Conte...

Good Luck.