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I scored a 72 on my ASVAB, and did the best in the General and Administrative areas .. Not so good in the mechanical/electrical. As far as the future, not sure what I want to do yet, I love too many areas. One day, being a zoologist would be fun, and the next, I wanna be an attorney. So, what the heck do I choose? I don't wanna be stuck with something I hate for 4-6 years, but I don't want a dinky boring job where I just stare at a computer all day. I'm not good at electric or engineering and mechanics and such, so those areas are not realistic for me. I want an exciting, on-the-edge-of-your-seat job. Something with LOTS of travel. I wanted to be a K-9 handler, but heard you have to start with security forces(apparently like mall security, so pretty bland ),and work your way up. I feel a recruiter will be biased, if they need people for a certain job at that time. I like the law enforcement, psychology, and intelligence areas. So if anyone has suggestions on jobs that will really progress me, I would greatly appreciate it.
Location: Born & Raised DC > Carolinas > Seattle > Denver
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I did 6C031, Contracting. Best decision I ever made. I joined at 19 years old in 2001 and was a Contract Specialist for 4 years in the Air Force. Got a job immediately after I separated, and your years in the military count towards retirement in the civilian workforce, if you go fed.
YOU don't pick your job. That's not how it works. You give your recruiter a list of a dozen or so jobs, and the Air Force picks for you. You can request to go in with an aptitude area, and then you'll get to work with a job counselor in basic training and you'll get to base your requests on real time openings. So basically, you can know you're going to get "general" or "mechanical" job, but not which one.
We have law school scholarships- google "Air Force FLEP" so that's something to think about.
Every job is what you make of it.
Security Force is NOT like mall security. Not sure who told you that, but it's completely not true. They are real police officers. They respond to all crimes on base... so they respond to domestic violence, shoplifting, do traffic stops, DUIs, anti-terrorism and threat assessments, security for presidential visits, and a host of other things. You have OSI that will ultimately handle felony investigations, but security forces has a huge roll in all the law enforcement of the base.
YOU don't pick your job. That's not how it works. You give your recruiter a list of a dozen or so jobs, and the Air Force picks for you. You can request to go in with an aptitude area, and then you'll get to work with a job counselor in basic training and you'll get to base your requests on real time openings. So basically, you can know you're going to get "general" or "mechanical" job, but not which one.
We have law school scholarships- google "Air Force FLEP" so that's something to think about.
Every job is what you make of it.
Security Force is NOT like mall security. Not sure who told you that, but it's completely not true. They are real police officers. They respond to all crimes on base... so they respond to domestic violence, shoplifting, do traffic stops, DUIs, anti-terrorism and threat assessments, security for presidential visits, and a host of other things. You have OSI that will ultimately handle felony investigations, but security forces has a huge roll in all the law enforcement of the base.
I know you are a recruiter, DM, and maybe it has changed since the mid-90's, but recruits used to absolutely be able to join with a guaranteed AFSC. I knew several people who had a guaranteed job before they left for BMT.
In fact, when I joined, I was told to NEVER go "Open XXXXX".
Now, I ended up joining anyway and going "Open General." I got my second choice, Intel, and have no regrets, but I do know it was possible to join with a guaranteed job and not have to worry about which AFSC you would get. The people I know who came in with a guaranteed job did have to sign up for six years instead of four, but maybe that was due to the career fields they selected?
With that said, the job someone picked wasn't always available, so it wasn't unusual for someone to wait in DEP for months.
Last edited by Knox Harrington; 04-07-2016 at 09:28 PM..
I know you are a recruiter, DM, and maybe it has changed since the mid-90's, but recruits used to absolutely be able to join with a guaranteed AFSC. I knew several people who had a guaranteed job before they left for BMT.
In fact, when I joined, I was told to NEVER go "Open XXXXX".
Now, I ended up joining anyway and going "Open General." I got my second choice, Intel, and have no regrets, but I do know it was possible to join with a guaranteed job and not have to worry about which AFSC you would get. The people I know who came in with a guaranteed job did have to sign up for six years instead of four, but maybe that was due to the career fields they selected?
With that said, the job someone picked wasn't always available, so it wasn't unusual for someone to wait in DEP for months.
Exactly 14 percent of our jobs are for Security Forces, 37% are Open. The other 50-ish percent are the other 150 or so jobs in the Air Force. That means most jobs have less than a 1% chance of being guaranteed. You can't just go to your recruiter and say "I want to do contracting" because we have less than a 1% chance of getting that job in a guaranteed contract. You'd be waiting like 10 years to get lucky enough to be in the squadron, and in the flight, that got that job in the random "round robin" of "job drop." 50% of our applicants do end up with guaranteed jobs, but we are often guaranteeing them their #10, or #17, or #24 choice.
Right now, most squadrons won't let people wait for jobs. The basic mantra is "we have Security Force, open Mechanic, EOD, and 2 or 3 other jobs. You take one, or you go join the Army." We've gotten to the point where you either want to join the AIR FORCE, or not. You're not joining an AFSC, you're joining the Air Force, and we need you to do xxxx.
Exactly 14 percent of our jobs are for Security Forces, 37% are Open. The other 50-ish percent are the other 150 or so jobs in the Air Force. That means most jobs have less than a 1% chance of being guaranteed. You can't just go to your recruiter and say "I want to do contracting" because we have less than a 1% chance of getting that job in a guaranteed contract. You'd be waiting like 10 years to get lucky enough to be in the squadron, and in the flight, that got that job in the random "round robin" of "job drop." 50% of our applicants do end up with guaranteed jobs, but we are often guaranteeing them their #10, or #17, or #24 choice.
Right now, most squadrons won't let people wait for jobs. The basic mantra is "we have Security Force, open Mechanic, EOD, and 2 or 3 other jobs. You take one, or you go join the Army." We've gotten to the point where you either want to join the AIR FORCE, or not. You're not joining an AFSC, you're joining the Air Force, and we need you to do xxxx.
Wow, I wouldn't want to join if I couldn't get the job I wanted. Seems like they are a little short sighted there.
When I joined the navy it was easy to get a guaranteed job. You might have to wait on DEP a few weeks for your turn but it is much better than just taking what they give you.
if anyone has suggestions on jobs that will really progress me, I would greatly appreciate it.
When I was in the Air Force (1968-1972) I'm sure some of my old sergeants still had a pair of brown shoes in their closets. However, your post caught my attention.
Although it may be good to get a basic footing in a desired career field while in the service, sometimes it's just not possible. I was a jet aircraft mechanic (a crew chief) in the AF but am now retired from a civil service career as a wildlife biologist. On the other hand, a footing gained in a career field while in the military might assist you in later civilian work. I have a nephew who spent eight years as an Air Force policeman and is now an FBI agent at a better pay grade than what I retired at.
My point here is there are no guarantees that your military experience and the knowledge gained from it will feed into the civilian career that you desire. Sometimes you have only the maturity you gained from your military work to run with.
BTW, during the time in my civilian career while I was progressing toward wildlife biology, I worked alongside dog handlers of U.S. Customs (normally German shepherds) and those of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (beagles). Later, as a staff level biologist, I worked for environmental lawyers. A lot can change during the time you are in any career.
Sorry I can't help you with modern AF career fields as too much has changed since I left. A computer back then was not nearly as powerful as an early PC with DOS and it occupied a space the size of a large bedroom.
You certainly seem to be giving your future more thought than I did for my own when I was your age. Best of luck. I'm guessing you will do okay.
Wow, I wouldn't want to join if I couldn't get the job I wanted. Seems like they are a little short sighted there.
When I joined the navy it was easy to get a guaranteed job. You might have to wait on DEP a few weeks for your turn but it is much better than just taking what they give you.
It is only short sighted if they can't fill their numbers. They have more people than they know what to do with, so you take what is available or you go somewhere else.
Security Force is NOT like mall security. Not sure who told you that, but it's completely not true. They are real police officers. They respond to all crimes on base... so they respond to domestic violence, shoplifting, do traffic stops, DUIs, anti-terrorism and threat assessments, security for presidential visits, and a host of other things. You have OSI that will ultimately handle felony investigations, but security forces has a huge roll in all the law enforcement of the base.
I've known a lot of Air Force "Security Force" personnel and the ones I knew did much more gate guard, flight line security, etc. then they did law enforcement. Has that changed?
Hmmmm, the more it says what's in security, the more likely it is likely to be one's job.
HOWEVER, one might want to keep in mind that at this or that post, they may end up being utilized as that commander sees, whether or not they went to school for that, whether or not that's their job.
In the late Cold War Navy, I was put in charge of "Navy Police" at a station. The Captain did not want Department of the Navy police but sailors as police, so he had a force formed up with a Master at Arms (rate for security in the navy) as cadre and 7-10 petty officers of other rates (I had operations specialists (CIC on a ship), boatswains, yeomen, engine mates, even a religious programmer) as police officers. What we essentially did could be covered in this: Navy COOL - NOBC 2775 Description
(that's a very old, out of date description) There were 4 sections in Navy Police: police officers, gate sentries who were usually new, unrated sailors (had a permanently assigned signal man petty officer as section leader), dispatchers which was usually a maternity assignment, and ASF. We cross trained a lot with police officers being trained in the 1st 3 sections and dispatchers/gate sentries crossed trained as possible.
BUT, things can go the other way. At times, I heard suggestions for my police to be handing out uniform violation tickets and I fought like heck against that. That was a job for the Chiefs to be doing, not my police.........but that is how security has been used at times.
So a few things. What the Commander wants his or her people to do is up to them. They may be risking their command (seems people are being relieved very easily these days), but that is their call.
What people say, what you hear is or is not security may have a grain of truth in it in their experience, so don't disregarded it entirely.
You may have to do things which aren't quite in your job description. Sometimes it may be grand, sometimes it may be lousy.
Sometimes, it may be things that once you are a civilian again, people won't believe that you did it because that's not in the textbook description. For example, sometimes I am not believed when I say I trained anti-terrorism troops in hand to hand because that instructor is usually a dedicated enlisted position. I had, however, troops that needed to be brought up to speed, I had (and still do) over a decade of sports judo experience, and the Captain said, "Ounce, get it done!".
Finally, once in a civilian masters CJ class, with lots of police officers classmates, we were going over the procedure of what happens if an officer shoots and kills someone and I asked what if it is hand to hand. The prof, also a police officer, answered "Same thing," but I got a lot of eyes from my classmates. In office hours afterwards, I told the prof, "Forgive my question tonight, Sir, but it is the way I have been trained."
"Well, that's understandable. Often those picked for military police are the best brawlers."
Make no mistake about it. Military police in any service is a very active business and you need to be fit because, it is a job where you are staying there and fighting.
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