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I am a 31 year old husband and a father of three. I have always held a very strong desire to serve in the military. I tried to enlist after high school, but none of the branches were interested in a mildly asthmatic, flat-footed toothpick.

I recently talked to a U.S. Air Force recruiter though, who gave me hope for the first time that the asthma thing may be waived if I can show that it's not induced by physical exertion. I would have to run two miles with no ill-effects. (No problem. I'm already training.)

I'm afraid I may regret this for the rest of my life if I don't take the chance. I'm rapidly approaching the age when enlisting will no longer be an option.

I honestly just want to serve, to know my life has positively impacted the lives of others.

I am considering either reserves, or a full-time active enlistment, but no decision has yet been made either way. I should also note that I'm pretty much dirt-poor, and a military career would provide a better future for my family than we have at this point.

So those of you who have served, or are still active, and even those who have no experience with the military - what do you think?

Hm. Where to begin. I joined the air force after dropping out of college and got into the Intel career field. Stayed in for six, then turned down a $60,000 reenlistment bonus (I had 'special' abilities) to follow my wife to Italy.

Was it a mistake?? I don't think so - it's easy not to miss money you never had, but I wouldn't mind having a job again ...

Military service (especially air force service) is a good thing, but for a family it can be very stressful. you will be moving around and depending on your job you may be deployed to locations where you will be without your family. You will need to have your wife behind you 100%.

You will be working with alot of different types of people from all walks. Not necessarily a bad thing, but there are alot of immature peeps in the military or some that have no moral values at all. Also you will probably be taking orders from people 10 years younger than you so get yourself mentally ready for that. The air force, like any government agency has so much bureaucracy it can get very nutty at times. Just keep this in mind ... 1. It's funny in a sad kind of way 2. The bureaucracy in the Air Force will never be as bad as the Bureaucracy in Italy

Depending on where you are and where you are going, the housing and health bennies are very good for a family, but keep in mind both your housing and health bennies are free - so you get what you pay for. Although USAF housing it a heckuvalot nicer than the housing of other services.

If you go, I would go full time. Reserves have more of a chance of being sent away and have less bennies. As i said before though, your most important consideration is your family. Will uprooting them cause family trauma? Will being without a dad for (possibly) months have seriously detrimental effects on your children?

Finally, no matter what they say - the mission always comes first. The Air force more than other brances will try their best to accomodate you and your family. But if you have something they need they will not hesitate to use you, even if it's bad for your family ... sometimes even if there are family emergencies.

Dude, if the recruiter can manage to get you INTO the Air Force right now, and you think you can manage the fitness requirements that we have now with your asthma, then GO FOR IT. You can't beat the benefits and the retirement pay is great!

The only issue I can see is that the Air Force is downsizing by over 20,000 jobs over the next 4 years. You need to work with your recruiter to find a job that, a) you can do, and b) that has some permanency. Basically, and this is sorta tough for a man with a wife and kids, but any job that deploys and does an -active- wartime mission is quite safe from the downsizing. The Air Force is getting rid of a lot of its rear-echelons, particularly enlisted. No more programmers, no more anything that can't be deployed to do their job overseas. So, be thinking about maintenance/mechanical work, though the Air Force doesn't need Crew Chiefs right now, IIRC. Think about becoming a Loadmaster on a C-17 or something, or perhaps going for Security Forces, they always need more people to do that.

If the Air Force turns you down, you can always think about the Army. The Army needs people BADLY right now. They can -find- something for you to do, even if it happens to be rear-echelon stuff.

In any case, I appreciate your desire to serve. Good on you.

ive thought of enlisting since i got out of highschoool....did the collage thing poorly and failed out...then i looked seriously...i would sign up in a heart beat...but i refuse to fight for gw. thats the only thing holding me back.

Aggroton wrote:...i would sign up in a heart beat...but i refuse to fight for gw. thats the only thing holding me back.

So sign up, and by the time you're even trained to DO a job, you'll be electing a new president.

I got out of the Air Force in 1982. I say go for it.

I'm an active marine in the USMC. I think it's a good choice, not that I completely agree with which branch you want, but you said you don't really have a choice of branch anymore. Plus, being 31, you can't get in the Marine Corps now anyways.
If you join, you will be able to serve your country, like you said. Plus, if you wanna go back to college they'll pay for it. All medical expenses are paid for. The benefits are awesome as long as you can deal with everything else. I do however agree with TechBMW.

Military service (especially air force service) is a good thing, but for a family it can be very stressful. you will be moving around and depending on your job you may be deployed to locations where you will be without your family. You will need to have your wife behind you 100%.

It's hard for my wife sometimes, but we get through it. Plus she's 4 months pregnant with our first child. So I'm going to learn real soon how that will be.


If they can guarantee you the MOS you want, then I say GO FOR IT!...

TechBMW wrote:The air force, like any government agency has so much bureaucracy it can get very nutty at times. Just keep this in mind ... 1. It's funny in a sad kind of way 2. The bureaucracy in the Air Force will never be as bad as the Bureaucracy in Italy.

I've always believed the Air Force would operate much more efficiently if it were run by the Army.

Toyuzu wrote:I am a 31 year old husband and a father of three.

I honestly just want to serve, to know my life has positively impacted the lives of others.

So those of you who have served, or are still active, and even those who have no experience with the military - what do you think?

You mean to say you have no positive impact on your family? Have you discussed this desire with your wife? What are her wishes?

You have to realize the potential problems which partake with many military families such as the stress of constantly moving, changes in schools and friends for the kids, the impact on the children when/if their father is rarely around, the current war and possibility of more wars which could take your kids father from them and so on.

This may be a dream and I say to go for your dreams, but unfortunately, priorities change and there are now others involved. Their lives and feelings are top priority and have to be considered. As a single person I would encourage the move, but as a father and husband, it's much different. Your kids may have a dream of a happy family with both parents there for them all the time. They have to come first.

Perhaps reserve would be more appropriate since you can still maintain your work status and remain home for the family. But the bottom line is, you need to seriously discuss this with your wife and consider what is best for your family. Kids need both parents to have the chance of a more adaptable and well rounded characters and lifestyles.

Meanie wrote: Perhaps reserve would be more appropriate since you can still maintain your work status and remain home for the family.

Your whole post was great Meanie, but at the current time w/ the current war, -if- he can get an MOS guaranteed in the active side of the house (Job description - air force calls it an AFSC) I think he's more likely to stay at home. They've been scooping up reservists left and right - even guys and gals who finished their stint a year ago and are in the ready reserve who never thought they'd be in uniform again. ...

Then again, as Psycluded posted, the air force is changing since I've been in - being deployed these days may be unavoidable.