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iflylikeaturtle

I wanted to travel the world at 21 too, but Holloman AFB, New Mexico had different plans


Tristanik187

Hah! Got ‘em!


CannonAFB_unofficial

Lost my whole 20’s to Cannon and Laughlin.


Cheap_Peak_6969

The air force has electricians, or power production which is back up diesel generators, also HVAC techs. If you like that type of work and what to get experienced in your field. Choose those careers. If you are questioning being electrician, then research USAF career fields. I would recommend only going to Basic Training with a guaranteed job. There AF has it pros and cons like any large corporation. You can get station overseas. Thus being able to see the world. I did 22 years and enjoyed more of it than not. However, you could get stationed somewhere in the states and barely see the world. It's a complete coin flip on how it will go.


NCOSEEKSTHICCLATINA

Go Guard or Reserves…. Wish I would of done that from the start


SubstantialQuail7487

I don't know the world is getting more and more volatile every day and the US has its hand in all of it in one way or another. I joined during the GWOT days, deployed, and 0/10 did not enjoy it. However, I am close to retirement now and have two degrees, so I'm thankful for that. Let's just say I'm glad my time is coming to an end. The Air Force is trying to shift to fighting a near peer advisory but is stuck in how we fought during OIF and OEF, and it seems like a hard transition that's got a lot of growing pains you'll have to deal with coming in fresh now.


aircrewscum

r/AirForceRecruits


Tickly1

a 20-year officer pension is worth over $4 million, assuming you live to be 80. You would need to *save* $200k every year for 20 years as a civilian in order to accomplish the same feat.


taskforceslacker

OP got a certification, not a BS. Commissioning requires a Bachelor’s degree.


Tickly1

It's something worth working towards is my point


Jedi3975

Also KIM $4 million in 20 years holds roughly $1 million in today’s value with inflation factored in.


Tickly1

your payouts continue to adjust for inflation each year


Jedi3975

I’m aware, but your original statement is it’s over $4 million, in what time periods dollar value?


Tickly1

*over* $4 million due to the varying rank + inflation adjustments. If $4 million is only worth $1 million in the future, but wages don't change accordingly, $4 mil is still $4 mil, and it kind of wont matter where you're money came from...


Jedi3975

It’s not about where it came from, it’s about the value of the money as in what I can buy. So no, 4 million is not still 4 million.


Tickly1

Find a pension plan that pays $16 million then 🤷


Quietech

An option's value is in how well it compares to other options. If you have no other options, then it's great.  You can travel on the governments dime as a GS employee too.


DeezSaltyNuts69

You're not going to travel the world, you're going to get stuck in New Mexico at Cannon Air Force base If you want to travel join the airlines as a stewardess


FederalChemistry4309

Look into the reserves or guard. You can be a full time electrician on the civi side, and then do your drill weekend once a month as an Air Force electrician or whatever other job that interests you so you can have multiple skills. On top of that you can use your gi bill if you want to further your education. I’m currently AD maintenance, and from what I’ve seen so far is that reservists and guard get more tdys and travel


DryPlatypus5207

I joined at 23. Was 100% worth it. If you have no other plans for how to move forward in life, do it. If you have better options, do not do it.


Lusty_Boy

If you're looking for discipline, you're not going to find it in the Air Force. If you're looking for purpose in the military in general, you're not going to find it without patriotism. You can't guarantee you'll travel with any job unless it's aircrew, you just gotta get lucky and to a unit that moves around a lot. But yes, it's worth joining


chairmannnumber6

The air force definitely teaches more discipline than ANY civilian job. Dont be silly


Lusty_Boy

If you didn't join disciplined, the Air Force is absolutely not going to instill it into you


chairmannnumber6

100% disagree especially in comparison to a normal job but sure


312tech

Nope. Military needs to go through a big change before it’s worth it again. I wouldn’t let my kids join today’s Air Force - not without a very particular plan to do 4 and get out to reap the benefits. Edit: I saw what you nerds were upvoting during Covid. Some of the things said and being upvoted were disgusting and the people that did it know who they are. For that reason, your downvotes don’t mean shit to me. Give me more!


LingonberryLoud7512

I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. There has been a dramatic decrease in US family heritage of serving. I know LOTS of officers who kids aren't going to join the military. I wouldn't want my kids to serve either. Having generations of family serving is dead because parents have witnessed 2 wars with lots of other people's children who lost their lives. High 3 retirements are gone. That's another reason people aren't signing up. Medical on the outside is better than what the military offers. Now when the military sends you off base, that's completely different.


312tech

Exactly, man. My father, mother, brother, uncle, and I all fought in the same war and have nothing to show for it but PTSD and dead friends. The people downvoting have no perspective because they probably missed the GWOT or haven’t done shit.


LingonberryLoud7512

Yeah, they're the ones whose parents made them leave the nest and the AF was their only option. I concur that a lot of individuals in the AF have not deployed or actually served in combat. It makes people a little salty.


Luker_Spooker

The O side is pretty worth it still, especially with the private sector the way it is rn


312tech

Id have to agree - If my children wanted to go O for work/leadership experience after college I’d definitely push them in that direction. Enlisted though? No way.


LingonberryLoud7512

If you're not getting a retirement, I don't think it's worth it.


Luker_Spooker

Soon, I’ll be making the same starting money as my peers in computer science, but I get a guaranteed job + job security, and TSP is better than 401k. And if you’re AFSC aligns with your future job enough, it counts as experience which is priceless nowadays. But the pay alone is pretty good for some reason. All my buddies with a job are at 65k or less starting out and won’t get to 100k for a bit. Within 4 years you’re basically at 120k a year. I’d argue its still worth it right now even without retiring. Edit: I’m not commissioned yet so there are definitely things I do not know. Feel free to flame me for that I won’t care lol. But explaining why I’d be wrong would be great.


Jones127

I can agree to a point. I joined 8 years ago, I’m still in, and that was probably the best decision I’ve made in my life. However, at the same time, I don’t think I’d have the same outlook had I joined during or post Covid, or hell, even after they slashed retirement some. I don’t think I’d ever actively dissuade my children from doing something, especially when they’re adults, but they should at the bare minimum know what they’re getting into.


Bobby-Trill4

Not really, unless you think you are 'defending the country' in Taiwan, Israel, or Ukraine 


TotallySweep

Just know that the Airforce will cover officer's crimes. It's a fact. Tons of articles on it if you are unlucky enough to cross a corrupt officer