My 20yo brother may join the Air Force..UPDATE Post #21

[melanie18]

UPDATE!

My DB takes his physical to join the AF next week! He talked to the recruiter (a woman BTW), and took a few tests, the initial one he scored a 72 out of 80 and the other to narrow down what sort of career he should pursue. The results were rather random, meteorology, pathology, etc.

He was so excited when he called me this afternoon. You can't help but be excited for him! It's the happiest I've heard him in a long time. Also, he got hired at GameStop and starts on Tuesday. Not exactly a career in pathology, but he's super excited about just getting a job. He starts on Tues and I'm really happy for him. My uncle took him out to dinner to celebrate.

There is apparently quite a back-up for boot camp. They said he will not go until at least April 2006, maybe longer.

Thanks for all the input everyone!

 

[Sleepy]

Just one word of advice........PLEASE! If he is promised anything, either by the recruiter or people at MEPPS processing his orders, make sure he GETS IT IN WRITING!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, the military will say and promise anything to a person to get them to join. If you are promised something and later on time comes to receive it but don't, telling them "the recuiter said....". They are going to ask you if you got it in writing.

Also, while at MEPPS (where you do the physical and process orders), when it comes to choosing a career field......PLEASE advise your brother that the people in these offices will do everything in their power to get rid of the most undesirable jobs they have available. Example.......when I went, I wanted the medical field. I was very specific. I was told it was not available, but I could take this other job that is sort of like do this for a while, then do something else for a while, etc. Well, through questioning, I found that I would mostly be scaping paint off ships and repairing parachutes. Oh, but I was "promised" I could cross over to the medical field later on if I was unhappy with what I was being offered. I told him I had to think about it, so I went to the cafeteria and thought for a long while. I went back to the person offering the job and told him I did not think I wanted to pursue this further and that I was walking across the hall to the AF processing. He quickly looked at his computer and said "GEE, I just got a notification that what you want is available"

He will get his leave date when he processes at MEPPS. (recruiters again, will tell you anything you want to hear, so he should not be surprised if he gets a closer leave date than April.) It would not hurt for your brother to ask if there is a later leave date for the job he wants...if that is what he wants. I know I had a choice. I think he has made a very good decision. Most everyone in my family was AF. The best thing about that branch is it is more family oriented for when he decides to get married, etc.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I just want to second what Sleepy said. My DH got into some financial holes before we got married and wanted to go into the service; felt he was just treading water since he didn't go to college. He was sent to Oklahoma for his training,but would go on to train for army intelligence, get a $4000 bonus, and after we got married we'd be in Fort Ord, CA, right on the bay.
Well, 10 days after he gets there, about 5 of them are called into a room. Sorry, the MOS that you signed up for is no longer available, but here are 3 options you can choose. DH chose the most glamorous--truck driver!!! No bonus, and a station in KANSAS.
It turned out OK, because they started screwing up his pay and I was getting it late--I was paying off all of his bills and the credit service was breathing down my neck, not believing I was getting the $$ late--so I wrote to my congresswoman and told her the whole story. She was able to get him out after a year with an honorable discharge and he came back home, thank God, or who knows how long I would have been stuck trying to find teaching jobs in Kansas. This kind of stuff happens! And of course when he first got changed and I called the recruiter in tears, they couldn't wait to tell me it was out of their hands and get me off of the phone.
This was Army by the way. I like AF, my dad was in for a year in the 40s between the wars. But even though my BIL is in the Army reserves and doing very well (just got promoted to E7) I would never recommend the army due to our experience.
Robin M.

 

[melanie18]

Sleepy & Rock n' Robin thanks for the advice. He tends to be a bit gullible so I will make him aware. Since he's not totally sure what he wants to do, I'm afraid they will steer him in a different direction.

 

[mtblujeans]

In agreement...it would not be bad advice to tell him to get everything in writing his entire career in the military! One person makes the committment, but then he may move on to someone or somewhere else and having it in writing will just make for a healthier relationship with Uncle Sam during his career! Best of luck to him....I sincerely hope he enjoys the military experience!