Getting into IT in the USAF?

Anonymouse

I know there's people here who have been in USAF so I was hoping I can get a little bit of guidance here.

I'm 26 going on 27 and been toying with the idea of joining up. From what I'm told by former servicemen is that your chances of getting a good job rely on how good you do on ASVAB. Is there a good possibility I'd get an IT job having IT experience and getting a good score on the test or is the job picked randomly depending on the score?

Mainly I just want to do this to get a good challenge in my life, money to go back to school, and to get more IT experience. Would reserves pay enough to live off of in the SF Bay Area or would I be better off Active Duty?

These are pretty broad questions but I hope I can at least get some good ideas .

Armor149

I wasn't in the Air Force, but I was in the Navy and Army both as active duty and reserve. I can tell you much of what your asking is the same among all the branches.

Your correct about the ASVAB, the higher you score on the test, the more job classes you can choose from. Keep in mind that there are minimum scores that need to be obtained in specific areas for job classifications. This may help. http://www.military.com/ASVAB/0,,ASVAB_MOS_USAF.html

Decide on a job and providing your ASVAB scores are good enough, you tell the recruiter thats what you want. Never trust what a recruiter tells you, have it in writing; they are the used car salesmen of the military.

The military is a great way of getting ahead. They will provide you top notch training and education, reimburse you for certification exam fees, and will allow you to get a college degree for next to nothing. With you wanting to go into the IT, you will have to have a security clearance. The clearance alone is worth its weight in gold.

Go active duty if you can, you'll get more out of it. You will not be able to live on reserve pay, without a full-time job.

jahsoul

The biggest thing regarding the Air Force (I know for AD) is availability of the AFSC. Because the Air Force is overmanned, getting a 3D code might be hard. (I think that's what it is. It was 3C when I was in but they merged 3 AFSCs into 1). I'm just giving you a heads up before you have a recruiter telling you otherwise. If you decided to do it, make sure you have a guaranteed position you want when you go to MEPS. (and Open is not one of them..lol)


Joey

Chris:/*

Since I work with them I will throw you some info really quick:

3D1X2 = Networks
3D1X1 = Job Control and Client Support
3D0X4 = Programmers
3D1x3 = RF, SATCOM, Wideband
3D1x5 = Radar

3D1X4 = Spectrum or wireless -Must have 6 years experience in a prior 3d career field and transfer in
1B4 = Computer Network Ops - Must have 6 years experience in a prior 3d career field and transfer in

These jobs are not niche only specific you can move to work in any enviroment pending mission requirements. With the exception of 3D1x1 all other 3D1XX Career field have a tech school of at least 1 year.

Cheers

SephStorm

Anyone have info on the Cyber Surety field?

Chris:/*

You work as Information Assurance Position. Work with System Admins and Network Admins to have Information Assurance Vulnerability Assessments completed against systems. After which you work with Admins to patch and complete security scans. You also ensure that systems are installed comply with system policies and baselines. You will also ensure newly installed systems comply with all these features. Your job will include training people in basic security and publishing threats to the site in which you work at. It is a lot of paperwork but you get some good experience.

it_consultant

I was a 3A051 in the Air Force from 2002 to 2006. I was the computer guy because really, I was the only one who knew how to turn on the computing box, so I really lucked out with education that had direct use in the civilian world.

Having said all that. I would have enjoyed my service much more if were a Crew Chief, Fireman, PJ (tried out but failed), TAC-P, or anything operational. You can always get a job in the civilian world as an IT guy, but you will not always be able to be an aerial gunner.

jahsoul

it_consultant wrote: »

I was a 3A051 in the Air Force from 2002 to 2006. I was the computer guy because really, I was the only one who knew how to turn on the computing box, so I really lucked out with education that had direct use in the civilian world.

Having said all that. I would have enjoyed my service much more if were a Crew Chief, Fireman, PJ (tried out but failed), TAC-P, or anything operational. You can always get a job in the civilian world as an IT guy, but you will not always be able to be an aerial gunner.

Boo @ Crew Chief..lol

Aircraft Electrical and Environmental Specialist FTW!!!
It's a flightline thing..lol

colemic

Chris:/* wrote: »

Since I work with them I will throw you some info really quick:

3D1X2 = Networks
3D1X1 = Job Control and Client Support
3D0X4 = Programmers
3D1x3 = RF, SATCOM, Wideband
3D1x5 = Radar

3D1X4 = Spectrum or wireless -Must have 6 years experience in a prior 3d career field and transfer in
1B4 = Computer Network Ops - Must have 6 years experience in a prior 3d career field and transfer in

These jobs are not niche only specific you can move to work in any enviroment pending mission requirements. With the exception of 3D1x1 all other 3D1XX Career field have a tech school of at least 1 year.

Cheers

I used to be a 3C at Misawa, 2002-2004... I worked on the Hill and 35CS waiting for my clearance. My first 4 months were spent shoveling snow until I was allowed in the building, LOL

thomAZ

I'm currently a Cyber Transport Tech in the Air Force and I can tell you that right now it's very hard to get into a job that you want. The Air Force is currently over manned and unless it's a job that they need it might take up to a year to actually get into Basic Training. What job are you most interested in? What type of stuff do you want to do in the field?

Chris:/*

colemic wrote: »

I used to be a 3C at Misawa, 2002-2004... I worked on the Hill and 35CS waiting for my clearance. My first 4 months were spent shoveling snow until I was allowed in the building, LOL

Yeah they have done that to a large number of people.

ssampier

I so want to tell my standard AF joke. But I better not...

Most of the military folks have probably already heard it.

colemic wrote: »

I used to be a 3C at Misawa, 2002-2004... I worked on the Hill and 35CS waiting for my clearance. My first 4 months were spent shoveling snow until I was allowed in the building, LOL

Did you buy a snow blower the first chance you got when you returned stateside?

Bokeh

Dont forget, needs of the military come first. Having a guaranteed job doesn't mean you'll get that job. If the needs change, you could be changed - ie offered another job, offered to get out, offered to get out and come back when the needs change again (and repeat basic all over again).

Happened to me many moons ago, as well as others over the years. Had "guaranteed" job as crypto maint., they closed the school for a year. Was offered cook, explosive ordinance disposal, tail gunner, or computer operations. Took the safe way out and got into IT.

themagicone

3E032 for me... Dang joke though. I worked on Electric Power Production equipment. But in reality I was a grease monkey for wasteful government spending. Do you really need a 50kv generator to power 5 lights? It took like 200 gallons just to change the coolant. 16k gallon fuel tank, etc. I was trained to operate, fix, install, but what did I get to do? Change oil, paint them so they look pretty and turn them on once a month. Oh the battery clamp is too loose, sorry that is a 7 level screwdriver.

I didn't have a very good experience with the military. What they tell you - oh it's a normal 9 to 5 job once you get to your base. What they don't tell you - you are on call 24/7/365 - If you are in the dorms your expected to be at work in 30 mins if there is a recall. And they liked to recall us at 3am a lot for some dang reason. Vacation? forget about it, they can call you back from that also for no reason at all.

Sorry... ymmv

thomAZ

Bokeh wrote: »

Dont forget, needs of the military come first. Having a guaranteed job doesn't mean you'll get that job. If the needs change, you could be changed - ie offered another job, offered to get out, offered to get out and come back when the needs change again (and repeat basic all over again).

Happened to me many moons ago, as well as others over the years. Had "guaranteed" job as crypto maint., they closed the school for a year. Was offered cook, explosive ordinance disposal, tail gunner, or computer operations. Took the safe way out and got into IT.

Happened to my brother, he was originally going to be a SERE instructor and the docs found a "color deficiency" and now he's gonna be working on the flight line. It was that or get out.

wastedtime

ssampier wrote: »

I so want to tell my standard AF joke. But I better not...

Most of the military folks have probably already heard it.

I want to hear it, even if I have heard it before.

Anonymouse

When do they offer you a job? Before or after basic training?

earweed

It depends on what you're going into and also what "the needs" of the military are at the moment.

Anonymouse

Wow so I'd pretty much be at their mercy waiting until they feel like telling me what job to do?

earweed

You are volunteering. Get everything in writing, always.

it_consultant

Military service can be an outstanding experience if you jump in head first. You may find yourself doing extremely cool things. Me experience has been that people who are too worried about getting into a specific job or whatever have a miserable time because there expectations are never met.

My friends who were truck drivers in the USAF had the best time of anyone and they had the lowest skilled job.

ssampier

wastedtime wrote: »

I want to hear it, even if I have heard it before.

You probably have heard it before. All apologies to past, present and future Air Force personnel:

This Sucks!

An Army grunt sitting in a foxhole, eating MREs and wearing 50lbs of gear after having marched 12 miles, says: "This sucks!"

A marine, doing push-ups in the mud during a downpour, after an 18 mile march with 60 lbs of gear, says: "I love the way this sucks, oorah!"

An Air Force pilot, doing combat maneuvers in the rain, says, "It sure sucks out there."

An Air Force recruit, sitting in an easy chair in an air conditioned room, holding a remote control, says: "No cable? This sucks!"

uhtrinity

The military isn't for everyone, especially in today's charged political environment. You are as likely to be doing foot patrols in Iraq or Afghanistan as doing tech work, and since this site is about tech certifications I would imagine that would be your focus.

I joined the Army 20 years ago and served 5 years active duty in a job that matched my AAS degree, though at a lower skill level. Originally I wanted to go Air Force, but decided not to once I found out you don't pick your job, it is assigned based on a combination of skills and need.

Overall I didn't like the experience as I hated soldiering, though I was very good at my technical job.

colemic

ssampier wrote: »

I so want to tell my standard AF joke. But I better not...

Most of the military folks have probably already heard it.



Did you buy a snow blower the first chance you got when you returned stateside?

Haven't lived stateside since, excepting the 6 miserable months I had in St. Louis.

...although I DID have a snowblower that I got to use there for the sidewalks in the parking lot... that fence was so sensitive and was alarmed, and if I was in a bad mood (like I usually was, my first duty station and not only was my sponsor 2 hrs late picking me up from the airport, i didn't meet my supervisor for 4 months as well) - I would simply adjust the snowblower to hit the fence, and watch the popo's come running.

Bokeh

ssampier wrote: »

You probably have heard it before. All apologies to past, present and future Air Force personnel:

This Sucks!

An Army grunt sitting in a foxhole, eating MREs and wearing 50lbs of gear after having marched 12 miles, says: "This sucks!"

A marine, doing push-ups in the mud during a downpour, after an 18 mile march with 60 lbs of gear, says: "I love the way this sucks, oorah!"

An Air Force pilot, doing combat maneuvers in the rain, says, "It sure sucks out there."

An Air Force recruit, sitting in an easy chair in an air conditioned room, holding a remote control, says: "No cable? This sucks!"

They had TV??? LOL. We didnt while I was in basic. We had to sit on the floor in the dayroom for 4.5 of the six weeks. We didn't earn the "right" to sit in chairs till we got our dress blues.

earweed

In Navy basic we didn't have a "dayroom" to sit around in and our barracks had no chairs except 1 in the drill chiefs office behind his desk. We had chairs in classrooms and if we weren't in classes or doing pt or marching somewhere we were cleaning or something. We had 0 free time until the last 2 weeks and that was still minimal.

ssampier

colemic, that's an awesome story. So when the fence was triggered everyone scurries to find what it is or is that classified?

Bokeh wrote: »

They had TV??? LOL. We didnt while I was in basic. We had to sit on the floor in the dayroom for 4.5 of the six weeks. We didn't earn the "right" to sit in chairs till we got our dress blues.

I was never in the Service. "Dayroom" just sounds funny. What do you call the AF dining? My most of friends/relatives were in the Army/Army Reserves and they just called it the chowhall. I heard the AF has an unusual term for it.

By the way, thanks for your service.

phantasm

earweed wrote: »

In Navy basic we didn't have a "dayroom" to sit around in and our barracks had no chairs except 1 in the drill chiefs office behind his desk. We had chairs in classrooms and if we weren't in classes or doing pt or marching somewhere we were cleaning or something. We had 0 free time until the last 2 weeks and that was still minimal.

Indeed. The barracks I was in (Ship 12) is all gone, so is everything else. They rebuilt the majority of Great Lakes with all new buildings which have integrated chow halls and classrooms. Kind of lame, and yet sad at the same time. The new recruit racks look like coffin lockers, no more WWII steel frame beds and stand up lockers. Makes me sad really.

earweed

I went to Orlando for basic (wintertime and nice weather..haha) but that base is completely closed from what I hear. They had just put up a lot of new buildings and stuff while I was there (made for longer marches to go around construction areas) and the school I went to after A schoolhad just been built when I got there and they consolidated it somewhere else. What a waste.
I remember the old style beds and stand up lockers. Everything you had was in the open and open for inspection at any time.

colemic

ssampier wrote: »

colemic, that's an awesome story. So when the fence was triggered everyone scurries to find what it is or is that classified?




I was never in the Service. "Dayroom" just sounds funny. What do you call the AF dining? My most of friends/relatives were in the Army/Army Reserves and they just called it the chowhall. I heard the AF has an unusual term for it.

By the way, thanks for your service.

It had some kind of motion sensor in it, and when I set it off, sure enough, a couple of MPs would come out to see what the deal was. It was always in the morning, it it had been 2am I might have gotten a bit different reaction.

AF called them DFACs (Dining Facilities)

We sat in the day room as well... our brother flight laughed at us for six weeks, their TI was cool, and ours should have been in the marines or something. He was threatening to drop us for push up up until we got on the bus to leave for tech school!

earweed

Our DI in the Navy did drop most of us for push ups until the moment we left his command.