Let us all Salute our MC friend RED...

[weirdtimes_7]

Red is heading towards basic training for the Air Force  .. last time i talked to him he was going out for two different jobs (AFSC's), Combat Controller or a Mechanic.

We all hope to hear from you sometime Red, and good luck in the AF.. 

military_stang

[abnormaltoy]

Stang...I owe every member of the US military a great debt. I am constantly amazed by the sacrifices made. I wish you and Red all the best.

[BLACKDOG]

  Thank you Red, and thanks to you as well MS    We as American Citzens owe ya'll a debt we can never repay 

[weirdtimes_7]

I got a lot of respect for Red wanting to go into Combat Controller... thats a crazy career field, i would love to go into it, but i have a family now.... but thank you all for your comment's... hehe, but let's keep this one focused on Red

military_stang

[Hammerhead]

Hats off to Red...  and much thanks to him and all those in the service of this great country.

[kneedownnate]

Can't say it enough, but thanks to red and all those who give selflessly    It takes a lot to go into the armed services with all that's going on right now!

[79coyotefrg]

  GO RED GO


we'll leave a light on for ya   

[Rocksurfer]

  Go Big Red 1!!

[Shoyrtt]

Lackland bound (I was there 20 years ago )

[red]

thanks guys for the support . finally got computer access again today and arrived in San Antonio. gonna go visit the recruiter tomorrow, arrange to take the test and find out the date i begin basic. visiting a few friends here in San Antonio and Midland Texas, then i wont have access to a comp for awhile.

[topar]

    Thanks Red!     

[Lady Di]

  GO RED GO


we'll leave a light on for ya   

That brought a lump to my throat.

I am proud of and grateful to all our Marlin service men and women, and to all the service men and women in general. THANK YOU just doesn't say enough

[red]

well heres some info on the schedual. i take the asvap test august 28th, physical august 29th, then i officially sign the papers on august 30th. have to go to midland and collect some papers before august 27th so i'll be headed there tomorrow and will arrive back in San Antonio sunday evening. if i do as well on the actual asvap as i did on the practice (made a 96 out of a possible 99) and i meet the physical requirements for the air force special forces (combat controller is one of the job, might go for search and rescue) then thats what i'll go for and should start basic in 2 weeks-6 weeks. if i dont meet the requirements then i'll aim for mechanic and would start basic in anywhere from 3 weeks-12 weeks. their quoting me a couple of months to start basic for job openings, but if i request early deployment for that job then i'm bumped up to the next available starting point.

[red]

a huge thank you to all of our service men and women active duty, veterans, and future soldiers. if it wasnt for yall this country would not exhist.

[Shoyrtt]

Again it has been a LONG time since I served in the USAF but I was promised the same type of plan going in that ended up not being correct. I had the highest score you could get on the ASVAB and I wanted to be a Air Traffic Controller. My second choice was Combat Controller. The recruiter told me that with my scores I was "guaranteed" one of the two. However, due to the fact I wanted to "get out of Dodge" quick, I was classified "open general" (again maybe an old term) meaning the positions were not truly guaranteed. I was in Lackland in three weeks from the day I took the ASVAB. I would say it was about the last week of basic when we received our orders to tech school. Needless to say those who had true guaranteed jobs knew exactly where they were going. When they read my name and said I was staying at Lackland, I wasn't real happy. I was now going to be a cop for the next four years. After the fact, I really enjoyed my experience, but if you really want to be assured of where you are going, it is worth it to wait to get what you want. 
Again

[kneedownnate]

Again it has been a LONG time since I served in the USAF but I was promised the same type of plan going in that ended up not being correct.

I've heard this a lot too.  They make all these promises to get you in, then once in they own you and put you wherever they want, rarely doing what you were told.

[Wermz84]

   Thanks Red,   M_S

[red]

Again it has been a LONG time since I served in the USAF but I was promised the same type of plan going in that ended up not being correct. I had the highest score you could get on the ASVAB and I wanted to be a Air Traffic Controller. My second choice was Combat Controller. The recruiter told me that with my scores I was "guaranteed" one of the two. However, due to the fact I wanted to "get out of Dodge" quick, I was classified "open general" (again maybe an old term) meaning the positions were not truly guaranteed. I was in Lackland in three weeks from the day I took the ASVAB. I would say it was about the last week of basic when we received our orders to tech school. Needless to say those who had true guaranteed jobs knew exactly where they were going. When they read my name and said I was staying at Lackland, I wasn't real happy. I was now going to be a cop for the next four years. After the fact, I really enjoyed my experience, but if you really want to be assured of where you are going, it is worth it to wait to get what you want. 
Again

this is something that joe (military stang) told me to be carefull of, to make sure that before i sign the papers that my job is listed, not open general. theres 2 options for quick ship that the recruiter mentioned. going in listed as open general which would put me in whatever field they want me to be in, or making sure my job is written on my papers and requesting to fill in the spot of someone who became disqualified for that position (ie got arrested or something like that).

[baconator]

congrats red.   i know it takes alot of guts to sign your life away on the dotted line during a time of war.  have fun in basic and dont let them yelling get to your head.  they break you down to build you up stronger.  or thats how it was in Army basic.

[Shoyrtt]

this is something that joe (military stang) told me to be carefull of, to make sure that before i sign the papers that my job is listed, not open general. theres 2 options for quick ship that the recruiter mentioned. going in listed as open general which would put me in whatever field they want me to be in, or making sure my job is written on my papers and requesting to fill in the spot of someone who became disqualified for that position (ie got arrested or something like that).

You know the program

The only other advise that I can give you is to opt-in for the GI Bill benefits. I remember that I paid some nominal amount for the first two years ($50 a month ). The USAF gave the option of opting out, which I would say more than half of the guys took to get that little amount back in their check. The GI Bill paid for all of my college and even the first year of grad school. The program has changed a little bit, but I paid about $1,200 to receive $50,000 for school. 

[79coyotefrg]

hey guess who's birf day it is today

[Lady Di]

No WAY!! Gots to pull out the birfday cake for this occasion!




ENJOY!!  


                                                                                                                                                                  

[weirdtimes_7]

this is something that joe (military stang) told me to be carefull of, to make sure that before i sign the papers that my job is listed, not open general. theres 2 options for quick ship that the recruiter mentioned. going in listed as open general which would put me in whatever field they want me to be in, or making sure my job is written on my papers and requesting to fill in the spot of someone who became disqualified for that position (ie got arrested or something like that).

Yes yes.. you did listen to me, HAHA, j/k.. but yes, make sure that you go over your contract and see that it say's "your job" in the job section when you go to sign up... thats the only way your going to get what job you truely want.

You know the program

The only other advise that I can give you is to opt-in for the GI Bill benefits. I remember that I paid some nominal amount for the first two years ($50 a month ). The USAF gave the option of opting out, which I would say more than half of the guys took to get that little amount back in their check. The GI Bill paid for all of my college and even the first year of grad school. The program has changed a little bit, but I paid about $1,200 to receive $50,000 for school. 

And this is a big one.... make sure you DO NOT defer or opt out of the G.I. Bill..... it's only $100 bucks a month for the first 12 month's.. and trust me, those month's go by fast.... i think it's up to $49K or $52K for schooling.... i can't remember.... but do it, trust me you wil regret it if you doing take the opertunity to take the 50K in free money..

oh, and happy Birfday    good luck Red

military_stang

[Shoyrtt]

The one funny thing I remember about basic that I wonder if it is still in place in the two glasses of water rule. At every meal you would walk through the line, get your food and two glasses of water. You then walked to a table that would seat four people. You put the tray down and stood at attention until all four seats were occupied. Then the first person at the table would say "airmen be seated." You would sit down and before you could touch ANY food, you had to drink those two glasses of water. 

To this day, if I am served a 5" glass of water my instincts tell me I am supposed to pound it, and then another before I can eat.

[weirdtimes_7]

The one funny thing I remember about basic that I wonder if it is still in place in the two glasses of water rule. At every meal you would walk through the line, get your food and two glasses of water. You then walked to a table that would seat four people. You put the tray down and stood at attention until all four seats were occupied. Then the first person at the table would say "airmen be seated." You would sit down and before you could touch ANY food, you had to drink those two glasses of water. 

To this day, if I am served a 5" glass of water my instincts tell me I am supposed to pound it, and then another before I can eat.

yes sir.... that is true.. but now you get your choice of gatorade and at least one glass of water, HAHA 

The reason they have Gatorade is because it replenishes the electrolites..... they have pop up at the drink stations, but if you take one.... your going straight to the snake pit and then outside without food, HAHA
military_stang

[Shoyrtt]

yes sir.... that is true.. but now you get your choice of gatorade and at least one glass of water, HAHA 

The reason they have Gatorade is because it replenishes the electrolites..... they have pop up at the drink stations, but if you take one.... your going straight to the snake pit and then outside without food, HAHA
military_stang

I went through in January. We had snow on the ground for a week.  Two glasses of water got really old. Other than that, Basic Training was pretty easy; its the Air Force.

[red]

I went through in January. We had snow on the ground for a week.  Two glasses of water got really old. Other than that, Basic Training was pretty easy; its the Air Force.

basic will be simple i agree, 6 weeks should be easier than my old football coach was for training. its the 69 weeks of training after that that should have a few interesting parts. heres a link to give yall an idea of what i'm aiming for http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=177

[Shoyrtt]

You are going for PJ training, very cool. Again this might be old news (but who knows) the way they recruited PJs 20 years ago was they asked everyone in basic if they wanted to try out. I would say 5 guys tried out from our flight. There was a run, but what they were really looking for was people who could swim. I didn't try out (even though they somehow knew I swam and played football in high school) but I was told the swim consisted of a sprint (50 yds) and medium distance (400 yds). Get some time in the pool before you go to basic.

Edit:

Look at the first school at Lackland:

Pararescue Preparatory Course, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas  -- This two-week course provides physical training under the oversight of sports physiologists and swimming trainers to familiarize and teach the trainees the required skills to succeed in the Indoctrination course to follow.

[red]

will do. read on another link that i need to be able to swim 500 meters in 16 minutes in order to graduate, run 1 1/2 miles in 10 minutes 30 seconds (these are the minimums, faster is much better). in order to start the training i need to be able to run 1 1/2 miles in 12 minutes 30 seconds, not sure of the swimming distance/time. 500 meters is 20 laps of a standard swimming pool at a gym. looks like i need to do alot of cardio before i go to basic so i can be ready for PJ training!!

[red]

when they asked you if you wanted to try out for the PJ's, was that at the beginning or the end of basic for the physical testing?