AF Basic Training & OCS

[LawGurl32]

Hey ya'll Im pretty sure something like this has allready been posted but I decided to create a new one so it would grab attention.


What my question is..... are there any females on here that have experienced basic training in the AF or any military branch. If so, I have some gender specific questions for you. Also, if anyone knows anything about the officer candidate selection process or is an officer; could you clue me into things that I should know. Ive been seriously considering the AF for some time now. Im definetly not going to enlist until I have my degree. Basic training dosent really have a big factor in deciding its the actual military life after basic what im curious about. I would like to know what a typical day is like. Im wanting to go into network administration so I know that everything cant run 100% of the time.

But newayz.... any information would be great. :D

[mcsap]

I am not a female but my TI in basic was a female, SSgt Steel. I will NEVER forget that woman !!! 5 ft 8 in, 165 lbs , ugly as a rock and a voice that could cut through a cinder block wall.

[sparrow803]

My son is in the AF currently and had a female TI in basic. Oh my how he hated her - LOL - she was the toughest female I have ever met. When we went down for graduation, I met the other TI's and they kind of adopted a bit softer persona for the parents, but not her. She scared the hell outta me!
There is a group on Yahoo for parents/family of AF - try it out there are some female on there currently serving. Good Luck, and I think the Air Force is a great opportunity for you.

[LawGurl32]

thank ya'll or the information.... im going to have to check out that group at yahoo.

[cecilVA]

I'm currently an officer in the Air Force in the computers career field. Let me know if you have any specific questions. I'm a male so I may not be able to answer a lot of gender specific questions, but I'll tell you that generally speaking women in the air force don't run into many problems, unless they have a chip on their shoulder. Same rule applies for men. Do a good job, pull your own wieght and don't think you are entitled to anything.

PM me if you want to discuss anything specific.

[TX Kid]

Which TRS were you (or the people you know) in? I was in the 320th TRS, Ssgt Britt, Ssgt McDuffie, Ssgt Jack, Ssgt Fisher, and the most disciplined of them all was Tsgt Sulzer. Basic to me was a blast, except zero week (ugh), I hope they let me go back in, and since I already know EVERYTHING about basic, maybe I can graduate with honors!

[LawGurl32]

Thats awesome. I want to be a network admin for the AF. If you could, please provide me information on how I can become an officer. BTW, what is the difference between enlisted and officer?

[cecilVA]

Thats awesome. I want to be a network admin for the AF. If you could, please provide me information on how I can become an officer. BTW, what is the difference between enlisted and officer?

Basically difference between officer and enlisted is that officers are managers and the enlisted people do the work, except for the pilots who are all officers but dont' supervise anybody. Non rated (non pilots) officers typically supervise people from day one which can be tough but you learn a lot. The other big difference is between the two is pay. Enlisted people get paid far too little for the invaluable work they do, they make the Air Force run. Officers get paid a little better. You can find pay tables online at www.military.com or www.dfas.mil. Since you are interested in being a network admin, that is the communications career field, which I'm in. The enlisted do all the hands on computer stuff and the officers are their supervisors. There are lots of opportunities to get all sorts of training for both officers and enlisted. Most bases have Cisco academies on base to get certified.

As far as becoming an officer, there are a basically three ways: ROTC, OTS, and the Air Force Academy (AFA). ROTC is done while you are still in college if your school has a detachment, OTS is done after you graduate and the Academy is its own college that you have to get accepted to after High School. I'm oversimplifing all of these in the interests of not typing too much. ROTC is the easiest route to go, OTS and AFA are more difficult. At one time OTS was accepting lots of people but not so much anymore.

PM if you want to know more about anything and I'll go in more detail.

[cecilVA]

Which TRS were you (or the people you know) in? I was in the 320th TRS, Ssgt Britt, Ssgt McDuffie, Ssgt Jack, Ssgt Fisher, and the most disciplined of them all was Tsgt Sulzer. Basic to me was a blast, except zero week (ugh), I hope they let me go back in, and since I already know EVERYTHING about basic, maybe I can graduate with honors!

Not sure if you were asking me or not, but I wasn't really in a TRS. I did field training camp at Lackland during college which is like Basic only its a little different since its officer training. Only we didn't see MTIs very much. Our trainers were active duty officers and senior ROTC cadets. We did have about five reservist MTIs that did all the parade and drill training. Although we did use the same dining hall and facilities as the BMTs so I saw lots of MTIs in action and those are some hard core folks.

[marine19860222]

Out of the police that serve our country how many of them are from the military. Also are the majority Marines, Airforce, Navy, Army, or Coast guard?

[mcsap]

The question about which branch most officers were in at one time is probably a good thread on it's own.

[LawGurl32]

Most bases have Cisco academies on base to get certified.

Heck ya that is awesome. I will have my CCNA in dec. I could work on my CCNP on base. I'll have to check into that ROTC program. Im currently at a junior college right now and would have to find a university that has it.

[cecilVA]

Out of the police that serve our country how many of them are from the military. Also are the majority Marines, Airforce, Navy, Army, or Coast guard?

Cops that are former military is pretty common. However I wouldn't even hazard a guess at numbers or a breakdown by service. But you will see a good mix of all the services at all levels of law enforcement.