i'm looking at joining the guard for 3c0x2 (computer systems programming) i'm 30 now and looking for a 4-5 year commitment and hopefully get a good job outside of the military, i'm flexible in that i can do more than just the 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year, i could actully go full time if i wanted to, my question is, in your opinion will i be better off getting a degree at a college or joining the guard and getting paid while learning programming? will i learn more at a college? i'm also looking into software engineer, i'm not sure if 3c0x2 covers all that or not, i have no prior military experience si i'd be going to basic training, etc, any advice, tips, etc from those of you in the field. thanks
Well, if you join the Guard you can still go to college and the Guard will probably pay for all of it. That way you get low cost schooling and you are earning points toward retirement. Once you graduate, you can try to become an officer and will get extra pay for being prior enlisted.
Air Force has never known quite what to do with its computer programmers. In the '60s, communications and everything to do with communications was in its own career area, and remained so until the '90s.
In the meantime, the computer career field was broken down into 681xx (Systems Analysts), 685xx (Computer Operatiors), and 687xx (Computer Programmers. In the early '70s, they merged 681s and 687s, and redesignated the AFSC as 511x0 (operations) and 511x1 (programming). In the mid '70s, they added a shred-out: "A", "B", "C" for Burroughs, Honeywell, and IBM, and made training shred-out specific. Burroughs training was done at Sheppard, Honeywell at Keesler, and IBM at Quantico. In the early '90s, as communications became more and more computerized, Air Force merged Communications and Computers into the 49- career field, with the idea that computers were computers.
If you could program business applications, it wasn't such a stretch to think that you could also program communications applications, and vice versa. Same with operations. I think we probably had more luck with the operations side of that equation than we did the programming side. Then, in the early '90s, we picked up Audio/Visual mission and people; small computers exploded on the scene, and everything networking was HUGE.
When I went through the programming tech school in 1969, I was trained on the Burroughs 3500 (third generation), in COBOL. The 3500 was the AF base level computer at the time, but it hadn't been fielded AF-wide. When I got to my first base, they didn't have the Burroughs 3500, they had the Burroughs 263--second generation, programmed in Assembly Language. They didn't want to take the time to teach me assembly language, so they used me as a computer operator.
I didn't do any programming until I was PCS'ed to HQ Aerospace Defense Command, at Ent AFB in Colorado Springs. Don't bother looking: neither is in existence any more. Programmed Honeywell 800/200 (both second generation), Burroughs 263 (after learning assembly language), and Burroughs 3500. Helped in conversion from B263 to B3500 and implementation of B3500 at Ent AFB and Hamilton AFB, CA. Also learned a considerable amount about operating 3500 during this time. In 1971 I volunteered for instructor duty (yeah, VOLUNTEERED to leave Colorado Springs to go to Wichita Falls--is there a shrink in the house?) I enjoyed Wichita Falls, and LOVED instructor duty. I learned more about programming and operations than I would have ever thought possible.
Eventually got into database design and programming, later--after commissioning--did project management, staff officer, operations officer, and systems officer.
Didn't say too much about the command and control community, because they pretty much had their own things going on. Also reconnaisance and supply. Accounting and Finance had their own computer system, a National Cash Register (NCR) of some kind, that they used to maintain pay records. Supply had Univac 1050/1050-II--eventually Univac and Burroughs merged to form UNISYS. GE/Philco also had some things going on for a while, but they were left in the dust pretty early on.
Hope you guys don't mind the history lesson, too much.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: wgraham969,
If you do get to be a programmer and work on code (yeah good luck) and your area manager comes around your goofing off....remember "Compling Code" is the best exscuse of them all.
