My recruiter said he's going to get me up to MEPS probably tomorrow night and I'm kind of worried about the job selection. There's not very many jobs that I'm interested in and I'm worried that none of the jobs I want will come up. Will SF most likely come up for me? I heard the need is still great for it so I would think I should have no problem getting it. Also if I go to MEPS Tuesday night and did get SF, any guess as to when the earliest ship date would be, I'm just wondering if it would be possible to ship out at the end of June. Also (sorry this is so damn long) I have no problem deploying, in fact I definitely want too, but I'm just wondering if SF deploy more often than anything else or is it 4 months every 15 months just like everything else? Thanks, I really appreciate any responses. -Tim

I can't answer about deployments, as I am new to the career field myself (recently cross-trained). However, if you want Security Forces, I would say there is a good chance you will get it. I know that it is a critically manned field, and they are taking a lot of people right now.

well let me put it to you this way I signed up for security forces around November and am shiping June 2nd. It is a job that is in need if you list it as a job you want you'll there is a 99% chance youll get it.

If you can I'd highly recommend you keep this AFSC off your selection sheet. I'd also advise you not to put "Open General" down as well because you'd still probably end up getting this job. This job sucks, has a high turnover/reenlistment rate and once you're in it's almost impossible to retrain out of. These guys work weekends, holidays, base down days when most other AF personnel are off. In addition to this they also have to work on their days off to support Air Shows, July 4th Fireworks displays and other dog and pony shows. You will rarely if ever get much recognition for going the extra mile in this job. I can just about guarantee you will hate this job after a few years. If you can get an IT or Medical type job I think you'll be way ahead of the game, have better job satisfaction, and much more happier in the long run.

quote:

I think you'll be way ahead of the game, have better job satisfaction, and much more happier in the long run.

here's one of life's secrets...satisfaction is where you find it. it isn't in one job or another.

every job has its ups and downs, its goods and bad...this one is no different from any other in the AF

at the end of the day you'll either like or dislike this job for your own reasons...not for anything anyone tells you here or anywhere else

The needs of the Air Force are constantly changing. Don't worry about percentages thrown around here as I've seen people declined Security Forces and Open General people who are now in hydrolics and/or medical. In 2005, I told a SERE drop out (who really wanted SF) to just put it down and he would get it. Nope, he didn't. When he went back to fight it, they said the school was full and wasn't accepting any more. The needs of the career field don't always match the needs of the Air Force. Yes, SF is undermanned, but that is based of ops tempo, the USAF doesn't always see ops tempo requirements and manning authorizations as the same thing.

As for the career field, there are a lot of mundane ops involved with this to inlude checking IDs, standing at gates all night in incliment weather, and watching planes gather ice. But there are rewarding aspects of the job too. Don't worry about everyone else who only like to focus and ***** about the negative stuff. You can become a dog handler, train Iraqi Policemen, become a weapons instructor, etc etc. There are rewqarding aspects of the job, you just have to go out there and find them. Just be ready to deploy, deploy, deploy. Standard is 6 months out, 6 months in.

I find it funnny that some people talk about the toughness of the career field and how big a joke it is, but then they turn around and complain about the duties and hours.

Standing at the gate sucks, watching a plane that isn't moving is boring, hours are long, deployments are high, sometimes have to work on days off, holidays, blah blah blah.

Guess what ? This is what makes us different, while other relax and sleep, we are doing our job. These are the sacrafices that do make a person salty but also the ones that most others won't attempt our job. Sure, we are not jumping out of planes, rescuing downed pilots, or other Hooah stuff that some other services may do, but its still a level of sacrafice. Others in the AF talk about the suck factor of our job, but in other services they would give up a private part to cross over.

Last time I checked, my civilian counter part does similar things that suck, but I don't hear people complaining about civilian cops. We watch planes, they watch construction sites and telephone repairmen on the side of highways and roads. We work security at firework displays, so do they , to include working proms, parades, road races, weddings and on and on. We both work holidays and so do fireman and others. SFS gets days off taken away, civilian cops spend most of thier time of going to court and truely don't get that many days off either. So in the end, I don't see your point.

You either adopt the mentality for the job or you don't, but if you don't saying the field sucks is just wrong. What you should be saying is that its not right for you.

Think very carefully, whatever you do. Yes, you'll hear a lot of negative talk about the career field, but there's just as much positive. Walking a flightline or standing a gate/ECP can bore you brainless occasionally.
on the other hand, when this job gets exciting, it also generally gets dangerous. You can have the opportunities to see some of the most interesting(and occasionally ratty) places in the world. You'll make friends that can last forever( I still get around to see troops and friends and I've been out 15 years). And you'll meet people you can and will truly be able to trust with your life. Think carefully, but it's not all that bad.

quote:

Originally posted by Yukondogg:Last time I checked, my civilian counter part does similar things that suck, but I don't hear people complaining about civilian cops. We watch planes, they watch construction sites and telephone repairmen on the side of highways and roads. We work security at firework displays, so do they , to include working proms, parades, road races, weddings and on and on. We both work holidays and so do fireman and others. SFS gets days off taken away, civilian cops spend most of thier time of going to court and truely don't get that many days off either. So in the end, I don't see your point.

First, the term "counterpart" is only partially accurate because only a portion of our job in the AF is law enforcement. Civilian cops generally do not to Air Base Ground Defense.

Yes, cops work construction sites and other special events, but the difference is they get paid overtime (in most cases anyway). In the city I live in, the cops can make between $10,000 and $30,000 in overtime in a year. Not to mention take home cars and usually better equipment.

As a civilian cop and an Air Force SF dude, I can say that unless I am doing LE work in the AF, my job has little resemblence to civlian law enforcement.

Another way to look at it is a fairly high percentage of AF SF folks don't want to be doing the job. But in the civilian sector, very few people don't go into law enforcement "blind", as in they don't just apply for a cop job.

I hear what you're screamin', but as someone who has experience in both, I don't find the two jobs in the same light. YMMV.

quote:

Last time I checked, my civilian counter part does similar things that suck, but I don't hear people complaining about civilian cops. We watch planes, they watch construction sites and telephone repairmen on the side of highways and roads. We work security at firework displays, so do they , to include working proms, parades, road races, weddings and on and on. We both work holidays and so do fireman and others. SFS gets days off taken away, civilian cops spend most of thier time of going to court and truely don't get that many days off either. So in the end, I don't see your point.

Stonewall is dead on right in rebutting the above. If I work "security", or one of the other listed jobs, it is off-duty and/or on overtime. And, overtime does not come cheap. My rate is about $53 per hour... And, I don't have every self-important swinging deke coming around trying to give me grief... Civilian cops are NOT security guards, and this is not included in our duties.

The career field has its ups and downs. I personally did not care for it. The only thing I actually enjoyed was doing PSD missions.

Hi
My bf is in security forces and doesnt know what job to pick? Any good suggestion?
And what is "LE work", and "PSD missions"??

Thank you

LE work is Law Enforcement. PSD is Protective Services Detail, in layman's terms, "bodyguard teams". PSD is not a separate field, it is a specialty duty that you may of may not ever get to do.

quote:

Originally posted by jessac89:
Hi
My bf is in security forces and doesnt know what job to pick? Any good suggestion?
And what is "LE work", and "PSD missions"??

Thank you

You don't "pick" a job within Security Forces. What you do depends on your assignment. Some bases do more security some bases do more Law Enforcement.