So guys I have a friend who is thinking of joining the Air Force in an officer capacity. I know there are a lot of ex-AF guys here (and probably active duty) so I wanted to get your guys opinion on what the experience would be like. I don’t really have an opinion about it one way or another. He’ll have a masters in journalism before he would go in.
From what I understand he doesn’t want to be a pilot or anything. But I believe it would be something like a four-year commitment or some-such. I guess I’m trying to get a feel for what opportunities an ex-Air Force officer would be presented with. He’s in his mid twenties.
It won’t be a spur of the moment type thing. I think he plans on weighing his options first and seeing where his best options lie, but what I hope to gain from you folks is a better understanding of what kind of position he should expect to find himself in after he were to finish.
First things first, how easy is it to just sign up as an officer? What are the steps involved.
Secondly, what kind of job opportunities would lie on the other side? The way I would approach it would be to try to develop some sort of marketable skill-set, which would then lead to good career options in the future. What exactly would some of those skills be, and where do most ex-AF people find themselves going afterwards?
I realize this is a difficult question to ask, but I’d rather have my friend get some independent verification of the story from someone other than the officer recruiter. I realize that officer recruiters are aren’t as eager to resort to any trickery (I don’t know whether or not it’s entirely true of the enlisted recruiters, but that’s the rumor).
Anyway I just want to figure out a way to help my friend make the best choice possible for him and maybe suggest a certain area in which he can specialize, and what kind of career he could expect to have afterwards.
As far as his current skills and disposition? I don’t know how technical he’d like to get although he is probably good with understanding most technology. He mentioned how he’d like to be an investigator of some kind and I don’t really know anything about that. Does such a thing exist? I have no clue.
So what could he expect and what should he anticipate? I guess I’m looking for career paths in general, and whether or not they’re particularly in demand or not.