Mr. Athena grew up as an air force brat. He’d always been under the impression that if you go to college, get a degree, then join the air force, you enter as an officer and go to officer training school.
I have a young acquaintance who recently graduated with a computer science degree. He’s joining the air force as an E3 - enlisted (ie, not an officer), but a couple ranks up from beginner due to his degree. He claims that within a year or so he can go to Officer Training School, and that a degree does not guarantee you a spot as an officer, at least not right away.
Mr. Athena says I’m not hearing the real story, and that there must be a reason this kid wasn’t accepted as an officer right away.
The Air Force generates more than enough officer candidates through the Academy, ROTC programs, and from enlisted promotion within the current ranks.
If you don’t go through the Academy or ROTC, you’ll find it well nigh impossible to get a commission just walking in off the street (unless you go Guard or Reserve-they recruit their own officers in addition to taking people quitting Active Duty).
This guy you’re talking about with the degree. Even with a year in there’s no guarantee. He’s going to have to compete with a lot of people for that slot, and that means he’ll have to really stand out from the crowd. That’s very hard to do. And besides, being enlisted is not too shabby, let me tell you.
You don’t go into the military as an officer just because you have a degree. As a matter of fact, there aren’t any regulations saying you have to have a degree to be an officer (however, most jobs that an officer would hold require one). When I was in Air Force basic training, several of the recruits in my flight had degrees. If you are interested in going into a particular field ( say radiographer) that is an enlisted man’s job, you will not be an officer. If you are interested in joining as an officer, you go to an officer recruiter, and show him that you have the correct qualifications for the career you’re interested in, which is not necessarally just any degree, but the degree necessary for that particular job.
The Air Force Recruiting website indicates that all Officer Training School candidates must have a degree from an accredited college or university. That is by no means a guarantee of acceptance, just a minimum requirement.
I would link directly to the relevant page, but the whole damn site is in Flash
What everyone else has said is true. Having a degree does not mean you go in as an officer - it is merely a (current) requirement to become one.
One of the most important variables that dictates Air Force recruitment is the “needs of the Air Force”. These vary year to year. Right now the Air Force has too many people in several career fields. They are even letting people out early under the "Force Shaping " initiative. They want to get rid of 3,900 officers by Sept 30th of next year.
Now, the Air Force always needs new 2nd Lts showing up but right now it just needs a lot fewer of them. The competition for those slots becomes fierce, and OTS is the easiest “flow” of officers to turn off quickly. People who have been at the AF Academy or enrolled in ROTC for a few years will be preferred over a “walk-on” with a degree.
I’ve known many enlisted AF members with bachelors degrees, and a few with masters degrees (typically non-commissioned officers). There’s always rumors about the odd chief master sergeant with a PhD though I’ve never met one of these guys. Some of these airmen are seeking a commission, many have no such aspirations and are happy doing what they’re doing despite the crummy pay. The job is different for officer versus enlisted - different responsibilities, different authority, and different degrees of accountability, though naturally there’s progressive increase in all three for officers and enlisted members. Some would say the difference is leading versus doing, but that’s not very accurate because the bulk of leadership responsibility falls on experienced airmen and NCOs in this air force, IMHO. An NCO with his masters degree once told me he didn’t want the type of responsibility and accountability that officers in his career field had - he was comfortable with the sizeable ones he had already. And there are some things officers don’t get to do. For example, until recently, pararescue (one of two major parts of the AF’s special ops ground contingent) was largely limited to enlisted only. There are also not any officer tanker boom operators; a KC-135 reserve unit I worked near once had an enlisted boomer who was an airline captain in real life. Likely more than “qualified” experience-wise to fly the tanker, but as far as the reserves went he wanted to stay a boom, had no interest in commissioning or piloting for the AF.
I have been in the Air Force as an enlisted guy for almost 13 years, and he should have definitely tried to come in as an officer if he has a degree. He will definitely get the question “How come you didn’t come in as an officer” about a billion times, and will probably be made fun of behind his back as having a 4 year computer science degree and ENLISTING in the Air Force.
And also, the pay for enlisted is not “crummy” as pointed out by caligynephobia, I am an E-6 in the DC area and do quite nicely. As a final note, the only people I’ve heard say “I wouldn’t want to be an officer” are the ones who couldn’t make it anyway. Everyone should try to be an officer if only for the pay.
When I was in the military there were a significant number of enlisted people that qualified for WIC – that’s a type of welfare program in the United States.
Let’s see… the maximum base pay for an E6 is $2810 (okay, $2809.80) per month. Assuming one is single and not doing anything unusual, that’s it. That’s what you make per month, less taxes. Granted, you get three crappy meals per day and a tiny, crappy little room to share with one or more other people, and generally no kitchen. Actually, when I was in the Army we were always near Air Force people, so I will say the Air Force mess halls were usually better, and they had better “quality of life” programs, so maybe their barracks are better.
Okay, you’re married, so you also get (for ZIP 20008, Washington, D.C): BAH, which is a tax-free housing allowance: $1758 if you have dependants. But enlisted with no dependants you generally don’t get BAH. That’s actually not a bad housing amount, but does it work for something decent in Washington? But I’m also seeing conflicting rates – $664 with dependants, which seems low as that’s what it was more or less in poor Texas when I got out in '96.
Plus, you get a food allowance, tax free – looks like $255 or so. Of course this is only if you live off post and are married. So, best case:
Some places give you a COLA – I don’t know if this applies to the D.C. area.
So, once you’re an E6, the pay isn’t horrible if you’re married and you get the higher housing allowance. If you’re single and forced to live in the barracks, you have a crappy quality of life and don’t make a whole lot of money.
I got out of the Army in the booming economy in 1996, partially because I was single and pissed at the inequality, but primary because I make a hell of a lot more money.
