I'm 32 years old, and I'm going to basic...    We were at a CAP mission last month where we stayed on base and long story short, it made me kick myself in the a** to do something that I've always wanted to do.

I wanted to keep my cop job, so I'm joining the AF Reserve.  Well, that and I'm too old to go AD and can't afford the paycut anyway.  My recruiter sent me to MEPS last week in San Antonio and got the first steps done.  I scored an 84 on the ASVAB, and got all 1's on the physical which I was happy about since I'm hoping to get a Loadmaster job on the C-5s there at Lackland.

I've been talking to Stonewall a bit about it since he's down there right now for the Army, but apparently for this position I have to interview with the unit before they'll take me as a loadie...  Guess they have to make sure you're not a knuckledragger.

So.. between my Mitchell and four year JROTC certificate I'll get an E-3 paycheck for a while.  Cool beans.

Congratulations.  Good luck and Be careful. 

Quote from: md132 on June 09, 2008, 03:16:58 AM
Congratulations.  Good luck and Be careful. 

Thanks.  I'm hoping not to fall down and break a hip.

Congradulations!

Quote from: jaybird512 on June 09, 2008, 03:14:23 AMI've been talking to Stonewall a bit about it since he's down there right now for the Army,

Okay A1C, do push-ups.  I'm former army, now in the Air Guard.....  

BTW....you may want to consider trying to ship out before 1 Nov 08....

AF BMT will last 8.5 weeks vs 6 starting November of this year

Quote from: jaybird512 on June 09, 2008, 03:18:16 AMThanks.  I'm hoping not to fall down and break a hip.

I told you, my wife did BMT at age 30 earning "distinguished graduate" and some sort of PT award.  Then she went to tech school and finished at age 32, again earning an award.  It's not impossible and think about it, you'll have an edge because you're used to taking care of kids at home.

Quote from: Stonewall on June 09, 2008, 03:19:59 AM

Quote from: jaybird512 on June 09, 2008, 03:14:23 AMI've been talking to Stonewall a bit about it since he's down there right now for the Army,

Okay A1C, do push-ups.  I'm former army, now in the Air Guard.....  

Ohh, that's right.  It's hard to keep up.

Quote
BTW....you may want to consider trying to ship out before 1 Nov 08....

AF BMT will last 8.5 weeks vs 6 starting November of this year

Yeah, I saw that thread over in the other forum.  I want to go as soon as possible to miss that.

Quote from: jaybird512 on June 09, 2008, 03:18:16 AMThanks.  I'm hoping not to fall down and break a hip.

Quote
I told you, my wife did BMT at age 30 earning "distinguished graduate" and some sort of PT award.  Then she went to tech school and finished at age 32, again earning an award.  It's not impossible and think about it, you'll have an edge because you're used to taking care of kids at home.

That's what I'm aiming for.  I'm not too worried about the drill or the academics, but for someone who hates running, I'm having to force myself to get up to the honor grad time.

BTW, as far as your "interview" goes, I remembered that I actually "interviewed" at all 3 of my AF squadrons, two guard and one reserves (due to me moving south from DC).  And all 3, to include my initial enlistment into the Air Guard wasn't so much an interview but a meet n' greet.  I can't imagine it being a true job interview as I've never heard of anyone getting turned down for a job in the military that MEPS or the enlistment process didn't already weed out.

Good Luck Airman!  We want some good stories upon your return! 

At 33 I want to re-enlist, but seeing how diabetics are not exactly "Solid Recruits" I will be sitting the sidelines.

I still have 9 years under Army Enlistment to wait for a change that won't happen.....

WOW!  Loadmaster - my best friend was a Loadmaster, and from what he tells me its one of the coolest jobs
short of driving the plane!

Good luck!

It's definitely going to be interesting being the old guy trying to keep up with 18 year olds.  At MEPS the only other old people were "retreads" that had prior service and were going back in.

I'm definitely anxious, but I'm glad I'm finally doing it.  I'm going to start drilling in the flight with our cadets, and I'm looking forward to encampment in a few weeks.

Quote from: jaybird512 on June 09, 2008, 04:05:10 AM
It's definitely going to be interesting being the old guy trying to keep up with 18 year olds.  At MEPS the only other old people were "retreads" that had prior service and were going back in.

I'm definitely anxious, but I'm glad I'm finally doing it.  I'm going to start drilling in the flight with our cadets, and I'm looking forward to encampment in a few weeks.

Actually you would be surprised how many 18-22 year olds show up so flabby and out of shape.  If you get up to 3-4 miles every other day with a run time of 7 to 7.5 minutes per mile, I can see you in front of the middle of the pack.  Don't forget about pushups and situps. 

Are you delayed Enlistment right now?  Are you near a military installation, if so you can use the gym for free. 

You are about to enter the world of cheap beer, cheep commissary beef, and top notch shopping in AAFES PX/BX's. 

While I have your attention, you should (when you get the chance) join one of the military banking institutions.  The most popular is USAA (usaa.com), it has some of the cheapest automobile insurance offerings than most other civilian carriers (allstate, farmers, progressive....etc).  Go talk to a family readiness coordinator or Family support group rep to make sure you set up your family for the future the best you can. 

Finally, (not to alarm you) but you do know you will deploy as soon as possible once you graduate from schooling .  Your job is one of the AF's "hot jobs", meaning they need loadmasters, and there are always deliveries that need to be made.  When you go for your interview, ask when the last deployment was, and when the next one is scheduled for.

I am not AF, but have many AF friends both Enlisted and Officer variety.  I also can put you in touch with a few new Loadmasters (one is 23, the other is 28), they absolutely love it!     

Quote from: mikeylikey on June 09, 2008, 04:22:16 AM

Quote from: jaybird512 on June 09, 2008, 04:05:10 AM
It's definitely going to be interesting being the old guy trying to keep up with 18 year olds.  At MEPS the only other old people were "retreads" that had prior service and were going back in.

I'm definitely anxious, but I'm glad I'm finally doing it.  I'm going to start drilling in the flight with our cadets, and I'm looking forward to encampment in a few weeks.

Actually you would be surprised how many 18-22 year olds show up so flabby and out of shape.  If you get up to 3-4 miles every other day with a run time of 7 to 7.5 minutes per mile, I can see you in front of the middle of the pack.  Don't forget about pushups and situps. 

Are you delayed Enlistment right now?  Are you near a military installation, if so you can use the gym for free. 

I'm not yet.  I have to get some last pieces of paperwork back to the recruiter and get the final paperwork signed.  He covers south Texas for the reserves so I only see him about every other week.  There isn't a base closeby anyway though since I'm in Austin.  Kelly and Lackland are the closest ones down in San Antonio.

Quote
You are about to enter the world of cheap beer, cheep commissary beef, and top notch shopping in AAFES PX/BX's. 

While I have your attention, you should (when you get the chance) join one of the military banking institutions.  The most popular is USAA (usaa.com), it has some of the cheapest automobile insurance offerings than most other civilian carriers (allstate, farmers, progressive....etc).  Go talk to a family readiness coordinator or Family support group rep to make sure you set up your family for the future the best you can. 

My wife and I actually already have USAA.  We both came from military families so I know that I've had it since I was a dependent.

Quote
Finally, (not to alarm you) but you do know you will deploy as soon as possible once you graduate from schooling .  Your job is one of the AF's "hot jobs", meaning they need loadmasters, and there are always deliveries that need to be made.  When you go for your interview, ask when the last deployment was, and when the next one is scheduled for.

I am not AF, but have many AF friends both Enlisted and Officer variety.  I also can put you in touch with a few new Loadmasters (one is 23, the other is 28), they absolutely love it!     

I'm hoping for deployment actually and I've heard that they do 2 years with 6 months on and 6 off.  It'll be hard on the family life for a while, but if others are doing it then it's only fair.  I'm pretty burned out with cop stuff which is another big reason why I'm doing this so it will be a good refreshing change for a while and I can come back to the job with a new perspective.

I'm all for making new friends in the business.  I'll need all the help and advice I can get.

All flying jobs require an interview with the unit doing the hiring before they will accept you.
They're about to drop a fair amount of cash to train you and they want to make sure you're a good bet to complete all of your training.

You're probably looking at a one year progression tour.

In that year you have to complete BMT, Enlisted Aircrew Undergraduate School, Initial Loadmaster Qualification course and Water and Land Survival Schools.

Everything but the survival schools is right there at Lackland.

You get to go to Fairchild AFB in Spokane, WA for the survival schools. I would suggest either spring or fall for survival.
Too hot in the summer and too cold and snowy in the winter (snow shoes suck!).

And welcome to the club!


Oh, and learn to like getting shots. Aircrew get just about all of them since they are on "Worldwide Mobility".

Quote from: PHall on June 09, 2008, 05:01:37 AM
All flying jobs require an interview with the unit doing the hiring before they will accept you.
They're about to drop a fair amount of cash to train you and they want to make sure you're a good bet to complete all of your training.

You're probably looking at a one year progression tour.

In that year you have to complete BMT, Enlisted Aircrew Undergraduate School, Initial Loadmaster Qualification course and Water and Land Survival Schools.

Everything but the survival schools is right there at Lackland.

You get to go to Fairchild AFB in Spokane, WA for the survival schools. I would suggest either spring or fall for survival.
Too hot in the summer and too cold and snowy in the winter (snow shoes suck!).

And welcome to the club!


Oh, and learn to like getting shots. Aircrew get just about all of them since they are on "Worldwide Mobility".

Yeah, that all matches up with everything I've read or heard about the process.  My wife pointed and laughed when I told her I had to go to flight attendant school... 

Jaybird, I envy you.  If it weren't for this diabetes I would be enlisting myself.  And don't worry abuot the age thing.  Here in APG we had 40 year old AIT students (First time, not reclassing or re-enlisting.) and they still beat the 18-19 year olds in PT. 

Quote from: md132 on June 09, 2008, 11:31:31 AM
we had 40 year old AIT students (First time, not reclassing or re-enlisting.) and they still beat the 18-19 year olds in PT. 

I was in better shape at age 30 than I was at age 20.  I think it's a matter of conditioning yourself and getting your body used to doing things like PT.  While at 20 I was thin with a 30" waist, I was stronger and had more endurance at age 30 with a 36" waist. 

For the record, most of the kids I know (besides cadets) would be happy with an 8-min. mile. Lot of us young folks ain't that fit either... 

Quote from: mikeylikey on June 09, 2008, 04:22:16 AM

Quote from: jaybird512 on June 09, 2008, 04:05:10 AM
It's definitely going to be interesting being the old guy trying to keep up with 18 year olds.  At MEPS the only other old people were "retreads" that had prior service and were going back in.

I'm definitely anxious, but I'm glad I'm finally doing it.  I'm going to start drilling in the flight with our cadets, and I'm looking forward to encampment in a few weeks.

Actually you would be surprised how many 18-22 year olds show up so flabby and out of shape.  If you get up to 3-4 miles every other day with a run time of 7 to 7.5 minutes per mile, I can see you in front of the middle of the pack.  Don't forget about pushups and situps. 

Are you delayed Enlistment right now?  Are you near a military installation, if so you can use the gym for free. 

You are about to enter the world of cheap beer, cheep commissary beef, and top notch shopping in AAFES PX/BX's. 

While I have your attention, you should (when you get the chance) join one of the military banking institutions.  The most popular is USAA (usaa.com), it has some of the cheapest automobile insurance offerings than most other civilian carriers (allstate, farmers, progressive....etc).  Go talk to a family readiness coordinator or Family support group rep to make sure you set up your family for the future the best you can. 

Finally, (not to alarm you) but you do know you will deploy as soon as possible once you graduate from schooling .  Your job is one of the AF's "hot jobs", meaning they need loadmasters, and there are always deliveries that need to be made.  When you go for your interview, ask when the last deployment was, and when the next one is scheduled for.

I am not AF, but have many AF friends both Enlisted and Officer variety.  I also can put you in touch with a few new Loadmasters (one is 23, the other is 28), they absolutely love it!     

And where exactly do you think C-5s deploy?

Most missions C-5's get are from CONUS to Europe/Asia. The Galaxy is too big for almost all in-theater operations and requires long, paved runways. Activation is quite possible, but deployment? Just a regular AEF rotation of 90 days to Manas or something like that. Now if he was a C-17 or C-130 crew... that'd be different.

Congratulations, sir - and good luck!