Should I join the Air Force?
November 25, 2004 10:25 AM   Subscribe

MilitaryFilter: So I'm thinking about joining the Air Force. [MI]

I'm a college junior right now (history and political science) and am struggling to decide what I am actually going to do with my degree. The plan has always been to be a high school teacher, but I've lost interest in that. One idea that I have debated and previously rejected was the military. Specifically the Air Force. Specifically their Officer Training School. Specifically as an intelligence officer.

As appealing as this sounds to me right now, there are a couple things holding me back. (1) Technically, I'm a conscientious objector...which the Air Force does not permit (in non-draft times). I'm very religious and have no interest in killing anyone. But I do want to serve my country and this would also be something I think I would enjoy and find very interesting. Does it really matter if I lie and say I have no qualms about killing people? It's not like (as an intelligence officer) I'll ever have to. Right?

(2) I'm still not sure if the military is for me. I mean, I could probably get a civilian government job doing the same thing. Does anyone have any experiences with the military that isn't fed by a recruiter? Is it worth joining the military just to "serve my country" when I can do it as a civilian?

Also, I've yet to actually meet with a recruiter (I'm trying to arrange that now), so my biggest question is: how many years am I obligated to serve after going through OTS? Six?

Anything else you can share would be appreciated.
posted by MrAnonymous to Work & Money (23 answers total)
 
" Does it really matter if I lie and say I have no qualms about killing people?"

I'm no expert on military practices or recruiting, but it seems like a fantastically bad idea to enter into such a significant contract in bad faith.
posted by majick at 10:30 AM on November 25, 2004


If you're loathe to kill people (or gather and interpret intelligence used in killing people) You may wish to consider other ways of serving your country.
posted by ba at 10:33 AM on November 25, 2004


Also, when I was in the Army in the late 80's, the standard enlistment was 8 years total. I was active duty for three years, and for the next five years I was on Inactive Reserve. This meant that I was required to keep my current address on file with the Army. If manpower needs dictated, I could have been called back to service at any time during those 5 years.
posted by ba at 10:46 AM on November 25, 2004


Most ROTC programs have a 6 year obligation. If an active commission doesn't sound good to you you can become a reservist. It is, though, a major commitment and If I were you I'd put some heavy thought into whether I was doing it because I really wanted to or just because I needed something to do.
posted by mervin_shnegwood at 10:49 AM on November 25, 2004


Response by poster: As far as my opposition to killing goes...there is a reason I'm considering the Air Force and not the Marine Corps. If the future of our nation depended on it, would I take up a gun rather than sit by and expect someone else to protect me? Absolutely I would.

I don't want to put myself into a position where it would be my job to carry a gun and kill people. I guess I'm splitting hairs, but the military career I'm seeking isn't a combat one. So the matter of me being a conscientious objector seems moot.

it seems like a fantastically bad idea to enter into such a significant contract in bad faith.


Absolutely. I guess my being a conscientious objector is relative. If they're calling on 2nd lieutenant Air Force intel officers to carry a gun and kill the enemy, it's probably a crisis where I would not object.
posted by MrAnonymous at 10:51 AM on November 25, 2004


MrAnonymous: I'm been wearing the Blue Uniform for 17 years now, and it truly is an honor to serve -- and I applaud your willingness to do so. I also understand your reservations about carrying a weapon -- I don't particularly enjoy firearms, but like you, if things got *real* hairy, I'd have no trouble pulling the trigger against an enemy.

There are some career fields that are much less likely to require shooting people & breaking things -- namely, medical, chaplain, and legal. With your background, I'd wager that you don't want to do the chaplain route, and your degree isn't quite compatible with medical (although if you got a graduate degree in Healthcare Mgmt or Info Systems or Business you could consider becoming an AF healthcare administrator)...but you may want to consider law school and becoming an AF JAG.

E-mail if you want to "talk" some more. :-)
posted by davidmsc at 11:20 AM on November 25, 2004


this is a bit off-topic, but is not intended as a snark, and might help. i think you need to think a bit more clearly about what you object to. is it just that you don't want to hear the soft thwak of bullet making large cavity, or killing people. because if it's the latter what will you do when you're providing intelligence so that others kill people? even if that's not "really killing" now, it's not a hard leap to make in the future.
from another angle - it sounds like you want to be in moral control of your life. that's not how the armed forces work, as far as i understand things. if you end up working on intelligence for bombing refugee camps (since that's where the terrorists are hiding, for example) then that's what you do, like it or not.
posted by andrew cooke at 11:21 AM on November 25, 2004


Response by poster: andrew cooke: That's a valid point (and thank you for making it). But if I pursue the civillian career I want...I'll probably end up doing much the same thing (intelligence...albeit less military-focused). There are a few people I know of who share my same faith and have made careers out of the military. One is an Air Force major...and a meteorolgist. You could make the same arguement about him. He advises pilots when weather permits their bombing raid on that refugee camp.

The Air Force is in the business of killing people and blowing stuff up. I realize that. My moral objection is to being that Marine Corps grunt with an M-16 shooting terrorists in the skull. But I have no qualms about telling that grunt where the terrorists are. Is there a very fine line there? Yes. But I'm not rushing into this. I have more than a year left of college, so I have some time to consider it.
posted by MrAnonymous at 12:04 PM on November 25, 2004


ok/thanks. hope you make the right decision, whatever it is. good luck.
posted by andrew cooke at 12:52 PM on November 25, 2004


If you object to killing - as you describe it - how can you be a willing part of the greater machine whose primary function is to do just that?

Whether you're a REMF washing dishes at the Officer's club or Special Forces deep behind enemy lines, the moral and philosophical results are the same.

The only fine line is your own personal squeamishness.

(And it's a fine and healthy thing to be squeamish about killing. Just don't kid yourself that being removed from the direct action making it somehow different.)
posted by loquacious at 1:26 PM on November 25, 2004


What ba said. There are many, many ways to help your country (if you want to help only your country, as opposed to, say, humanity at large. But I digress.) Why not pick one that is more consonant with your worldview?
posted by stonerose at 2:18 PM on November 25, 2004


Response by poster: if you want to help only your country, as opposed to, say, humanity at large.

Can't the Air Force be both? But I digress.

There are a lot of other options for "serving my country," but many of them are not "careers," as I see it.
posted by MrAnonymous at 2:29 PM on November 25, 2004


There is a reason they call the nonpilot officers in the AF the "Chair Force." Chock fulla office jobs. The bad news is that the kinda stuff you are interested in is overstocked. There is a long waiting list even to enlist. When I say long I mean can be months and months. That could be different for a college grad, I dunno. But go talk to a recruiter.

Oh, and Officer Training School is rougher than a cob. I am told that nowadays it's rougher than being a "smack" or "doolie" at the Air Force Academy. (My son's there, and yes, things are not like the old days.)
posted by konolia at 2:34 PM on November 25, 2004


Re: OTS -- yep, it's tough -- but it's only 13 weeks. And if you're in one of the three broad areas I referenced above (medical, chaplain, legal) then you only have to attend an abbreviated (4-week) long course...still not exactly fun, but better than 13 weeks :-)
posted by davidmsc at 2:38 PM on November 25, 2004


Response by poster: There is a reason they call the nonpilot officers in the AF the "Chair Force."
That's the impression I've had too. Which, like I said above, is why I'm not looking at the Marine Corps. :)

Re: OTS -- yep, it's tough
That's good to know. I would have assumed so, but are saying tough as in physically, mentally/academically, or both?
posted by MrAnonymous at 3:14 PM on November 25, 2004


What about looking in different areas of the government--such as the CIA, NSA, or the State Department? You'd still be serving the US, but there would probably be less of a chance of being told "tough luck" and handed an M-16. (<shrug> I may be wrong.) Oh, and check the archives here, there have been other members interested in the Armed Forces asking for advice, etc.
posted by MikeKD at 5:29 PM on November 25, 2004


Response by poster: MikeKD: Those are actually my first choice. But most of those are fairly academic jobs that require advanced degrees. Tougher competition and higher standards. So I'm afraid I wouldn't make the cut. Thus the interest in the AF.
posted by MrAnonymous at 5:39 PM on November 25, 2004


Response by poster: In searching AskMe, it seems interesting that Keyser Soze was looking at heading into Air Force intelligence as well.
posted by MrAnonymous at 6:36 PM on November 25, 2004


OTS is tough physically--unless you're in excellent shape to begin with. It is not that bad, academically speaking, however -- primarily classes/lectures/tests on leadership, management, and some military history.

The trickiest part of most military basic training (all branches, officer & enlisted) is learning to follow directions EXACTLY and complying with standards that are precise and sometimes seem to have little relevance to anything you've ever encountered.
posted by davidmsc at 9:53 PM on November 25, 2004


If you're interested in intelligence, have you considered enlisting and say, going to DLI (Defense Language Institute)? AF is the second largest service represented there after Army and I don't think it's especially difficult to get a place. If you got in a course like Korean or Arabic, you would be tied up in language school for more than one year, before you'd even go to tech school, so that means you've burned nearly two years of your enlistment in training. After that, you'd probably get a job that involved sitting in a room somewhere with headphones on listening to the language you've learned on the taxpayer's dime. Military experience is a great, great, huge, significant, unbelievably advantageous bonus for getting a job at NSA/CIA, especially when you've got the language and the security clearance. You have an exponentially better chance of getting a job there with something like this in your background than without it. This is the sort of thing you could ask a recruiter about to find your specific options from the AF regarding DLI and what other kinds of bonuses they might offer you as well.
posted by Hal Mumkin at 3:02 AM on November 26, 2004


As a civilian in the military, you can quit if you object to what you've been told to do (for example, plan an attack on a target where you think there would be unnecessary civilian casualties, but where your supervisors disagree). In the military, you can be court-martialed and put in prison for refusing a lawful order.

I have to respectfully disagree with the suggestion that you get a law degree (three years!) in order to get into the Air Force lawyer corps. Unless you think you'll actually LIKE law school, and being a lawyer for the rest of your life (what would be the point of just doing a few years in the military, then having to figure out an entirely different career?), this could be a very bad choice.

As for enlisting, there is a world of difference between what you'll experience as an enlisted man versus being an officer. If you do go that route in order to get foreign language training, I suggest that you read carefully, then reread, exactly what you're being promised, in writing. Don't EVER rely on UNWRITTEN promises of a recruiter or anyone else. For example, if the proposed enlistment contract says "subject to availability of language schools" or "subject to satisfactory language aptitude scores" or whatever, you could end up doing something very different (e.g., guarding airplanes in Alaska).

For some slightly more positive advice: I don't think anyone has mentioned Foreign Service Officer (competitive exam, so no guarantees). Or talking to a career advisor at your college (partly paid by your fees or tuition or taxes, yes?). Or to a professor that you get along with - not necessarily for direct career advice, but perhaps to get the names of a few former students similar to yourself (political science, history) who graduated and found jobs that they enjoyed.

Finally, I hope you keep doing what you're doing here - asking others for advice. It may or may not be surprising, but people actually LIKE to give advice, and appreciate being asked (and being listened to), even if you decide that what they're saying isn't relevant to you.
posted by WestCoaster at 9:45 AM on November 26, 2004


Hal Mumkin: That's for pointing out the DLI. I hadn't heard about it, but for going into intelligence, a foreign language is very helpful. I took 2 years of Russian, but I've pretty much forgotten all of it.

WestCoaster: Yeah, the more I look into this, the more I see "get it in writing," so that's something to keep in mind. As far as being a Foreign Service Officer, that's a great idea. I may apply for it (along with a few other civilian jobs). While it's not intelligence, it's close. While the military does offer a lot of civilian jobs, too many require some kind of experience in that field before you can get the job.
posted by BradNelson at 10:01 AM on November 26, 2004


Yeah, WestCoaster is right, your recruiter will try to screw you-- "Get It In Writing" were never truer words to live by. That having been said, you can actually get a lot of things guaranteed to you in writing, down to the actual language you would be studying (they tell you they can't, but I know people who have done just that. All it takes it riding the recruiter as hard as he rides you). For the USMC in particular, it's potluck, but for Army and AFAIK AF, when you enlist, you enlist for a particular job, which is what you'll be doing unless you screw up. You may have to wait 6 months between the time you first sign your name on the forms and the time you actually ship, but if you're a college junior now, you've got time to kill anyway. Once you get to DLI, depending on the availability of seats in classes, you may again have to wait anywhere from 1 day to 4 months before you actually start your language, during which time you get to do such fun things as clean offices, answer phones, mow the lawn, etc. But it's not like that's permanent or anything, and you're still getting paid. Another thing, as you're wanting to avoid actual combat, is that there are also (enlisted) Military Language Instructors at DLI, so if your scores are high enough, there's always the option of finishing out your enlistment as a teacher. Just something to keep in mind.

Also worth looking into: There are plenty of officers who also study at DLI but I have absolutely no knowledge about what kind of contracts they sign to go. I'm sure you can also ask your recruiter about the opportunities available to you as an officer.
posted by Hal Mumkin at 10:39 AM on November 26, 2004


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