Well I'm in a dilemma. I joined the AF rather late in life at the cutoff of 27 to be exact and I love it with every inch of my soul. I am currently a 4A2X Biomedical Equipment Technician and it's a great job that has given me a great wealth of technical information.

To be honest I never understood rank structure or anything internal to the military prior to joining as I'm the first in my Family aside from a draftee in WWII. I love the Enlisted side and my job as well, but I really love the AF in general. I have had a number of jobs and this has been the most rewarding job I have ever had. I know it's not a job, it's a commitment and a way of life.

Anyhow I'm now 29 years old and still on my first Enlistment. I'm E-4 BTZ and will test for Staff next year. I had an Associate's Degree of Arts prior to joining with an intention to become a History Major. I had a longer tech school which netted me an additional 79 college hours and a CCAF. I CLEPed the three classes that I needed and I recently passed my A+ Certification. Now I'm getting old and I just got to my new assignment overseas where schooling is a little limited. I want to take a shot at OTS. I don't want to have regrets that I might have if I never try. Either way I plan to do 20 years if I'm allowed and would be happy either way Officer or Enlisted.

So my question is what degree should I start if I wanted to apply? I know they look at you as a whole and this whole process is entirely new to me. I will start school in January and plan to take a full course load. I've done it before and that was how I got my AA when I had a much more busy job. Naturally I'm going to take classes from a Military tailored online university so deployments and TDYs are manageable. I'm married and have a kid on the way so I will have my hands full but my wife is only taking some online classes at the moment and not working. We are living comfortably and see no financial hardships on the horizon.

Like I said before I was working on a History degree and this would be the easiest to pick up on. However, my current AFSC is very technical in Electronics and Computers. My A+ certification was paid for and ordered as training. I understand that like most places STEM degrees are where it's at. I honestly have a real interest in Cyber Security and was planning on my Network+ and Security+ eventually. But I will have to take at least a semester if not more of pre-requisites.(I won't know for a while as my transcripts are in the mail). My GPA is a 3.05.

I went to a seminar recently in which many prior enlisted LTs were speaking to us how their degrees didn't really translate directly to their AFSCs. There was a History major that was working with Systems(computers) and I understand your job will be based on the needs of the AF. However, I must say I would love an Intelligence job as I know I am much too old for being a pilot(right?).

Should I knock out my History degree so I can start applying sooner, hoping that my Technical training, and computer certifications might pull me ahead or get me noticed? Do they TRULY use a holistic approach to applicants? If I finish my History degree regardless of acceptance I would continue my education towards a dual major to make myself more marketable and for Bullets. I genuinely like learning.

Would I be wasting even more time trying to go the History route and just start on the Cyber Security degree?

Is there anything I might be missing or something I should consider? I have until 33/35 so almost a full 4-6 years, If I don't make the cut. I was considering going Warrant Officer, however that is even more obscure to me. I know school isn't the only thing. They want leadership examples and I need to raise my GPA more.

No such thing in the AF.  Get a technical degree, it will make you more competitive at the OTS boards.  OTS boards are also the first to be cut when they have an overage of officers.  Also, you only have to be so close to completing your degree to apply, you have to complete it before attending though iirc.  Get your GPA as high as possible.  Do what you need to to make sure your commander, group commander, and wing commander know your face and name in a positive light.  You'll need their recommendations and at least one of them's signature on your application.  They're more likely to sign/recommend the guy they know, this is the good old boys club, no way around it.

Pretty much this.  While any degree meets the requirement, some (STEM) are smiled upon more.  Since you probably won't be a pilot, I'd suggest taking to some CPTs/MAJs in your target career field and getting their opinions.

Or finish your history degree and come to Army OCS.

Army also has warrants.

Right, that's what I meant when I said Warrant Officer. I haven't quite looked into Warrant but I know that I qualify. Warrant Officer's are kind of a rare breed on AF bases. I haven't seen very many since Tech school where they ran the school house. I also don't quite know where they fall into life in the Army side of things.

In NO WAY do I mean to offend or upset anyone, but I don't want to live an Army enlisted life for my remaining 18 years in.

Just looking for advice looks like I will work on my Cyber Security degree. I just thought my technical training might make me a little more appealing.
Rotary Wing Advisor seems like a really cool gig.

Well maybe I can ask another question as I have already made the commitment to a Computer Networking and Security degree. When I come up to re-enlist in a year plus change, would it hurt my future chances to cross-train into another AFSC?

I am considering crosstraining into either:
- 9S100 (I took the EDPT and passed)
- EOD
- Intelligence

I know crosstraining is not guaranteed or that I 100% qualify. However neither is WOCS or OTS. I'm just going to try to apply to all of them until life makes a choice no longer possible. Should I crosstrain into another Enlisted position would the "investment" the DoD has put into me be negate me as a candidate to commission? I ask this because my original Tech school was 11 1/2 months, there was a PJ there that washed out of his last phase of training, then reclassed into my AFSC only to buy a year of time till the PJ training cycle came back to where he left off. Our school is very long and technical as well as expensive. He was a great guy and this is nothing against his character. It just amazed me that such a thing would happen. As soon as he graduated BMET school (4A2X1) he went back to PJ school.

Technically, no it won't affect your chances of being an officer.  Realistically, the accompanying PCS, new CDCs, getting to know a new chain of command, etc. will all affect your ability to go to OTS.  

What do your EPRs look like?  Your 475 from tech school?  Have you ever received any paperwork?

Good EPRs, BTZ, A's on my CDCs, no LOCs/LORs. Dean's list in Tech School. 94 ASVAB score. Going to take the AFOQT early next year. Good record and rapport. Like I said two Assoc. Degrees and working on my BS. All 95+ PT scores.

You've got a good shot then as long as your chain of command knows your face and name.  Cross training is also going to slow your degree. I'd stay where you are at least until you've submitted your first ots package.

Alright thank your for the advice. Hopefully I can update this with some good news one day.

Focus on completing your degree.  You've only got until 35 to apply to OTS.  Six years may seem like a lot of time, but you start cross training, PCSing, etc. and it will go by in the blink of an eye and you'll be SOL.  Get that done, get involved with the Rising 4 or whatever other professional org your base has.  Get into AFSA, go to the meetings, get involved.  Go to ALS graduations, dining ins/outs, etc.  The publicity will help you a lot when it comes time to submit your application.  

Also, start your application package now.  Get familiar with the form.  Write out your "pick me" letter.  Have it reviewed by officers, not just in your chain of command.  If you can find a few officers from other career fields at your base that will review it for you, do it.  Get your recommendation letters written and reviewed.  Yes, chances are you'll have to write them yourself.  Don't even bother having enlisted review it.  The style of writing is different and it's going to be officers that decide whether or not to approve your package.  Don't worry about doing anything with it that requires payment just yet.  That stuff can wait until it's closer to time to actually submit it.  

You do all that work and then the AF cancels the OTS board because the AF has too many Academy and ROTC grads.  Don't give up, just wait until the next board, continously tweak and update your package, submit it then.  Or you get lucky and there's a shortage of officers even with all of the Academy and ROTC grads and 100% of OTS applicants get accepted.  Then you just did all of that work when you could have just drawn on the form with a crayon and still gotten in.  First scenario is a lot more likely than the second one but it has happened.  Better to make yourself as competitive as possible rather than leave everything to luck.