Want to give my son advice. He should be signing up in August after he turns 18.

Intelligence,  they will have jobs with NSA, FBI DHS, CIA, Police and Corporate Security.

Comms.

3ABR32430.  Precision Measuring Equipment Specialist.  Tough academic qualifications, tough, longer school than many.

What's his long term plan? Career, school and so on. In basic I was buddied up with a guy who went on to plumbing school. I went to things that blow up. Lots of opportunities to choose from with a high ASVABS score.

Is he electricity nerdy, mechanically inclined, like to cook, contact sport active, computer geek?

If he is inclined in a certain direction he will have a better chance of making rate.

If he wants a fun career, I would say Boom Operator or Load Master. The flyers are treated better even on the enlisted side. My son got tired of dealing with the Guard recruiter for the Air Force to become a boom operator and went Army Guard to be a Black Hawk Mechanic. He's on his way to basic as I type this.

I am 21 years retired as a Weather Forecaster. My good friend and I each have sons that joined the military recently on the Guard side and we recommended against Weather. If he plans on making a career out of it, tell him to get commissioned. In the weather side of things, if he wants to do it on the outside he will have to have a Meteorology degree or be stuck doing contract work (like I am now) or get a DoD GS position that will cap out at the GS-9/11. With a degree, he can do a lot more though and go to work with the NWS or many other companies. He could also get out and be a contract Observer with the FAA, but good luck getting full time work. I have done that side as well and so have many others and full time positions are hard to get. I enjoyed my time in the AF doing the weather and got my most fulfillment doing Army support with it.

Now off my soapbox. I would encourage him to go Intel, Com, Cyber, or anything with Drones, or Medical. There are lots of opportunities in these fields on the outside as well as in the military they continue to grow. Also, ATC is a an excellent choice as well. Air Field Management isn't too bad either. I hope this helps.

I’m currently a 2W0X1, munitions systems specialist and my job deploys a lot (currently deployed but I’m Air Force so it’s nice) but the whole 2W0 career field is super close and I enjoy it, either it’s 24/7 work or you’re sitting around for 8 hours doing nothing waiting to go home

Food prep.

There is a lot of great advice in this thread so far so I will just add a bit that has not been covered.

What are his interests, generally people do better in areas in which they have a greater interest.

Is he intending to stay in for twenty years or do four years and leave?

Do he want to have fun in the USAF or does he want to prepare himself for a civilian job afterward?

Go to your USAF recruiter and ask to see the list of jobs offering a Selective Reenlistment Bonus (SRB) and ask the recruiter for information about all of them.  Generally career fields with an SRB are experiencing difficulty retaining good people due to competition from jobs outside the military ($$$$$$$$$$$) so they offer increased promotions and huge reenlistment bonuses in an effort to be competitive with civilian jobs.  See if any of his job interests overlap with those jobs offering an SRB.  Check for deployability of the jobs in question, if you son reenlists while deployed in a combat zone that entire reenlistment bonus just became tax free.

DO NOT under any circumstances allow your son to enlist as an RPA (Predator/Reaper) sensor operator; that entire career field is managed in a manner that borders on criminal, great people but they all burn out very quickly thus the high SRB.

Understand that all recruiters will straight up lie to you to meet their own needs so if you have any questions ask here and we will help you and your son as best as we can.

Keep it coming. I keep referring him back to this thread with the updates.

How do you get locked into a field when you enlist? Do you get in writing at sign up?

If you are mechanically inclined and like to work with your hands, get an aviation maintenance job.  Jet engine mechanic or other aircraft maintenance.  Fast track your way to an A&P license which can easily land you a good job anywhere there's planes.

Since the purpose of the AF is to fly planes,  any job that puts you in contact with planes is likely to be more satisfying than one that doesn't put you in contact with planes.

Most are offered a list of jobs they qualified for after taking ASVAB
(or whatever they are calling it these days).

If he’s willing to wait for a slot he qualifies for (delay enlistment until slot opens),
then as long as he is successful in Basic and ‘School’ (specialized schooling after basic)
then he will be assigned to that ‘field’ / job wherever the opening is needed worldwide.

In summary, if he has already enlisted, he is either on a waiting list so the school slot will be open upon graduation from Basic, or he may have said,
‘I want to enlist immediately’ and based upon his scores he will be assigned to any open slot that becomes first available. Usually ‘food’ or ‘billet’ (housing) related.

Wayaay back when, I waited 11 months to enter basic to be able to enter the field I wanted and tested for.

Things happen and young people evolve (much like changing major in college) but it’s way more difficult to change career fields in the Military than College.

Example -
I waited 11 months for a Nuclear Electronics Technician slot opening.  
In basic I raised my hand to volunteer for Special Duty which (required an additional 2 year contract).
After several years of playing ‘Soldier’ I cross trained to first available Technical Trade that my ASVABS qualified me for (which ended up being HVAC) and allowed me ‘more school’.
I applied and volunteered for ANY additional school available (some were months long).
I then applied and ended up in Air Force Engineering and Service command / ‘Headquarters’
considered a special duty assignment.
That position granted many school opportunities and many ‘perks’
(relieved from common duty ‘chores’ and lots of worldwide travel and travel per diem).

What I am trying to illustrate is if he changes his mind like lots of young people do, the opportunities are endless but he needs to excel at his current choice. Then lobby and volunteer for every school slot that becomes available. Once he illustrates his desire to excel, his record will be evaluated upon asking to ’change’.

His ASVAB scores will generate a list of career fields he is qualified for.
From that list he can apply for (used to be 3, in the order he wants to be considered for).
Prior to enlistment, he will be assigned his career field.
Unless he screws up, after basic he will go to the school for assigned career field.

Note- if he recycles in basic, his school slot may be gone and that opens him up to the career ‘lottery’ and nobody wants that.

Edit - I ‘think’ he can take the ASVABS now with no commitment. If he wants a am lucrative field,

He most like will be required to wait for a slot. Take the test EARLY.

https://www.airforce.com/careers/browse-careers/

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I was an F-15 Avionics troop, same AFSC as AeroE.  PMEL would be a decent job, but I would go for an aircrew job.  Loadmaster (Flight Engineers are a dying breed), Aerial Gunner, Boom Operator, or a flying crew chief.

My oldest son did crypto comms, absolutely hated it and got out as soon as possible.

My youngest is an officer, and instructor pilot.  Still in.

I did the same thing and found out I had “earned” 2 additional ribbons since I got out.

That puts me at three full rows of salad

Of all that, this is the one I’m most proud of

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C130 Load (veteran now) checking in. It was the best job I will ever have. The sad part is while the load/boom life is fantastic, there is not a lot on the outside to do.

The AF is leading the way in DoD cyber, whoever is in second place is a long way back. If he is interested in that realm, there are a lot of good opportunities. PMEL, as others suggested, is another good technical job.

Whatever he does, make sure he makes the recruiter work for him and gets everything in writing. Read every word, and do not let him enter "open" anything.

Load master is the FUN job everyone mentions but as stated above, not very marketable outside the military. I trying very hard to make him understand this is his opportunity to set himself up for the rest of his life when he is done with the mil and not be in a position where he has to go back to school. I don't want to see him blow it by selecting a career that is going to end as soon as he is out.

He is thinking pilot right now but he already wears contacts. Not sure if that is an option. He has also said aviation mechanic.

To be honest, very little military experience translates to a civilian job. I work for a large Aerospace company, we have veterans from all branches in my group, including a C-17 loadmaster, and the job has nothing to with anything any of us did in the service. The reason employers want to hire veterans is because they have a work ethic, are dependable, and can follow orders.

Best of luck to your son

well if he's color blind I can tell you what one of his three options will be.

best of luck to your boy.

Don't do Security Forces