He just left meps and is now officially sworn in and property of the U.S. Government. Any tips for him, He signed up for 6 yrs instead of 4 which will start him at an E3 instead of a 1, not sure on MOS yet They told him to pick 6 jobs that he wanted and I believe all of them mostly dealt with some type of mechanics.  Im super proud of him and hes finally gonna get his shit together, Just figured Id pass the great news and get some useful info from some fellas that been there and done that....

The military is always a great choice, regardless of branch. I served '90-2006. The Armed Forces instills a lot of great values within most people. Good luck to him, and your family.

He will have 'fun' for about eight weeks once he gets shipped out, which I am assuming he has yet to do.  This is his first trip to MEPS, yes?  If so, there's going to be a wait while he is in the Delayed Enlistment Program, or DEP.  Now is a good time to start running, running and running.  He will have to go to the recruiter's office once a month for weigh-in and a general BS session or more, depending on the recruiter.  





If I remember correctly, his E3 stripes/pay will take effect once he graduates basic.  While in basic, everyone wears slick sleeves until the last week or so when you're rolling around in blues.  





Now, as far as jobs... MX, depending on which slot he goes into, can be a really hectic job.  Lots of lonnnnng days out on the ramp or, if he gets put into a specialist slot, lots of booring days in the individual back shops where specialized repairs take place.  





Once he gets into the "real" AF, and out of tech school, his quality of life will vastly increase, so long as he isn't a douchebag.  While in tech school, he'll be treated like a child, just like everyone else.  It is frustrating, but one has to shut up and color.





Good luck to your brother!



ETA:  Also, we don't have MOSs.  In the AF, you have an Air Force Speciality Code, or AFSC.
 

Tell Him thanks for serving!

Overall I enjoyed My time with Uncle Sam's Aristocrat Faction.



The Ol' Crew Chief

Yeah, I remember him saying something about DEP and him having to check in with his recruiter every monday via phone and an actual face to face once a month... Ill try and see which jobs he put down on the list... buddy of mine told him to go in under 1C651... Not sure if that was an option for him or not...

Good for him. Almost 10 years in here and going for 20.

He'll be stripeless until his graduation day. My flight was almost all E-3s from college, etc (or six year guys). Which made it hilarious when we realized the entire flight outranked our element leaders (all 1 stripers)....


BMT's changed a bit since I was there ('05) but it's not physically all that hard, but a lot of kids get mentally screwy. I went in "old" (27) as did some others and didn't have any trouble, but some did get a little weird.

Just tell him to avoid the dorm skanks, getting married in tech school, and alcohol. Three major problems that kill careers for young guys.

Without your brother and others like him who are willing to serve-we'd be in a world of hurt. Please give him my thanks.

Good for him.  Hopefully they'll put him through Lackland before it gets to be 105 degrees again.

I went through USAF basic 30 years ago, so my experience is pretty dated. But if he has high enough scores, try to get into electronics or avionics. Still liable to do flightline time, but also a lot more climate controlled backshop opportunities.

1C6X1 is the AFSC for a space operations technician.  Good work, things like "flying" a GPS or communications satellite or manning a missile warning console.  Lots of high-tech experience, good opportunities after the service.

Tell him what I tell all the new Lts:  there are three things that'll get you in trouble the quickest in the military––your mouth, your wallet and your zipper.  Control what goes in and out of all three and you'll do just fine.