Ok, I've decided to join the Virginia Air National Guard, but those three positions are the only Enlisted jobs open at the 192nd Fighter Wing. I'm personally leaning towards Aircraft Structural Maintenance since I think it would be a good job to have while working towards an AE degree, but I would like your opinions on any of the ones listed. Its not like I'm in a rush as I still need to loose 20lbs of fat before I can sign up, but I'd like to make my decision as soon as possible.












 
 

"Sheet Metal" would have the best work experience for later down the road; Ammo and F-16 Crew Chief, not so much.  Not to say that you couldn't get a job, but....

You've chosen well.

B_S

Well, it would be F-22 Crew Chief since the 192nd had to move to Langley for them, which I guess is somewhat of a fair trade.
I miss them flying out of Richmond, though.



My overall goal is to either become a pilot/flight crew, or join OSI. Out of the jobs available, which do you think would be the best start on the path to either of those?





 

DO NOT GO AMMO!!!  I am currently active duty ammo, getting out in Sep.  It's a real pain in the ass to find a job on the outside when the only experience I got while in was on stuff that only the military has.  In other words, almost no job opportunities on the outside.

Unless you are a chief or officer or something, can maybe get hired by a defense contractor or something, but it doesn't happen as often as you'd wish it did.  Pick a job that has some civilian world turnover.

Thanks for that! I'll take that into account, though I really don't want this to be the only thing I do in the service; I'm planning on using my Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering or Criminology degree on Active duty or AGR after a few years in the Guard. But its always a good idea to have a backup plan available if things change.

 
 

If you can get your A&P then go for it.

Sheet Metal.

Ammo sucks.. all they do is drink and do lots of chest pounding.

Crew Chiefs get to work looooong hours than work more...

If you stay in the guard it is usually fairly easy to retrain into another shop in the unit after your first enlistment..

Aside from the long hours, whats so bad about being a crew chief?





 

I was prior AMMO before I retrained. It's a fun job but like was said job ops on the outside suck. With that I was thinking about going back into AMMO for the guard just to have fun on the weekends!!!

Don't go Ammo.

OSI's promotions are SLOOOOOOOW.  Their cut-offs are UNGODLY.  

Heading to DC next month for my brother's retirement (OSI).  Not sure what his plans are, but someone will hire him with 13 years OSI experience.

B_S

I spent over 20 years in aircraft maintenance.  Your best option of the three listed is sheet metal, trust me.

Well, sounds like my gut reaction was a good one. Now I need to find a way to loose 25lbs or cut my bodyfat % by five points in 3 months...


 

Another "Sheet Metal" vote here. I remember the sheet metal guys I used to interact with had a pretty cool job (Been a while since I worked the flightline though...1998). They would come out the the line to patch up bullet/tree/bush/bird/etc damage on our Helos. Whenever I would take parts over to their shop they would be working on tail booms, cowlings, and other parts of AC. I could see how their job would very easily be marketable on the civilian side.

I am working on getting into the reserves as a loadmaster. Aircrew is where it's at.

Like mentioned above, aircrew is where the glory is.  Now if you are really interested in learning a lot more than how to bend metal, I would strongly suggest 2A6X6 Aircraft Electrical and Environmental Systems specialist.  It will teach you a lot about troubleshooting and many different aircraft systems that you won't learn otherwise. Some systems would be flight controls, engine start, landing gear, LOX, bleed air, electrical system, anti-g system, fire suppression, and others.  

I know its not on your list, but if you aren't eligible for enlistment for a few months anyway, see if you can get a slot.

My 2 cents

Spark Chasers FTW!    
B_S

You do NOT want to be Sheet Metal on F-22s!  On other aircraft I would say maybe if you like playing with metal all the time, but not on F-22s.  There is very little traditional sheet metal work on F-22s, most of what you will be doing is removing LO coatings so other maintainers can take access panels off to get to areas to make repairs, then once they are done you get to go and put the LO coatings back on.  When you are not doing this you will be repairing coatings that have gotten damaged by just normal flying.  And every once in awhile you'll get to come out and fix a broken nutplate or two.   Life as a S/M troop on F-22s is like the movie Groundhog Day, the same shit day after day after day.

As a crew chief you will be doing different things all the time since you never know what will go wrong with your aircraft.  Notice I said "your aircraft", that is because you will be assigned to an aircraft (which will have your name painted on it by sheet metal ) that you will be responsible for making sure that it is properly maintained by you and fellow crew chiefs along other shops (i.e S/M, Fuels, Avionics...).  As a crew chief on F-22s you will work on the hydraulics, landing gear, engines, and flight controls along with doing all the servicing and pre and post flight inspections.  Another thing you will do as a crew chief is you'll be the one to turn your aircraft over to a pilot and send him/her out on their mission.  To me there is nothing like the job satisfaction I get after busting my ass to get a jet fixed and then watching it takeoff knowing that I'm the one that made that possible.

2A373
Crew Chief 1994 - ????
Worked on F-15E, F-22, F/A-22, F-22A (the higher ups couldn't make up their minds), POS Lawn Darts a.k.a F-16s , and now F-15C/Ds.

No E&E on F-22s.  All E&E work is done by Avionics.