Air Force Party, Pretty Great Night

[Cain]

If your "SF" means Special Forces then you will have to be Airborne qualified first. Does the Air Force have Special Forces?

When I said SF I meant Security Forces, sorry, I was going to put SecForces, but I am just going to not be lazy and say Security Forces lol.

Yes, they do: Air Force Special Operations Command - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[High_Gravity]

If your "SF" means Special Forces then you will have to be Airborne qualified first. Does the Air Force have Special Forces?

SF means "Security Forces" in the AF which is basically their version of the MP's "Military Police", as far as I know the Air Force has Paratroopers, TACP, and other things, here is the link to what the Air Force has in the special ops world.

Special Forces | Delta Force | SEALs | Rangers

Scroll down until you get to Air Force.

 

[High_Gravity]

Yea, that is what he said, but that sort of worries me, I have a cousin in Security Forces, my recruiter was Security Forces, and I have met a really good friend online who is Security Forces. I have heard, it's a hard job, you rarely get any vacation time, and if someone is getting off for holidays, probably not you.

All that, is fine with me, it really is, I mean, I probably wouldn't go home for the holidays anyways. I am just wondering, if this job is truly what I want. What I want, is to be in combat, and be basically a Air Force Grunt. I know, being a "grunt" sucks, but really, that is fine with me, I know its a job that I can handle and be great at, if just given the chance.

That is true about security forces, they usually work fixed schedules 3 days on 3 days off and the shifts are usually 12 hours, if not more for guard mount, which is a meeting security forces do before and after their shifts. If you want to get holidays off you will have to put in leave for them way in advance, but yes Security Forces work long hours and usually deploy alot depending what base they are at, I can tell you at Vandenberg Security Forces deployed alot and the base actually hired civilian contractors to guard the base since their Security Forces were always gone. If you want to be a Air Force "grunt" though that is the right place to start and than you can retrain into the Paratroopers or TACP (Tactical Air Control Party) if thats route you want to go with it.

Air Force Special Operations Command - TACP

Yea, my friend Umbrae who is SF, told me to do TACP, but I think I should train in SF first, wouldn't that seem like the better idea? That way I have 6 years to get ready for TACP, I mean, fitness wise. I plan to keep up my weight lifting though, the recruiter doesn't like that I do it so much [gain weight], but he said once your in, it's fine.

It is probably better to do Security Forces first and than retrain, I thought they didn't let people go into TACP str8 from basic? I could be wrong but I thought you had to retrain into it?

 

[Care4all]

So, we had our Air Force DEP Christmas Party tonight, and I had a lot of un-expected stuff happen. Also, we just flat out had a good time. We met a guy who is about to become Master Chief Seargent, we had 5 recruiters, all of them SSgts, except mine who is a TSgt, and then we handed out the awards, this is where I was surprised.

I am a very blunt person, and usually get along with 1/2 of the people I meet, usually 1/2 are ok with me, the other 1/2 despise me. Well, tonight I got a Air Force coin, it was the "Top Recruiter" Coin, and it was handed out to 2 people out of I think the number is around 50. I got this coin, because I had spread out a lot of pamphlets/packages of pamphlets around my region of the recruiting district, and I had also, everytime my recruiter needed to speak to me, I'd drive to his station and usually help him with other DEP'ers getting stuff done.

I was really shocked because I was considered mostly the "loner" of the DEP, although their is no real loners since we basically do everything together in our spare time. So, I was pretty "WOAHED!" because my Uncle [Army Engineer, 13 years] was pretty proud of all of his coins he'd earned because of multiple things [he got I think 8-9 coins, a few for services above & beyond, and other stuff, I think one was for one of his injuries during Desert Storm] and I called to tell him, but apparently I am going to go to Nashville to show him tomorrow.

Anyways, the party was really fun, and I learned that if you work hard, your stuck out and shown as a example, and to be honest...I loved it. I love being able to say I worked harder then others, and I hope the others will work harder with me to get our DEP stronger in size & individual power. We all also got a Certificate of Enlistment, which everyone got, but I am keeping it in my AF Packet I carry around when we have stuff, it has everything I could need for identification, and plus my WHOLE contract [you would not believe how thick that contract is until you fill it out].

Anyways, had a blast, and must admit, my perspective has changed a lot about stuff.

Thanks to any Veterans out there, you guys/gals make me proud to say I am on my way to becoming a Airman.

I think you mean Chief Master Sergeant there Airman.

yep....

my dad was a chief master sergeant....for a few years before he retired....he retired after 22 years so i think he finally made chief at around his 18th year in the service.

 

[High_Gravity]

So, we had our Air Force DEP Christmas Party tonight, and I had a lot of un-expected stuff happen. Also, we just flat out had a good time. We met a guy who is about to become Master Chief Seargent, we had 5 recruiters, all of them SSgts, except mine who is a TSgt, and then we handed out the awards, this is where I was surprised.

I am a very blunt person, and usually get along with 1/2 of the people I meet, usually 1/2 are ok with me, the other 1/2 despise me. Well, tonight I got a Air Force coin, it was the "Top Recruiter" Coin, and it was handed out to 2 people out of I think the number is around 50. I got this coin, because I had spread out a lot of pamphlets/packages of pamphlets around my region of the recruiting district, and I had also, everytime my recruiter needed to speak to me, I'd drive to his station and usually help him with other DEP'ers getting stuff done.

I was really shocked because I was considered mostly the "loner" of the DEP, although their is no real loners since we basically do everything together in our spare time. So, I was pretty "WOAHED!" because my Uncle [Army Engineer, 13 years] was pretty proud of all of his coins he'd earned because of multiple things [he got I think 8-9 coins, a few for services above & beyond, and other stuff, I think one was for one of his injuries during Desert Storm] and I called to tell him, but apparently I am going to go to Nashville to show him tomorrow.

Anyways, the party was really fun, and I learned that if you work hard, your stuck out and shown as a example, and to be honest...I loved it. I love being able to say I worked harder then others, and I hope the others will work harder with me to get our DEP stronger in size & individual power. We all also got a Certificate of Enlistment, which everyone got, but I am keeping it in my AF Packet I carry around when we have stuff, it has everything I could need for identification, and plus my WHOLE contract [you would not believe how thick that contract is until you fill it out].

Anyways, had a blast, and must admit, my perspective has changed a lot about stuff.

Thanks to any Veterans out there, you guys/gals make me proud to say I am on my way to becoming a Airman.

I think you mean Chief Master Sergeant there Airman.

yep....

my dad was a chief master sergeant....for a few years before he retired....he retired after 22 years so i think he finally made chief at around his 18th year in the service.

Wow your dad made it very quickly, alot of the guys I know who made Chief had to stay in at least 20 years to even get that rank.

 

[Care4all]

I think you mean Chief Master Sergeant there Airman.

yep....

my dad was a chief master sergeant....for a few years before he retired....he retired after 22 years so i think he finally made chief at around his 18th year in the service.

Wow your dad made it very quickly, alot of the guys I know who made Chief had to stay in at least 20 years to even get that rank.

he was extremely dedicated and hard working...joined at 17, without even a high school diploma....but then he went on to get his GED and then a college degree on the side....let alone all the technical schools they sent him to....

he got some major promotions through volunteering to go to Vietnam, received a bronze star...and then when he returned home, another promotion, and chief was not long after he had made Senior master sgt.

A tough dad though....he kept the GI Belt in the corner....just in case..... and as a reminder of what life could be like if my sis and I did not follow the rules....

After he retired he got a job working for the FAA, and was much more lenient....thank God!

edit
It could have been his 19th year, I know it was a few years after Chief, that he retired?

 

[Cain]

That is true about security forces, they usually work fixed schedules 3 days on 3 days off and the shifts are usually 12 hours, if not more for guard mount, which is a meeting security forces do before and after their shifts. If you want to get holidays off you will have to put in leave for them way in advance, but yes Security Forces work long hours and usually deploy alot depending what base they are at, I can tell you at Vandenberg Security Forces deployed alot and the base actually hired civilian contractors to guard the base since their Security Forces were always gone. If you want to be a Air Force "grunt" though that is the right place to start and than you can retrain into the Paratroopers or TACP (Tactical Air Control Party) if thats route you want to go with it.

Air Force Special Operations Command - TACP

Yea, my friend Umbrae who is SF, told me to do TACP, but I think I should train in SF first, wouldn't that seem like the better idea? That way I have 6 years to get ready for TACP, I mean, fitness wise. I plan to keep up my weight lifting though, the recruiter doesn't like that I do it so much [gain weight], but he said once your in, it's fine.

It is probably better to do Security Forces first and than retrain, I thought they didn't let people go into TACP str8 from basic? I could be wrong but I thought you had to retrain into it?

They have it where you can qualify for it in the DEP, so I am pretty sure they allow it to be done straight through BMT now. Not 100% sure, but our "other DEP" had a guy qualify for it, and another qualify for SERE.

 

[High_Gravity]

yep....

my dad was a chief master sergeant....for a few years before he retired....he retired after 22 years so i think he finally made chief at around his 18th year in the service.

Wow your dad made it very quickly, alot of the guys I know who made Chief had to stay in at least 20 years to even get that rank.

he was extremely dedicated and hard working...joined at 17, without even a high school diploma....but then he went on to get his GED and then a college degree on the side....let alone all the technical schools they sent him to....

he got some major promotions through volunteering to go to Vietnam, received a bronze star...and then when he returned home, another promotion, and chief was not long after he had made Senior master sgt.

A tough dad though....he kept the GI Belt in the corner....just in case..... and as a reminder of what life could be like if my sis and I did not follow the rules....

After he retired he got a job working for the FAA, and was much more lenient....thank God!

Your dad sounds like an incredible hard worker, respect.

 

[Cain]

Thank your dad for me, Care4all.

 

[High_Gravity]

Yea, my friend Umbrae who is SF, told me to do TACP, but I think I should train in SF first, wouldn't that seem like the better idea? That way I have 6 years to get ready for TACP, I mean, fitness wise. I plan to keep up my weight lifting though, the recruiter doesn't like that I do it so much [gain weight], but he said once your in, it's fine.

It is probably better to do Security Forces first and than retrain, I thought they didn't let people go into TACP str8 from basic? I could be wrong but I thought you had to retrain into it?

They have it where you can qualify for it in the DEP, so I am pretty sure they allow it to be done straight through BMT now. Not 100% sure, but our "other DEP" had a guy qualify for it, and another qualify for SERE.

Oh ok, thats kind of a hard job for an Airman to jump right into after BMT. I know they have a high turn over rate, I know an Airman that tried to reclass into TACP but he broke his leg and was sent home, and he never got another chance. I know SERE lets people in after basic, a friend of mine from basic got that specialty but he washed out and ended up working Supply instead, the training for it was much harder than he anticipated. All these special ops jobs look cool when your sitting there watching them do it, but when you actually have to train for it yourself its a totally different animal.

 

[Care4all]

thank you both....(from my dad)!

It was hard on my sis and I....never went to the same school for longer than a year, other than the times we were stationed overseas.....so long term friends were not in the picture for us....

though, my sis and I both have recently hooked up with some kids that we went to school with in Aviano, Italy....and have gone to an Aviano 'Air force brat' reunion with 30 some years gone by....that was fun too!

 

[High_Gravity]

thank you both....(from my dad)!

It was hard on my sis and I....never went to the same school for longer than a year, other than the times we were stationed overseas.....so long term friends were not in the picture for us....

though, my sis and I both have recently hooked up with some kids that we went to school with in Aviano, Italy....and have gone to an Aviano 'Air force brat' reunion with 30 some years gone by....that was fun too!

Life for a child of a Military member is hard, switching schools alot sucks I had to do that too. Kuds to you and your family for sticking through it.

 

[SFC Ollie]

yep....

my dad was a chief master sergeant....for a few years before he retired....he retired after 22 years so i think he finally made chief at around his 18th year in the service.

Wow your dad made it very quickly, alot of the guys I know who made Chief had to stay in at least 20 years to even get that rank.

he was extremely dedicated and hard working...joined at 17, without even a high school diploma....but then he went on to get his GED and then a college degree on the side....let alone all the technical schools they sent him to....

he got some major promotions through volunteering to go to Vietnam, received a bronze star...and then when he returned home, another promotion, and chief was not long after he had made Senior master sgt.

A tough dad though....he kept the GI Belt in the corner....just in case..... and as a reminder of what life could be like if my sis and I did not follow the rules....

After he retired he got a job working for the FAA, and was much more lenient....thank God!

edit
It could have been his 19th year, I know it was a few years after Chief, that he retired?

And we thank him for all those years.

 

[Care4all]

thank you both....(from my dad)!

It was hard on my sis and I....never went to the same school for longer than a year, other than the times we were stationed overseas.....so long term friends were not in the picture for us....

though, my sis and I both have recently hooked up with some kids that we went to school with in Aviano, Italy....and have gone to an Aviano 'Air force brat' reunion with 30 some years gone by....that was fun too!

Life for a child of a Military member is hard, switching schools alot sucks I had to do that too. Kuds to you and your family for sticking through it.

I was very young when he went to Nam....and very very very scared that I would not ever see my daddy again....I can still tear up thinking about him saying goodbye to us and walking down the Tarmac to the airplane at JFK taking him there.... I have been traumatized for life, seriously, and am a DOVE for life and NOT a HAWK....I am against war, at least our recent wars, and i don't even think I could support a war that is absolutely necessary which I know is wrong....but crying every day for a year straight, or putting a very young child through this or the spouse, is very scary....my kudos go to the wives and children of all of these men fighting in wars today, along with the gentleman serving, the families go through hell though and no one seems to truly realize this to the extent that they should, imho.

 

[High_Gravity]

thank you both....(from my dad)!

It was hard on my sis and I....never went to the same school for longer than a year, other than the times we were stationed overseas.....so long term friends were not in the picture for us....

though, my sis and I both have recently hooked up with some kids that we went to school with in Aviano, Italy....and have gone to an Aviano 'Air force brat' reunion with 30 some years gone by....that was fun too!

Life for a child of a Military member is hard, switching schools alot sucks I had to do that too. Kuds to you and your family for sticking through it.

I was very young when he went to Nam....and very very very scared that I would not ever see my daddy again....I can still tear up thinking about him saying goodbye to us and walking down the Tarmac to the airplane at JFK taking him there.... I have been traumatized for life, seriously, and am a DOVE for life and NOT a HAWK....I am against war, at least our recent wars, and i don't even think I could support a war that is absolutely necessary which I know is wrong....but crying every day for a year straight, or putting a very young child through this or the spouse, is very scary....my kudos go to the wives and children of all of these men fighting in wars today, along with the gentleman serving, the families go through hell though and no one seems to truly realize this to the extent that they should, imho.

I can understand what you mean, you probably don't like war because of your personal experience with it. I heard an old saying that the person most eager to go to war has never been in one. I definently appreciate your fathers service and the sacrifice you and your family made.

 

[Paulie]

Air Force has SERE. They're hardcore like SEALS.

It's survivalist type shit. I trained next to them at the Lackand Annex for my first month of tech school. They're a different breed.

As far as PT in basic, when I was in we only did it every other day. 1 day would be PT, the next day would be drill, and so on.

 

[SFC Ollie]

thank you both....(from my dad)!

It was hard on my sis and I....never went to the same school for longer than a year, other than the times we were stationed overseas.....so long term friends were not in the picture for us....

though, my sis and I both have recently hooked up with some kids that we went to school with in Aviano, Italy....and have gone to an Aviano 'Air force brat' reunion with 30 some years gone by....that was fun too!

Life for a child of a Military member is hard, switching schools alot sucks I had to do that too. Kuds to you and your family for sticking through it.

I was very young when he went to Nam....and very very very scared that I would not ever see my daddy again....I can still tear up thinking about him saying goodbye to us and walking down the Tarmac to the airplane at JFK taking him there.... I have been traumatized for life, seriously, and am a DOVE for life and NOT a HAWK....I am against war, at least our recent wars, and i don't even think I could support a war that is absolutely necessary which I know is wrong....but crying every day for a year straight, or putting a very young child through this or the spouse, is very scary....my kudos go to the wives and children of all of these men fighting in wars today, along with the gentleman serving, the families go through hell though and no one seems to truly realize this to the extent that they should, imho.

Which is why when I retired I insisted that my wife be the first person recognized at my retirement ceremony. And she was. She was given a Certificate of Appreciation, which reads in part:

" has earned grateful appreciation for her own unselfish, faithful, and devoted service. Her unfailing support and understanding helped to make possible her husbands lasting contribution to the nation." Signed by the Army Chief of staff, General Gordon R Sullivan

 

[High_Gravity]

Air Force has SERE. They're hardcore like SEALS.

It's survivalist type shit. I trained next to them at the Lackand Annex for my first month of tech school. They're a different breed.

As far as PT in basic, when I was in we only did it every other day. 1 day would be PT, the next day would be drill, and so on.

I never met anyone who did SERE, I just know my friend from basic tried to do and got washed out. We did PT every day in basic as soon as we got there except for Sundays, we drilled pretty much everyday as well.

 

[Paulie]

Air Force has SERE. They're hardcore like SEALS.

It's survivalist type shit. I trained next to them at the Lackand Annex for my first month of tech school. They're a different breed.

As far as PT in basic, when I was in we only did it every other day. 1 day would be PT, the next day would be drill, and so on.

I never met anyone who did SERE, I just know my friend from basic tried to do and got washed out. We did PT every day in basic as soon as we got there except for Sundays, we drilled pretty much everyday as well.

Wow. I got to basic 19 Jan 2000.

I was in 324, Disneyland. Yeah bro. PT every other day

Not that I would have minded everyday, though. But it really isn't good to stress all your muscles like that everyday.

 

[High_Gravity]

Air Force has SERE. They're hardcore like SEALS.

It's survivalist type shit. I trained next to them at the Lackand Annex for my first month of tech school. They're a different breed.

As far as PT in basic, when I was in we only did it every other day. 1 day would be PT, the next day would be drill, and so on.

I never met anyone who did SERE, I just know my friend from basic tried to do and got washed out. We did PT every day in basic as soon as we got there except for Sundays, we drilled pretty much everyday as well.

Wow. I got to basic 19 Jan 2000.

I was in 324, Disneyland. Yeah bro. PT every other day

Not that I would have minded everyday, though. But it really isn't good to stress all your muscles like that everyday.

I went in July 4 2000, I was in the 331st, PT and drill every damn day.