The Pathway to the USAF

In just a few weeks' time, I will submit the final parts of my application for a USAF TDSP. For those of you who don't know, a TDSP is essentially a program that will make me a full time military member while I continue to study. Upon graduation, I will go to USAF OTS, and upon completion of that, I will be a Second Lieutenant in the USAF and will have a job in engineering. My commitment is for four years, but I strongly sense that I will spend much, much longer time in it than that. In fact, odds are high that I will go for the full twenty years to get lifetime pension/benefits, and after that work at a defense contractor, as a teacher, or maybe something else entirely.

I've already gone through the MEPS in Brooklyn. I think all that's left is for the DoD to do a background check on me so that I can get Security Clearance after I submit my last paperwork and letters of recommendation.

I'm guessing a lot of the military guys here are enlisted... does anyone know anything about USAF "corporate culture" for officers and engineers?

One of my buddies was in the AF and worked on A-10s. He was always getting to stay in nice hotels instead of staying on base, and he made pretty good money. He seemed to like it.

Good luck man.

Sorry for the super late reply, but queue standard "go for it" careerist response. I know little about the AF and even less about its officer programs, but I can attest to the camaraderie and pride that military service gives us. That said, I'm thinking more and more about doing my twenty and getting out. The Army--and military in general--is changing rapidly; transitioning back to a "peacetime" mentality in which the "been-there, done that" types will be pushed to the side in favor of the ticket punchers. For better or worse I fall somewhere in between, having been stateside for over eight years now while the Army keeps me in non-combat roles.

You'll mostly earn your pay. I say mostly because this is by far the easiest job I've ever had. The retirement pay and benefits seem to be on the table whenever there's talk of budget cuts, but then again I get most of my news from milblogs that may or may not play it up. One thing I can say is that it doesn't seem like almost eleven years since I first enlisted. Time flies by and the people I've befriended alone are well worth the few bad times I've endured.

Well, I've been selected for the TDSP. I haven't got military ID or anysuch quite yet, but the ball should get rolling as far as those go within a week or two.