Calling All Air Force Wives

I was a Navy wife- in fact he was an aircraft mechanic. It was rough at times, but I grew a lot as a person because of it. I'm also the daughter of a sailor, the step-daughter of an Air Force woman (she did it as a single mom and raised 4 very well adjusted kids), and the step-sister of a Navy-then-Airman. When his wife got homesick for Japan, he asked to be restationed there and as soon as a slot opened up they were gone.

Tri-care is great in my personal experience, and I had a baby on it. Just make sure you sign up for Prime though- It doesn't cost anything, you just have to know to do it. My personal experience is that you have the same selection of Doc's as any other plan.

Depoyments come and go, the legnth can vary- navy it was 6 weeks and up. But your neighbors will be military spouses, too, and they will be your family. You will BBQ together, babysit for eachother, and shop eachothers yard sales. It should be mentioned that your DH will earn 30 days paid vacation a year- like any job you have to put in a time-off request, but my ex's were never denied. These days can be taken all at once, or here and there.

Your children are at an excellent age to adjust to the changes. When my ex would deploy, I would put up pictures of his ship and our daughter knew that's where her daddy was (she was 2) We would e-mail back and forth most nights. I've been through the USS Lincoln enough times that I could probably still give a tour of it- and it's been 6 years.

Your DH's career options will be based on his test scores, and if he tests and can't get into what he wants (unlikely if he wants to be a mechanic) he doesn't have to join.

As for his safety- Airforce is about the safest of all the branches, Navy a close second- Based on what his MOS (method of service- ie career) is. I wished durring my entire divorce that I had pushed my ex into the marines instead! All in all the military is a great way to change career paths.

One thing to note- if he wants to be an officer, he has to enter OCS (officer canidate school) by a certain age- this age can vary based on a variety of factors. If he has the time I would recomend that he go Air Guard first, it is (generally) a milder experience and has many of the same benifits.

There are some once in a lifetime experiences that I had as a service member's wife- Watching the fourth of july fireworks from the fight deck of an aircraft carrier is probably my favorite. There were rough times too- but the Navy didn't cause them. Infact the Navy probably made my first marriage last a bit longer. I have friends from those days that I still talk to on occasion.

I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

edited to add= your DH will likely enlist at a significantly higher pay grade because of his degree. Several things can affect this, having an eagle scout is another. Look into it, recruters don't always ask, and it affects his paygrade and available options.

I am a Mairne wife. The lives of all service members are very simialr.
It isn;t so bad. Sure there are deployments. They are hard. In the Marines they go for 7 or 13-14.
My kids have all grown up with them.
They have services for wives while the husband is deployed. You would not be alone. Someone is always just coming in, just moving, going on deployment, been there done that, you will alwyas have someone to hold you hand if you should need and after a couple deployments you'll be helping someone else.
Helthcare on base is adequate. I am on Tricare Prime and have a dr off base. You can go Tricare standard and get healthcare anywhere you just pay a deductible. You can go to most any dentist, ortho is paid for up to $1500.
HOusing is usually a waiting list, in the Marines at least. SO we lived out in town this last time. I have lived on base three times, housing was welll a roof over my head.
Enlisted make less and get less. If he has his degree my advice is to go officer or enlist for a specific time period then get into the officer program. I I was on WIC for years while mine was enlisted. I still qualified while he was an officer but didn't use it.
My son is in teh Navy adn cant' think of a diferent lifestyle. It grows on you.

My husband retired last year after 20 years in the AF. It was a good life. However, if he has an option between officer and enlisted, he definitely wants to be an officer! It is a totally different world. Many enlisted folks are on government aid (food stamps, etc) because they don't get paid enough. It is a harder life for enlisted. (My dad was enlisted, my husband an officer.) Yes, there is healthcare. I was not impressed with it. If this is what nationalized healthcare will look like, we are in big trouble. It used to be a lot better, but it is horrible now. Housing depends on your rank, availability, etc. They do pay you a little if you have to live off base. The higher ranking you are, the more money you get.
I enjoyed the close friendships, the moving around (we lived in 2 foreign countries as well as many different states), the adventure of it all. My husband never had to deploy, amazingly. The people in the AF now get deployed regularly for 365 day deployments. No fun. Often, they don't have much notice. Sometimes they go for 4-6 months, but they are moving more towards longer rather than shorter deployments.
Seriously, I would be very careful about this decision. I think he would be foolish to enlist if he could be an officer. No offense at all to those who are enlisted. It's just a much harder life on everyone, including him. Oh, and never trust the recruiter. They have an enormous amount of pressure on them to recruit a certain quota. If they don't make their quota they get in a TON of trouble. It is probably the worst job in the military. They are notorious for being liars. If their lips are moving, they are lying.
We loved our years in the AF, honestly. But, we were ready to move on to other things after 20 years. My husband was a fighter test pilot. It truly is a great way of life in many ways. But, go into it with your eyes open.

My husband has been Air Force for 12 years, we have been married 11 1/2. Your husband will work with a recruiter to find a job that is right for him, and he will know what that will be before he enlists. My husband is a Jet Engine mechanic and he loves it. He would have to leave for basic (8 weeks), and depending on how long his school is he would be gone for that too more than likely (they don't want him distracted plus most schools are not long enough to justify the cost of moving dependents). My husbands school was around 6 months if I remember right. my husband does deploy, but it is very rare that Air Force deployments are more than 4 months. When my husband goes to the middle east it is for 3 -4 months, and when he goes other places like Guam or Japan he is usually only gone a few weeks or less. How often he deploys will depend on not only his job, but where you are stationed. When we were in Okinawa Japan he only ever deployed once for 3 months, the rest were short TDYs lasting only a week or two. In the United Kingdom he was part of a forward deployed unit, which meant he had no real job at our station, he was there as a rotation for Qatar, and he did 5 or 6 deployments to Qatar, of 3 months each, over the course of our 4 years there. It was hard, but nothing I could not handle, and nothing compared to what the Army and Marine wives mush endure. Perks: are housing, job security, full health and eye coverage, cheap dental (or free if overseas), free school for him, partial pay for school for you, the GI bill, and the joys of getting to live in new and exciting places! During my 10 years over seas, yes I missed my family, but the things I got to see and do! And each time we moved to a new overseas base the Air Force would buy us all tickets home to see our families. I can honestly say that the Air Force has been so good to us. My husband faces the medical board in a couple of months due to a brain tumor, and they will more than likely decide to retire him early. We are sad about this, for we had hoped to go back to Europe so our kids could have some of the experiences that we got to enjoy. As a military spouse it can be hard to set up a career of your own. I worked Domestic violence in Japan, which I loved, but when he changed stations I had to leave it behind. There are some base jobs that can transfer depending on your level and if openings exist at the new station. What ever you decide, make sure it feels right for all of you, it is a big commitment, but one I would not change even if I could.

As a side note, I would say 90% of the Air Force wives I know would not change their husbands careers, and enjoy being military wives, even though it does have its hardships. One man I know got out a couple of years ago, and he just joined the guard because his whole family regretted his getting out, and they are hoping that buy going guard he may be able to rejoin active duty. As with anything in life, it is what you make of it.

Hmmm, the whole picture huh? Here is my experience with my EX husband. Our daughter was 6 months old when he left for 6 weeks of basic. I thought i would be able to go with him after basic to his AIT. Nope, by the time he got stationed 3 hours away 5 MONTHS later he had found himself a girlfriend and decided maybe the grass was greener on the other side. So there you go.

By the way he found the grass was not greener, but by the time he realised that I found the grass was much greener on my side.

By the way recruiters lie.

My fil was in the airforce for 20 years. He went in enlisted, but later became an officer. He was also a mechanic and later taught classes at the training school. He now has hard hearing from working on planes and being around the loud noises for so many years.

The family enjoyed it, but they were very poor (enlisted don't get paid very much) and he was furlow quite often. They moved a lot... in Germany for a while then back to the us, where they moved every few years.

Healthcare and coverage is good, but military dr's/hospitals aren't the greatest and military insurance tricare often gets you put on the back burner if you go to a non-military dr.

Yes, I have several military family members in the army, air force and navy... and it is true you can not trust recruitment officers. They tell you you can pick your field and make you all of these promises, then you find out it isn't true. You have to test into the field you like, and they give you a few options based on your testing scores, but in the end, you don't always get your first option. They withhold the truth, they twist details... so maybe they don't all outright 'lie'... but are very tricky and deceptive!

My bro joined the military being told repeatedly by the recruiter it was for 4 years, then once he hit boot camp, he found out it was really for 6 years.

Anyways, it all depends. My father was medically retired from the army, and it gave us years of benefits, student loans to the dependents and such... but he only served 6 years.

My fil's family on the other hand, even though he served over 20 years and retired honorably, his family did not get education benefits or anything.

So, really it just depends, some families love it and make it work, others have a really hard time. And yes, there is always the possibility of going to war, even as a mechanic. He could be called to go in the Afgan or wherever to work on helicopters and planes then come back home. You really just don't know where you will end up.

Here it goes. Your husband could go in enlisted and later switch over to officer. He would be higher up since he has a degree and would have experience in the military system.

As for the basics of you accompanying right after basic training no, he still has school to attend from 2 to 6 months depending on his career field. After that time he will be assigned to a location stateside or overseas as accompanied or not depending on the need for his field. Pay is by grade and lower ranks are not always great and it depends on how well you manage your money. Paydays are 1st and 15th of the month. Housing was at the time when my husband in was by rank (enlisted/officer) and that usually meant new members were not issued housing and you had to live off base. This may have changed since we have been out a few years. Your BAQ amount would be more because of your children. Deployments come and can be 6 months to a year there is usually a three month notice BUT there can be at a short notice. We tried to keep a mobility bag ready at all times with all the necessary uniforms in it so that we did not have to run around and pack and just go.

Benefits are: the medical, dental, eye; commissary; base exchange; possible work on base at commissary, childcare, BX (base exchange), or one of the other vendors allowed. Sometimes you can get a job in the local area but it is known that you will be there for a short period and it may be harder depending on your skill set. Education is mainly for the member and sometimes there is a reduced rate for the spouse. The new GI Bill allows for family member to use it but need to check out the requirements. Schooling for children may be on base, downtown in local communities or overseas part of the DODDs system. Overseas schools have trips to cities of interest (Brussels, Frankfurt, Berlin, Luxembourg, Ramstein, Kaiserlautern. Tours go to Holland, Austria, Switerland, Italy, Spain, England, France and Greece.

Recuriters as others have said have a quota that they must meet. Many try to be honest but there is a large number that will say anything to get you in.

As for being a wife you have to be independent with the ability to handle anything that comes up including the washer that breaks, the car that won't go and the kids that are sick all at the same time without hubby. Friendships are made and they last for a very long time between wives even when you move you still tend to keep in touch. An Army or Marine wife does have a harder road to travel with their husbands' lines of work. Travel is a big perk and sometimes you get to go to other countries and learn how they live and see the sights.

It was a chapter in my life for 20 years and it was all an adventure. Yes, there were times when it was just me and the kids but we also had fun as a unit and went to the park or such and a day of it.

There are many changes from when hubby went in in 1969 to now. Some of the changes are for the better and some are for the worse. It is a way of life and it has its own ups and downs that civilians don't understand as to why we military do the things we do. You have a sense of belonging to something larger than yourself and that there is a cushion of protection around you that insulates you from the outside world.

I miss the fact that moving companies will not come and pack me and move me within three days and I am off to another location, I miss the fact that if I don't like where I am in a little while I will be somewhere else, I miss the fact that I will be at a meeting helping other spouses enjoy where they are in the world. I still have the itch to move and have been in my present location for nearly 20 years - that's 4 PCS moves behind. Now it is really time to throw that extra stuff away.

The other S.

I was not only an AF wife but in the AF as well myself-for 10 years- and got out three years ago. As of our departure, this was how it stood...

Most deployments are 6 months, not 4 (if you go to military.com they have some great articles on this) and they are trying to go to 9 on 12 off. Will that ever happen? Who the heck knows!!! My husband was OSI and I was a lab tech. He was 6 on 6 off. I got VERY LUCKY and never had to go myself. It happens.

The AF is getting stingy. They won't move you unless they absolutly have to. Some bases are very 'plane' specific and crew chiefs at those bases can spend their whole career there. My husbands AFSC had us moving every three years.

Education benifits are good for the member. If he doesn't use them, there are stipulations that can pass them to dependents. Check out the va.gov website for more info.

Never fully trust the recruiter and get everything in official writing.

Live on base...no housing allowance. Live off base and there is a stipend to do so. Depending on where you get stationed and the fact that you have kids already, the stipend very well may not pay enough to NOT have to pay more out of pocket.

Medical coverage/care is good. Just like the civie side...it all depends on who your doctor is!

The thing I miss the most about my Air Force experience is the commissary! I know, I know, out of all the AF offers it seems silly to miss that, but my grocery bill, buying nothing but name brand foods, rose almost 75% when I got out and had to start shopping at civilian grocery stores.

You want it for the money? GO OFFICER!!! He's got his degree...USE IT!!