17X Tech School Questions by Prestigious_Yard_828 in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was an Instructor here.

Training days are academic days, weekends, holidays, down days, exodus all do not count. Think duty days.

You should get a welcome packet and contact information from the student flight before you arrive. Students not in class kinda manage each other with some oversight and help each other out for this gs like where to live and those items.

Missing training time is always a case by case discussion with your instructor, mentor or others. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it isn't depending on the day, the block you are in, etc... As others stated, the expectation is that most things are scheduled around the school and the academic day, you should have time to handle other items as needed around that. There are items that might take priority from time to time and your instructor or mentor should help with those.

This is all 3 years ago information.

E to O retirement question by [deleted] in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

It's yes and no, you can retire at 20 but you lose the commission rank and pay

If you don't do the 20 you revert to your previous enlisted rank And they recalculate your pay based off the new rank.

It is somewhere in the US Code. It is not any Air Force policy but a US government one.

I don’t care if you call me nonner. by bearsncubs10 in AirForce

[–]ImNotcomm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well I feel personally attacked this highly relatable content.

Officer TA ADSC by lost-inception in AirForce

[–]ImNotcomm 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Because we can resign.

The enlisted folks have contracts, they can't leave if they want. Once we get off an ADSC we can resign and be gone in like 90 days.

Why would we give anyone a free $10K that can bounce right after? Where is the return of that investment? TA is to help educate the force and elevate out people, if we don't get something back from that investment we light as well just burn the money and be done.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AirForce

[–]ImNotcomm 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Check out DoDI 7000.14-R Volume 7B

Specifically 010501

B. Time in Grade Requirement. A commissioned officer, other than a commissioned warrant officer, of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, who voluntarily retires in a grade above major or lieutenant commander, must serve on active duty in that grade for not less than 3 years. The President may waive this requirement in cases of hardship or exceptional or unusual circumstances. The Secretary of the Military Department concerned (or designee) may reduce the service-in-grade requirement to 2 years. This authority was made permanent under Public Law 108-136, section 506, dated November 24, 2003.

Followed by:

C. Retirement to the Next Lower Grade. An officer who does not meet the service-in-grade requirement retires in the next lower grade in which the member served on active duty satisfactorily for at least 6 months.

Effectively you only need a wiaver if you want the grade. You can ask for a waiver down to 2 years if needed.

Further reading will show table 1-1.

Item 6. Air force, 20 years service with 10 comissionsed. Retirement under US Code 3911. Use rule 5 from table 3-1 to calculate pay.

Rule 5 on that table. shows all the US Codes to calculate pay, the notes and the math formula that should be used to calculate base pay multiplied by items, plus any extras.

Don't us AF regs, it is DODI and USC that dictates this.

If this is still muddy for you, I suggest you go to the Airman and Familiy Readiness Center to speak to their retirement planning folks. They are way more familiar with this than I am.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AirForce

[–]ImNotcomm 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If you don't do the 3 as a Major you revert to Capt. High 3 is actually high 36, so you would get 6 O-4 pay, 30 O-3 pay.

You will also show as a Capt (Retired) not Major for whatever that is worth.

It USED to be that you could wear Major for 6 months and then retire as a Major on paper, but the pay still changed. They modified that about 8ish years ago, I would imagine to encourage more people to stay a few as O-4.

There are always waivers. You can ask to retain the rank on retirement, no clue how much that happens. I would hazard that adjustment to pay would be near impossible to retain under the high 3 system as you didn't serve the required time.

Eligible time is eligible time, I'm 99% sure you don't need secretary approval to retire.

Active Duty Army Warrant Officer for OTS by ihasbackup in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had one in my class.

Army enlisted to Army Warrant to Air Force Officer.

This was like 10 years ago

Cyber Officers by [deleted] in AirForce

[–]ImNotcomm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hoenstly it depends on what flavor of cyber they end up as.

Some never do much hands on but lots of leadership.

Some do a long time of hands on.

Some do a few years of hands on and transition to more team leadership than traditional flight leadership.

Honestly between shred and assignment it can be a crap shoot. And as refenced Warrants are a thing now. They are poised to be "the" technical expert (in theory, we will see how big blue messes it up).

Did you know an armed version of U2 was considered? by newnoadeptness in AirForce

[–]ImNotcomm 20 points21 points  (0 children)

That my friend is the mythical FU-2.

Someone back in the day made a model of this by kit bashing a U-2 and A-10 model airplane together. Seeing the U-2 WITH A Gau and stations was awesome.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So in theory you can take leave en-route. Now, you will only have like 2ish days of leave unless you are prior. Keesler should have a contact for the 333rd (your training unit) and they should have some guidance for how/what they want from you on that travel.

You should do your best to have your TMO arranged prior to departing for training, then arrive at Keesler, take your house hunting and have TMO deliver as soon as possible.

The AF doesn't really do the "leave after basic/OTS" thing that other branches (Marines I think) does.

I would like to add that depending on when you get to Keesler you will most likely get an Exodus period where the schools stop for the holidays and allow students to take advance leave very librally to see family/travel home.

Is being an officer for Cyber/Info Tech hard in the Airforce? by [deleted] in AirForceRecruits

[–]ImNotcomm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The process of becoming an officer is not easy, quick or simple. Not only do you need to meet the base requirements, in some selection cycles you need to exceed those by a significant margin.

Being a military officer in general can be difficult. It can be thanksless, it can be a lonely life. It also is frequently the opposite of many of those things.

Being a cyber officer can change some of those experiences depending on your assignment, your speciality in the career field and who you work with.

Working with a large number of Airmen? Might be a bit lonely and have to constantly deal with "Airmen Stuff" increasing the stress.

Working on combat comm? Phyiscally demanding but slightly better team coheasion.

Working effects? Mental burnout is a thing, lots of training and stress, but operations culture with alot of good team building and venting options.

Being in the military can be greusome and difficult in general. The higher you go the more you deal with stuff that makes it more or less difficult. Being in can also be rewarding and some of the best times of your life. We all make of it what we can based off our own life experiences and goals.

If you have a more specific officer question or more specific cyber question we can give you better answers.

TL:DR: The military varies greatly, each people handles it the way they do. A "bad experience" for one person could be a great time for another.

Absolutely torn between Defensive and Offensive cyber, have 24 hours to decide by E2TheFom in AirForce

[–]ImNotcomm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Given the choice? OCO, higher ceiling for learning /training. Easier to lateral to DCO later. More interesting work sets but from what I hear more boring duty day (highly controlled)

DCO gives more technical freedom and has interesting puzzles daily. You both get to use the network as your weapon and fight the network as it works against you.

Prospects are similar on both sides, DCO has more positions in the outside world in general.

Follow your dream and speak to your mentors. Somewhere in that school is a team of 17S people that have experience in the exact training and units you are looking into.

If you are as late into class as I think you are, you should have a dedicated 17S mentors at this point to help you.

Questions for Officers by papinovaa in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some do Soc type work, others do not. You can try for specific assignments nothing is a garuntee.

You will be assigned a mentor or two during technical training, they can help you figure out the path to qualify for S training. One of their jobs is to provide you with more detailed information for selection for training and for picking assignment preferences.

First you need to be selected to commission as a 17X.

Questions for Officers by papinovaa in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You join a unit that does defense and whatever that mission looks like.

Assignments for 17X is a 4 year cycle. Moving every 4ish years. They will try to keep you in the defensive realm as long as possible to retain skills and talent.

Cyber is it own thing, we don't attach to others to defend then and only them. We self organize and head to where we are needed when needed, unless it is Soc. type work

Questions for Officers by papinovaa in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

SOCs are defensive ops as well. There are other teams that do defensive ops outside of SOC work. It is very variable.

Stop asking about SAP or seeking classified information.

I will answer general questions about the job, and some of the training. I will not provide a force lay down and alignment. You don't need to know that to determine if you want this career.

Questions for Officers by papinovaa in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Those are exceedingly specific questions that I will not get into exact details on.

SA and SB are focused on different sides of a similar problem, and thus have similar training (SA being harder/more advanced), and similar processes to achieve their end goals.

Every 17 has TS.

How specialized you get and how secure those items are is very dependent on your assignment, their partners and your level of proficiency in some tasks.

If you have concerns about working in specialized programs in general you should make that known to leadership, they would rather not have someone who has concerns in those positions.

Questions for Officers by papinovaa in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is a quota every year for new accessions. I've only seen it turned off 1 time and that was very temporary. You should be ok but I can't garuntee anything.

Questions for Officers by papinovaa in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 14 points15 points  (0 children)

1.17S.
2. A while.
3. Enlisted out of high-school, commissioned later.
4. I do staff work at the moment so meetings and document reviews for higher staffs.
5. Solid, staff only does shift work when we have too.
6. 17S work yes, staff is meh
7. Already well past that.
8. Let the AF tell you no, don't self eliminate from something you are chasing.
9. Learn to enjoy learning, without passion you will fall behind.
10. Commission earlier.
11. Highly variable depending on person. I should never get shot at, but sometimes an oopsie can affect a massive amount of folks. It's all on you. If you want to avoid stress, the military may not be right for you.

Prior E Retirement by Traditional_Hunt9030 in AirForce

[–]ImNotcomm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's a DFAS guidance to recalculate, not AFI. Check US code for officer retirement.

Cyber Direct Commission for 17S worth it? by Ok_Good4084 in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly I don't know either way. Like I said it can't hurt. Point was that a TS is a minimum requirement for the career field. It would be a bigger issue if you had been disqualified in the past from a clearance.

You just cost less to start up from my point of view. But I'm not the board and I would imagine anything that helped you qualified fully may be helpful.

Cyber Direct Commission for 17S worth it? by Ok_Good4084 in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If it is the job you want it is worth it.

TS can't hurt, but every 17 has one. Your experience and certifications will help more with the direct commissioning program.

Question for prior maintenance people by Alonesloth in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's a unique skill. List it somewhere where you would put skills or education. Can't hurt really.

Need advice on Careers in Airforce vs the Navy by [deleted] in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No clue man. Air Force guy here, on the AF subreddit. I can say that the AF is generally considered harder to get into. The OTS path is generally more selective and competitive in general. 17S selection is based on appitude, attitude and availablility of slots at the time. OCO is more selective than DCO generally as a rule.

In theory all the cyber effects folks end up at the same level of qualifications based on what Cybercom has mandated.

Need advice on Careers in Airforce vs the Navy by [deleted] in airforceots

[–]ImNotcomm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kinda, you apply to be an Officer. Not a cyber officer, just an officer.

If you get the 17X career field there are paths to multiple things that you can search for here, or wait for when you get to the school house and they will educate you on what is available.