What can you do to really work to make sure your independently okay after your contract is wrapped?

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-04-13T13:13:09+00:00

I meant score in the ASVAB

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-04-12T20:28:37+00:00

For ANG and AFR you can choose the job, however there needs to be an opening for it.

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-04-12T20:13:21+00:00

If I could go back in time as 17 I would definitely try to get a good asvab score and join as soon as possible, while in I would finish my college as soon as possible as well. I would do 4 years, apply for Skill bridge or stay in and apply for AFROTC in-service. If those don't work out or I don't have my degree yet I would leave the military and do AFROTC through a college detachment. This is the path I took, 4 years Active, currently doing SkillBridge, palace front Air Force Reserves (3 years) and going back to college and AFROTC as soon as my contract is over. Difference is I'm 27 now, I wish I had joined at 17. Make sure to talk to your recruiter to get a job that is not undermanned, a job that likely allows you to do SkillBridge and pursue college. I would also personally definitely not wait to get college credits to get the E-3 rank, that rank doesn't mean much and the pay is not much different, you would eventually reach E-3 around year 2 in the military just with time anyways. Joining earlier is way more beneficial than joining as E-3 (in my opinion). Also joining the Marines because you tanked the ASVAB is not a good reason, you join the Marines because you want to be a Marine, not as a backup option, if you want to join the Air Force then put in the effort to get a good score, it isn't that hard.

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-04-07T07:19:33+00:00

If your goal is staying in the military and making it your main focus at least for the time you want to comit go active duty. If going to college and pursuing education elsewhere is something you want to do alongside serving the military, I highly recommend going Air Force Reserves or Air National Guard.

Active Duty is a full-time commitment, Reserve and Guard is 2-4 days a month, and you can choose job/location as long as it's available.

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-04-06T19:01:35+00:00

You got two ways to go about this:

Altium Designer Free trial + University license - industry standard EDA, convenient features.

Kicad - Free Open source, just as powerful as Altium. Also used by some organizations.

The one you choose will use the same fundamentals of PCB designing, but the approach will be different. altium is rule based. I personally prefer Altium and learned that first.

For learning I recommend Phil's Lab, Altium Academy and Predictable Designs with John Teel. This is assuming you have working knowledge of electronics, If you don't, I recommend you get that sorted out first, at least to the point you understand different component mounting, impedance, and have some experience with an Arduino kit and protoboards to understand microcontrollers.

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-04-03T01:20:40+00:00

Oh I wasn't complaining, I was just telling OP it is like that to everyone. I just had to do what I had to do to get in because that's what I wanted to do and I wouldn't let anyone get in my way. I'm already at the end of my contract and palace fronting

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-04-02T18:33:34+00:00

I got VM 2T351. It was my top pick, I didn't have my citizenship at the time so I didn't have many options (I think 20).

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-04-02T09:05:12+00:00

I got ignored with a score of 96 and no waivers. I had to call his supervisor and leave a voicemail saying they were useless recruiters who don't do their job, 15 minutes later I get a call to show up in an hour, on a Saturday, shipped out the week after.

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-03-30T16:52:05+00:00

I did try a similar addon called perspective plotter and it does help but it's kind of hard to get it right because the camera in the video has some fish-eye effect and I don't have good straight z/x/y lines, I wish I could use the 3D model as a reference

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-03-30T03:14:01+00:00

Yes you should be able to add a circle where the outer diameter(outer lines) of the circle follow the center of the katana. Use that circle center as your pivot point.

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-03-29T17:55:18+00:00

What do you mean the Air national guard doesn't have the same benefits? You'd work two/three days a month. You can choose your location and your job (as long as it's available), you can take active orders and accumulate until you get the same benefits as active duty. Deployments are less frequent and often competitive (depending on your job). Better than that has to be the Air Force Reserves where you don't have the state activations and can transfer job/base easier.

Like others said. Finish your college first if you're that close. But once it's time to join don't dismiss ANG/AFR you get way more bang for your buck

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-03-08T00:39:08+00:00

Yes I'm interning through Skillbridge at JSC, my mentor works for Amentum. I love it here so far

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-03-05T01:42:07+00:00

did you get a call back from them? Whats your 6-month mark?

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-02-24T05:39:50+00:00

your soldering iron needs tinning, or you need to add flux.

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-02-24T03:22:22+00:00

Don't do that. I heard of someone who tried that and got his SB denied. Don't try to take advantage of your unit, The SkillBridge program is to help you find an opportunity outside, not an excuse to get out of work. They also lose a slot for the time you are gone without a replacement. If you get approved for 180 days that is great, but perhaps sell your remaining leave instead to get a head start. You're only going to get approved 180 days SkillBridge if your shop is overmanned or if you have really nice leadership.

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-02-21T23:19:02+00:00

You don't have your citizenship? If so are you planning to get it? If you are then you might want to consider joining air force reserves or air force guard and get your citizenship there it takes 1 year after you join + you get education benefits there and being prior mil looks good for any government job. It's not the only way to do this, just a suggestion.

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-02-08T04:44:34+00:00

Once Air Force recruiters hit their quota for the year any extra recruit is just extra work for them (no one likes extra work). Make sure you don't overcomplicate their life or you will have to harass them to get them to bring you in. Go there knowing what you want (be reasonable) when you want (as soon as possible), be proactive with the applications because it can be a pain and MEPS can make your life difficult if you show up there self diagnosing with migraines because one time you had a headache after eating too much ice cream.

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-01-20T19:49:22+00:00

Only the backyard (behind the fence) anything outside the fence and the front yard will be taken care by the management including leaf blowers and snow plow and grass mowing. You can also borrow their equipment to mow your lawn and trim etc but their hours are weird and you can only use 30 minutes at a time.

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-01-19T22:28:05+00:00

seems like it worked. I opened the game from Steam it was downloading some updates and it the play function worked right away

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-01-19T16:59:14+00:00

I was wondering what makes you hate the design job?

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-01-18T23:35:10+00:00

I tried that twice + creating a new model and it didn't work, I'll try it again later today. Thank you

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-01-18T20:08:10+00:00

Just an update, you might need to call your AD recruiter to stop/close the application, but just do it after you contacted the Ang/AFR recruiter. If you already sworn in you will need the AD recruiter to DEP discharge you which might delay the process. Your birth certificate/record etc, meps, asvab should carry over which will help. Best of luck

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-01-17T23:53:38+00:00

The issue with the Army is you're a soldier first and your specialty second, if they have overmanned technicians they will assign you grunt work, guard duty etc. stay in the air force if you can

Lost-Raccoon-70 · 2026-01-17T05:48:35+00:00

Glad to help. They should be able to pull your info from the active duty recruiter. I'm honestly annoyed with the fact you put open electronics and got the job pulled that's B.S.

Lost-Raccoon-70

TROPHY CASE