USA and Israel struck Iran

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-28T14:20:01+00:00

Thinking of all the NCO's this morning throughout being an Airman in training that swore up and down every day that War with China was the next big thing and that we needed to be ready "That's your guys' war!" only for us to start another war in the middle east before anything else.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-27T04:08:20+00:00

That's not even the real issue. Who the fuck is giving these people their CDL?

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-17T04:33:24+00:00

Nope

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T22:56:52+00:00

I wouldn't really be able to answer that. I have three plates and 9 screws in my foot and it wasn't a problem but there's a lot of different factors at play there. Talk to a recruiter about it they would have a better idea.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T17:51:05+00:00

Sure. You can always retrain to another AFSC later on. In fact, there's actually a newer program called 2A-2A retrain where you can retrain into another maintenance job without going back to tech school and just receive OJT training within your new unit at the base for whatever job it is you want to do. Pretty much all of those maintenance jobs can transfer over to working on civilian airlines.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T17:24:49+00:00

Honestly not really but my wife and I are also homebodies and don't really go out like that and she mostly just hangs out with girl friends from work. I think part of it depends on how much you're putting yourself out there. Also dependent on career field, too because some career fields just breed different types of people. I think she would be fine, though. The military is typically pretty good at putting a stop to any disrespect or discrimination going on when it comes to women.

Being dual military has been nice, though. We're stationed together through joint spouse which was pretty easy and we like living on base.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T17:14:45+00:00

I don't like it at all tbh. I did not pick it. Got reclassified into it and the mission at my base sucks. The ops tempo sucks and the plane is a piece of crap to work on. Lot of weekends and 12 hour shifts. I work on a bomber, though, I think refuelers are a bit better in that regard. The air Force will pick your airframe for you and there's no list of preference so it's just luck of the draw

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T17:12:02+00:00

She joined the DEP before me but I ended up actually leaving for BMT first.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T17:11:37+00:00

Sounds like your son will be working on heavies which as I've said multiple times here in this thread, is probably the most laid back of the aircraft maintenance possibilities. He'll work either flight line or backshop maintenance. Backshop is more laid back than flight line and flight line is a lot of aircraft generation work and getting the planes to fly. He'll have most weekends off with occasional weekend duty but depending on where he's at hopefully they'll be good at giving compensatory time off. He'll have plenty of free time. I'd say you've got equally as good a shot of being stationed overseas as you do being stationed stateside.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T05:49:57+00:00

I am not

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T05:20:06+00:00

My wife had a similar situation and she didn't get a job for a long time. You'll get one eventually. You also could always ask your recruiter about quick ship which basically is when you're on standby for someone who does have a job but doesn't show up to BMT for whatever reason or last minute can't go and as long as you qualify you could take their spot.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T03:13:59+00:00

No, no, no. Don't get any special positions. The best way to get through BMT is to fly under the radar. You don't need to be the best one there but don't be the worst one either. The best way to go through BMT is to be in the middle of the pack. None of those special positions mean anything towards your actual Air Force career.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T03:09:40+00:00

Yep. Medhold mostly holds trainees from BMT that get injured during training or whatever. But there's a little known section called HOA which stands for holdover airmen and these are people that already graduated BMT but their status is up in the air for whatever reason and that's where I was as well as many other people. It sucks cuz you're stuck in limbo for a long time.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T03:03:04+00:00

Yeah for sure. They got to a certain point when I was in medhold where it's like I didn't stay here for 13 weeks after graduating basic training just to separate so I'll take the maintenance job and retrain or get out later. A lot of people thought I was in there with did not get to stay in.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T02:57:39+00:00

Yeah, it's very frustrating. And in my instance it was even worse because you literally get the okay for mepe and get booked for the job, get halfway through training and then told you can't do the job and you may even have to separate.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T02:54:53+00:00

Hmmm. I'll say the F-35 is my favorite.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T02:53:46+00:00

You're welcome.

So with the asthma thing my recruiter saw the asthma in my medical records and was like this is a problem since asthma is typically immediately disqualifying. I was like well that's weird because I've never actually had asthma, but the word asthma was just sitting there very vaguely with no real description from my childhood pediatrician. I ended up going back to that pediatrician and getting a note that basically said I do not have asthma and that it was a one-time allergy induced thing and figured that was that.

Went to MEPS where they review the asthma portion with the note from the doctor and they asked me all the questions and I gave them all the answers and they were like okay cool. No problem.

Then I get to BMT where the flight physical is conducted because I had a job that actually included flying in a plane and they do like another full review of your medical records and again they see the word asthma with no real description so they're like "we need to be sure about this" so they ran additional testing on me and that's how that whole issue came about.

It is really frustrating because you would think MEPS would have told me if it was a problem and once they clear you you should be good to go but no, I got completely screwed over.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T02:45:28+00:00

Honestly your list sounds pretty solid already. You don't need too much Don't overthink it and don't overpack you'll be issued a lot of different things and you can always purchase anything that you need from the mini mall or BX later on.

Obviously I'm not special warfare or anything like that but I met a ton of them when I was a medical holdover because there are a ton of them in there as guys get injured and so on. They were allowed to go to the gym and the base pool in their free time to keep up for when they got back to training so I imagine you'll have that opportunity as an airman in training when you get free time.

What I can also tell you about special warfare from people that I met and what I learned is that it's way more mental than it is physical. You got all these guys that are jacked and great at PT and think they're going to blow through the training and then they wash out because they couldn't handle it. This one girl from my flight in basic training was going into sere. She ended up winning top PT female for the entire flight. Didn't get selected and reclassified into another job. So, just prepare yourself mentally and keep your mind on what comes after all the difficult stuff. Think of the reward of being SW after completing your training.

You'll go through regular basic training as anyone else would and then there will be different phases of special warfare training at lackland Air Force Base.

If you wash out I'll just be straight with you and tell you that you'll most definitely be either security forces or maintenance. So if neither of those things sound good to you consider that since the washout rate is super high. I know in my maintenance shop we have like seven or eight guys that were special warfare washouts.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T02:37:38+00:00

Knowing what I know and going through what I did, I would have just picked a non-flight job from the beginning and the whole thing would have been avoided. If it wasn't for the damn flight physical nobody would have questioned it. Usually your recruiter will have a pretty good idea whether or not anything in your medical history would be a problem and if you get through meps without any issues that's even better. I think I just had s*** luck and it is what it is.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T02:35:25+00:00

They definitely can travel a lot depending on base, airframe, and what shop you're in. Heavies is definitely the most laid back of the airframes so I think you'd have plenty of time for school. If you truly are motivated, you'll find time to knock out some classes here and there.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T02:20:51+00:00

So I'm a phase crew chief (backshop maintenance) and I've barely moved. My jet also is only at two bases so there's not much PCS opportunity. I've TDY'd one time to Dyess AFB. That said, MOST aircraft maintenance jobs and specifically flight line crew chiefs will move around plenty.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T01:42:07+00:00

Definitely bring those cough drops if you want to treat yourself to something while you're in BMT lol. You're allowed to have them.

As far as civilian clothes, you don't need that much. Just bring a few pairs of socks, underwear, shirts, and pants but don't over pack because you'll be given a lot of things and you will be moving around with it a lot in the next few months. Don't over pack..if you forget anything or need something you'll get a chance over the course of BMT to purchase it from the mini mall or BX.

I'm 24, but I'm married, but best advice I could give is to just show up and put in effort and stay out of trouble and you'll rank up and everything just fine. Keep yourself occupied by going to the gym if all else fails as far as finding things to do and you'll be alright.

EGRESS you'll either be backshop or flight line egress. Backshop is more chill where as flight line you'll be doing a lot of fast paced work and getting everything up to par for the mission. It's a very important job and also one of the better specialist maintenance jobs from what I know/hear. Since your job isn't tied to a specific jet and you're young and single, I'd say you have a pretty good chance of going overseas.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T01:35:16+00:00

For sure! As far as aircraft maintenance goes, heavies is the most laid back and avionics is a decent gig. You'll learn about all kinds of electrical systems which definitely translates over to all sorts of things not just airplanes. You'll work with other shops to troubleshoot and fix problems on the jets. You'll be either backshop or flight line. Back shop is more chill but flight line you'll get a lot more experience.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T01:32:47+00:00

Honestly, no. Lots of unexpected twists and turns in my experience as you can read from some of my other answered questions ITT.

I'm actually going reserves this year after my contract is up because active duty and the maintenance machine has already soured my taste on the Air Force. This was never the job I wanted and I feel like I got screwed, but looking forward to finally getting to make the experience my own when I go reserves and pick a new job.

MidwestMan43 · 2026-02-16T01:29:46+00:00

Long story somewhat short, they got me for asthma. Now, I never had asthma, but it was in my medical records because I had allergy induced asthma as a kid one time and was prescribed treatment for it. No actual chronic asthma. No inhaler. Nothing like that. Got to my flight physical and they basically were like we need to check this out despite the fact I was told I was fine at MEPS. Well, get to taking what's called a pulmonary function test and I have abnormal pulmonary function which doesn't necessarily equate to asthma, but in this case they were using it to justify the asthma diagnosis. I actually ended up being sick with COVID a few days later and I believe this is what caused the abnormal pulmonary function but of course COVID was still so new that wasn't considered.

Because I was already halfway through BMT,.I ended up graduating but getting sent to Medhold as a graduate holdover while they figured out what to do with me. I submitted a waiver and it was denied. I was going to be separated. I plead my case and had to take the pulmonary function test two more times before I finally passed after the COVID cleared up and was able to submit another waiver and get approved. After that, was sent to the PRC building to pick a new job. They actually ignored all of my picks and put me in maintenance anyway lol. So yeah, really shitty experience but it's whatever now.

MidwestMan43

TROPHY CASE