I’m going to Air Force BMT July 26. Signed a 6 year contract (which I wish I had signed for 4). My job will be 3D1X2 Cyber Transport Systems. I’ve been completely content and even excited to join since I made the decision. That is to say I haven’t had any regrets or second-guesses until recently. Lately I have been examining my future in the military and how it will fit in with my family life. Though I am not married, nor do I have a significant other whom of which I plan to marry any time soon, I still hold a close bond with my family members: mother, father, siblings, even close family friends. Therefore, I find it difficult to leave all of them behind me in pursuit of my own personal ambitions. If someone could explain to me in detail about how my decision to join will likely affect my relationship with my family, and where the Air Force stands on family values, that would be greatly appreciated.
To be more specific, I would like to know:
* How often I should expect to see my family back home.
* Any advice that could help me see my family more often, and ways to achieve this.
* If a loved one passes away during my time in service (or even in BMT), would any accommodations be made, so that I may attend their funeral.
* Any links that could provide more detail on the subject.
I have done a little searching on the subject, but no clear results.
I feel that in my decision to join the military I am leaving everything behind me.
6 years is a really long time and a lot could happen during that period.
So any assurance that I won’t be leaving all I’ve ever known behind me would be great.
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stalin cat wonders what it is you don’t understand about “service before self”, as he notes it is one of their core values.
stalin cat would like to let you know that yes, you are allowed emergency leave if a family member passes away.
Joining the Air Force will have a big impact on your relationship with your family. You won’t lose your relationship, but it will change. That was my biggest concern when I joined. My younger brother and I were very close, and after I left or relationship has never been as close, but it has been on a more adult level, he is ten years younger than me. But that was inevitable anyway, and was a good thing.
My Grandfather passed away while I was in bootcamp and the Red Cross notified me. I was given the option to go to the funeral, but after talking with my family I made the choice not to go. Most people in the military have families, so they understand things come up and they will do whatever they can to help. Also, you get thirty days leave per year, so you can use that to see your family, and if you encourage them to come see you, you will see them a few times a year.
On the other side, being in the military, you will become more independent, whether that’s good or bad is up to each person to decide, and you may find that you don’t need to see your family as much as you think. And you are physically leaving, but you will have phone, email, and other forms of contact with them, so I would say that, no, you aren’t leaving everything behind. You are just making a change.
I think your feelings are normal, and you will get through it, and no matter how long you are gone, when you go home your family is going to be there for you.
This is part of growing up.
Hello “ash bandit”
What are you – 19 years old? At this point in time, you have no “military future to examine.” You haven’t even started – yet. You don’t even know if you are going to pass basic training – or – graduating from the technical school of 4 or so months. And, you are not going to find any “links” on this information.
Now, the reality of military life is that you are going to be away from your hometown family for a long time. We all get 30 days leave a year. And, you don’t always get to do a full 30 days at one time. It is even best to space leaves out to do three 10 day leaves over a year.
After technical school is finished you will get a 15 day leave. You will go home and get your car and drive to your first AF base. You “must” have a car in the AF. Without a car you can go nowhere.
Now, if there comes a time when there is a death in the family you instruct your people back home that their course of action is to call the American Red Cross who has the job to verify such deaths and notify your Commander so that you can be placed on Emergency Leave to return home (at your expense) for a funeral.
Your First Sergeant is the person whom will deal with your possible emergency leave. I have placed a number of my people on emergency leave at all hours of the day, nights, weekends, holidays, whatever and arranged their return to their home town for the funeral. If you get a phone call you go see your first sergeant right away and inform him/her about the need for emergency leave. We first sergeants will work it from both “ends” and when the Red Cross verifies I have had people on their way back home in 30 minutes.
If you haven’t read your job description: read it here:http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforcee…
If you go overseas it will be for at least 24 months (single – unaccompanied tour). Married accompanied tour lengths are 36 months.
Most likely, when and if you marry, you will marry someone other than from your home town. I advise you to wait to find a wife until you make NCO status of a Staff Sergeant. It is better to be single for at least your first 4 years. But, people won’t trust me on that.
Now, there is a better way to see your family more. Have your family come to visit YOU at your base rather than you “running home” all the time. Believe me or not – after 3 days sitting at home with only your Mom’s “Honey Do” list and all your friends either working or in college or married themselves you will be BORED and itching to return to your base. Let your family come and spend a long weekend in a motel while you show them the sights and sounds around your military base. There is nothing to do at home – anymore – that you already have not experienced. But, for your family, visiting a new place in the US is an exciting experience that they would never do on their own.
Best wishes,
Larry Smith
Senior Master Sergeant, USAF (Ret.)
First Sergeant
* How often I should expect to see my family back home.
You will accumulate a total of 30 days leave over the course of a year. You will get to see your family at your BMT graduation. The first day of your graduation, you will complete the Airman’s Run, and then the receiving of the AIrman’s coin. Afterwards, your family can stay with you on the base until later that afternoon. You can go to the park, go out to eat, go to the mall, etc. The second day of graduation, you will be in the parade, then you can leave the base with your family and spend the day with them. you must report back at night. The next day, you can spend the entire day with them off base. And also on the 4th and final day, you can spend the day with them on base (if you get warrior flight, you may be granted an extra day of town pass). Then you will go to tech school. They can visit you while you are in tech school as long as they can afford to pay for a hotel, gas to get there, etc. You can stay with them on the weekends, and can see them from the time you get out of class until 9 or 10pm. They can also go to your graduation. You will get a couple weeks of leave before you go to your first duty station, in which you can go home to visit your loved ones. Sometimes, if you help out at your local recruiters office, you can stay an extra week or two (that is what my hubby is doing). After you get to your first duty station that is when you start accumulating leave. You can use the leave pretty much whenever you want, but I believe you will ofcourse have to give notice first. Like I said, 30 days per year, so a little over 4 weeks. If you get stationed overseas, I would invest in Skype so that you can web chat with them whenever you want, between visits.
* Any advice that could help me see my family more often, and ways to achieve this.
Try to save up your leave, and also, if you get stationed in the US, have them drive to see you. This way you don’t have to take leave. If you are living in the barracks (which I assume you will unless you get married between now and then and become eligible to live in base housing) you may not have room in your dorm for several people to all stay, but you can talk to someone at your base when you get there to get information about the hotels and apartments on base to see if they can rent a room for a few days. If you get stationed overseas, they can still go see you, its just much more expensive for them.
* If a loved one passes away during my time in service (or even in BMT), would any accommodations be made, so that I may attend their funeral.
Yes! If any immediate family member passes away you should be able to take leave for a few days to go home for the funeral. When my grandfather died, my uncle took about 2 weeks to come home from Arizona to North Carolina to be there when he passed away and for the funeral.
* Any links that could provide more detail on the subject.
I don’t know of any websites actually, but if you have any more specific questions feel free to ask.
My husband is active duty airforce. He also signed a 6 year contract, mainly so he could be ranked up to E3 and get more pay. He seems pretty happy with his choice. Our first duty station will be Kadena, Japan. So it is going to be a little stressful not seeing our families often for the next 3 years, especially since we have a 19 month old daughter, but just try to think on the bright side if that happens to you. You have an amazing opportunity to not only serve your country, but to see the world and all it has to offer. It will be hard I’m sure, but you will get use to it, and I’m sure they will as well. It will get easier with time and your family will be so proud of you! Good luck hun and again, if you have any more questions feel free to ask.
Don’t make the mistake of signing for 6 years like I did. You can still change your contract to 4 years when you to go to MEPS for the last time before you ship out. The AF liaison will ask you again whether or not you want to sign for 4 or 6 years. I was stupid and got suckered in to signing for 6 by multiple people. If you are entering as an E-3 there is absolutely no point in signing for 6.
In regards to seeing your family, you won’t get to see them that much. You’ll see them at your BMT graduation, and you also get to take leave after tech school. When you get to your first duty station, you see them when you decide to take leave or if they come visit you. Thats it, unless you get stationed near your hometown. I’ve been in the AF for 9 months, and I’ve seen my family a total of three times:
BMT graduation (2 days)
Christmas exodus (12 days)
Leave after finishing tech school (5 days)
In BMT you’ll be pretty homesick, I know I was. But eventually you get used to being on your own.