USAF Security Forces

[undergrounddlz]

Would this be a good choice of decision for someone joining the USAF?

Anyone know anything about pros/cons?

Anything



What do they do?

[p6867]

You have a huge chance of being sent to the middle of no where to protect nuclear silos. My buddy kslay did it for a year and hated it enough to break his contract. It is apparently the most mind numbing job in the armed forces.

[undergrounddlz]

Hmm thats unfortunate. There does not appear to be a member by that name on Zoklet.

Any way I could speak with him?

[Rolf]

Rolf has been told and read that USAF Security Forces are similar to British RAF Regiment in role, though less focused on infantry combat, states Rolf. Friend of Rolf who move to Britain long time ago joined RAF Regiment and has said that his biggest regret was not joining British Army, adds Rolf. Supposedly highest suicide rates in US Armed Forces come from USAF Security Forces, it sounds quite depressing as military trade, but if one joins USAF as Security Forces be proud of it - every part of the well-oiled machine has it's job to do, states Rolf.

[Michael Scott]

6 months on, 6 months off. Don't plan on having a family

[undergrounddlz]

Kinda sucks when 90% of the shit people say about it is negative.. Well its either SF and actually knowing my date for basic, or waiting god knows how much longer for a different job thats actually in my trade-realm.

[Rolf]

It is better to wait for something one will enjoy than to rush into job one will find depressing - especially when contract is involved, states Rolf. If you enjoy the idea of being security guard for facilities well worth the protection, then join, but if one is choosing SF simply because there is no other choice for some months then do not, adds Rolf.

[undergrounddlz]

Rolf, for someone who refers to themselves in third person with vigorous redundancy, you make a lot of damn sense. I believe the purpose of so is to be much a display of your wisdom.

Ultimately I wouldn't mind the gig, just so long as I could still pursue my true passion, computer science.

As far as family. I've never really been a relationship kinda guy.

[Jive Talka]

"Rolf is the only Rolf, all pretenders are not Rolf. Rolf is brilliance, therefore Rolf is inside all of you, yet none of you are Rolf."

Suspiciously true.

[p6867]

Originally Posted by undergrounddlz

Hmm thats unfortunate. There does not appear to be a member by that name on Zoklet.

Any way I could speak with him?

Sorry he's an IRL friend that does not post on here. That is a nickname, not sure why i included that. I mean, i've heard him bitch about it enough that i could probably answer a lot of questions about it.

[Rolf]

From memory Xip was in the USAF as Security Forces guy, maybe he has something to say, notes Rolf.

[reject]

I thought Xip was a pencil pusher?

[Rolf]

Originally Posted by reject

I thought Xip was a pencil pusher?

Rolf was going to say "exactly", but Security Forces seems depressing enough as it is, notes Rolf.

[p6867]

Well played sir^

[undergrounddlz]

Well its not like I can go to my TSgt and be like waaa I don't wanna do SF anymore because I've heard a bunch of bad shit about it. Yes guys; I'm that balls deep into it.

For me it might not be such a bad deal considering where I'm at. I've never been independent, I'm 22 and have always lived with my parents. With the military I saw it as something that would really help kinda get me out there and I've basically been awaiting the time for it, and the time is now.

I've liked every job I've ever had, about five of them. The only jobs I've ever had that I straight up quit was Pizza Hut and door to door salesman. Pizza Hut was just because the manager quite saw fit to defame peoples characters behind their backs (I need to be more social..?), I'm here to work and have a job not be buddy-buddy with you if its not within my behavioral patterns. Door to door requires no explanation.

Maybe ill see if I can get in contact with this Xip dude.

Problem is I don't know what the fuck to expect.

[xippilli]

STOP!!

STOP NOW!!

Okay, rememeber this, TATTOO IT ON YOU IF YOU HAVE TO::

You DO NOT LIKE NUKES.
You're AFRAID of nukes.
Nuclear missiles and nuclear war are against your morals or religious views.
Nukes scare the shit out of you and you won't go anywhere near them.

Then say it again.
And again.

Then stay as far away as this acronym as you possibly can:

P R P

(Personnel Reliability Program)

I learned this the hard way. Trust me, you don't want to go down that road. Your career will end as fast as it began.

[gnosise]

I created an account just to advise you.

Don't. Fucking. Do it.

I joined the AF for the usual slew of reasons: steady check, education, "some discipline might dew yer gewd, boyah", health insurance for me and the female with whom it was getting real. This last reason was pressing because of her worsening medical condition, so after I aced the ASVAB I went into my recruiter's office to annotate for the record in my own handwriting, "I will take the first job that is available for which I am qualified, [signed]." (I was to later exclaim at basic training, "what do you MEAN, you signed an 'open general' contract?!") I get a call a couple of months later: wanna be a cop? Can't be all bad, right?

Wrong. Shit sucks. It's dull, the hours are interminable, your superiors are always out to eat you alive, and it made me believe in anarchism from the pit of my soul: I get an up-front view of how society falls flat on its face when ignorant, power-crazed, piggledy meatheads are the front-line supervisors. (Fortunately, Security Forces don't see as much law enforcement at most bases as they used to.) If you're bad at the job, you're incessantly reminded that it doesn't get much simpler as far as AF jobs go. Pigshit: the detailed procedures for everything, the pressure of constant public visibility, and the hearty "hoo-yah!" enthusiasm of the SNCO and commissioned fucks who now own your ass (remember: the excitement of authority will never conquer the misery of never accomplishing anything important) add up to the second highest suicide rate in the Air Force, after medical. I am currently at a Middle East base which is cushy for just about everyone else (except maybe aircraft maintainers), where I among a select dozen E-3s through E-5s got reamed in the ass just yesterday for violating the "three drinks per 24 hours" rule in a manner that many other, more fortunate individuals do and will continue to do with impunity. (It would have helped had I even been properly informed of the rule beforehand. A common reaction we saw in the flight office from passersby was, "they're punishing folks for that now?") When leadership needs a scapegoat, grab a handful of cops. Hell, grab two.

If you end up doing it anyway, follow the advice above and stay the HELL away from PRP. I myself dodged that one (even though I didn't know any better yet) by having confessed my "six to ten times" to the recruiter. I can honestly say that smoking weed was a superb choice in regards to career development.

Some people really dig this job. I suspect they have masochistic complexes. Get a real job, man. The second most fulfilling part of my job, right after getting away with sleeping on post, is plotting my escape.

[gnosise]

I created an account just to advise you.

Don't. Fucking. Do it.

I joined the AF for the usual slew of reasons: steady check, education, health insurance for me and the female with whom it was getting real. This last reason was pressing because of her worsening medical condition, so after I aced the ASVAB I went into my recruiter's office to annotate for the record in my own handwriting, "I will take the first job that is available for which I am qualified, [signed]." (I was to later exclaim at basic training, "what do you MEAN, you signed an 'open general' contract?!") I get a call a couple of months later: wanna be a cop? Can't be all bad, right?

Wrong. Shit sucks. It's dull, the hours are interminable, your superiors are always out to eat you alive, and it made me believe in anarchism from the pit of my soul: I get an up-front view of how society falls flat on its face when ignorant, power-crazed, piggledy meatheads are the front-line supervisors. (Fortunately, Security Forces don't see as much law enforcement at most bases as they used to.) If you're bad at the job, you're incessantly reminded that it doesn't get much simpler as far as AF jobs go. Pigshit: the detailed procedures for everything, the pressure of constant public visibility, and the hearty "hoo-yah!" enthusiasm of the SNCO and commissioned fucks who now own your ass (remember: the excitement of authority will never conquer the misery of never accomplishing anything important) add up to the second highest suicide rate in the Air Force, after medical. I am currently at a base in the Middle East which is cushy for just about everyone else (except maybe aircraft maintainers), where I among a select dozen E-3s through E-5s got reamed in the ass just yesterday for violating the "three drinks per 24 hours" rule in a manner that many other, more fortunate individuals do and will continue to do with impunity. (It would have helped had I even been properly informed of the rule beforehand. A common reaction we saw in the flight office from passersby was, "they're punishing folks for that now?") When leadership needs a scapegoat, grab a handful of cops. Hell, grab two.

Some people really dig this job. I suspect they have masochistic complexes. Get a real job, man. The second most fulfilling part of my job, right after getting away with sleeping on post, is plotting my escape.

[undergrounddlz]

Wow bro damn. I really appreciate you making an account just to give me your experience. Unfortunately I was unable to get into any other job, my inquiry lead to about 3 AF guys giving me the feel good about SF. I'm leaving for basic training on the 16th (yup 2 days). For me, I kind of just have to look at the big picture as to why I'm going into the AF. Never been independent, free education, travel, benefits ya know all the same reasons as you. At least SF get a pretty good say in where they would like to go since they're needed at every base. I want to go over-seas. I wanna do something more than just another boring ass job here sitting in a cubical with superiors very similar to the ones you describe in the military, my last boss never hesitated to openly call me a fucking idiot in front of everyone, defaming anyone in the department for the smallest of things (plus a degree just isn't really enough anymore to get where I want to be). I need something different.

I've heard SF get deployed. If you check this thread before I'm gone I would like to know if you've ever been deployed and what it was you did and where you went.

As far as my recruiters know, I've smoked pot approximately 10 times in 2008. However I've known about the PRP for a while now thanks to xip.

Absolute worst case scenario, its only four years. Not the most comforting of thoughts but you know worst case..

[gnosise]

Originally Posted by undergrounddlz

At least SF get a pretty good say in where they would like to go since they're needed at every base. I want to go over-seas.

At first, only if you're very lucky. Very few get sent to their base of choice; I did, so I'm only a couple of hours from home when I return from deployment. For just that reason I'm not entirely regretful of my job choice. That said, if you want to go abroad as in anywhere, you've got great odds. Do a tour in Korea and you've got a guaranteed base of preference on your next permanent change of station (PCS).

I wanna do something more than just another boring ass job here sitting in a cubical with superiors very similar to the ones you describe in the military, my last boss never hesitated to openly call me a fucking idiot in front of everyone, defaming anyone in the department for the smallest of things

While there are certainly cool NCOs and shitty ones (I'm posted with one of the shittier ones tonight... ugh), that kind of verbal abuse doesn't fly in the military. One of the great things about the service is that everyone is held accountable to many other people according to the chain of commmand—and if that fails, the Inspector General. Standards for professional conduct are taken very seriously for and by cops.

(plus a degree just isn't really enough anymore to get where I want to be). I need something different.

I said pretty much the same thing [self-disgusted sigh]. Now I can't wait to get back to school. Who knows, though, you might really be cut out for it.

I've heard SF get deployed. If you check this thread before I'm gone I would like to know if you've ever been deployed and what it was you did and where you went.

Security Forces do indeed get sent a lot (except for PRP - another reason to avoid it); the standard until just recently was six months on deployment/six months at home duty station. I'm told that the AF is trying to return this to the pre-9/11 mode of five months deployed, then a good year or so at home; they cut down my current six-month assignment to five just before I left. I'm in Qatar, center of operations in the Middle East, widely regarded as an R&R spot; the job here involves no combat-oriented adventures but a lot of minding one's p's and q's for the big-shot senior leadership working here. The cop squadron in particular loves serving up disciplinary paperwork hot, fresh and aplenty. The role of deployed SF in general tends a lot less toward outside-the-wire work than it did a few years ago; if you really want to get your hands dirty with high-speed tactical work, there are options, but you're better off trying to retrain into some special ops field when that door opens.

Absolute worst case scenario, its only four years. Not the most comforting of thoughts but you know worst case..

Two years makes a big difference, trust me. If you end up getting along with this job as poorly as I do you'll find yourself ing at the six-year suckers like me... aside from that, the retraining window I talked about opens up earlier for one on a four-year contract. Make no mistake, though: they will spare no effort to try to talk you into six when you go back to MEPS. You've been warned.

[gnosise]

Tips for basic training:

-Go to the store now and pick up some badass insoles. You have a lot of marching (okay, walking) and prolonged standing ahead, and that pavement is mean.
-When they ask who played instruments in high school when you get there, they're selecting the band flight. Raise your hand if you want to take the extra duty of practicing your instrument on top of everything else.
-The food is better than you expect. Shame you won't get much time to taste it. Volunteer for KP (kitchen patrol) when you can. It sure beats your usual day of training.
-Keep a low profile. Taking charge and volunteering for everything can get you appointed to an official leadership role, earning a point or two toward that overhyped honor grad ribbon, but that's about it for benefits. The chief consequence of busting your ass for brownie points is that you fall harder when you inevitably make a bad judgment call somewhere.
-When that screw-up happens and you're in what seems like deep shit, don't take it too seriously. "Training is where your mistakes are made," and few things are likely to follow you out of BMT. The TI is paid to chew you out harshly and forget about it.
-Have fun. This is cake compared to what the other branches do. You're going to make friends with everyone on your flight and have a good weekend in San Antonio at the end of your two months.

Tips for SF tech school:

-Sleep when you can.
-Don't go crazy with "freedom."
-Watch the hell out.

[undergrounddlz]

This is great. This thread has been a huge help to me and anyone else that is wondering about SF. The only way to find out the real deal is to talk with people that have lived it and Zoklet has em.

Leaving tomorrow for basic, ill be sure to grab the insoles (great to know).

You're not necessarily a sucker for signing up for the 6 year, I know about the E3 agreement you get as well as some additional supposed managerial training later on or so that's what I've heard. I decided to get my AAS before talking to any recruiters so I'm getting E3 with 4 year term. That's all I really wanna make a commitment too especially considering all the info I've learned, it might be my thing and it might not, I wont know until I've tried.

And now I wont be heard of for a couple months. Much luck to you and your ventures gnosise.

[undergrounddlz]

Aight so...

Basic training had a lot of shitty moments. For sure.

Had a really good weekend with my family. Actually have more of a connection with them now and they're proud of me.

Tech school. So far we've been sitting here for a week "SAT week." I got "washed back" to a less full team because my mustache was not within regulation. Fucking room mate said we could rock a stash, it exceeded the corners of my mouth, didn't know my general orders too well, except the 3rd one that is. The first team was way over-filled so I'm sure more people are getting knocked out. Another dude was knocked out with me because his hair was too long.

Pros:
This team moves to nicer dorms this Friday.
Another week to BS and chill.
Bought study material from a downstairs EC for a pack of swiss rolls and $2.35 so I can study up on blocks 1-3 before our team gets to start up next week.
Someone told me we may get the next phase of freedom sooner since we've been waiting. Who knows.

Cons:
Wont get done as fast.
Feel like a dirt bag.

[High School Janitor]

WTF Your in basic (or air force equivalent) and your getting internet access? Damn man thats nice. All i got was 16 weeks of drill sergeatns trying to give me a goddmaned heart attack.
As far as th job goes I dont know too much about it but ive pulled my fair share of security in Afghanistan. ECP guard, tower guard shit like that. No fun, 12 hours on, 12 hours off of sitting there waiting for shit to pop off. Gets to your head after a few months.

[p6867]

Tech school in the airforce isn't like OSUT in the army. OSUT was just 19 weeks of boredom.

[High School Janitor]

True that, if the drills weren't up your ass, it was sit in your bays and look out the windows and wonder where you went wrong. Then look like your cleaning something if you hear footsteps.

[undergrounddlz]

Originally Posted by High School Janitor

WTF Your in basic (or air force equivalent) and your getting internet access? Damn man thats nice. All i got was 16 weeks of drill sergeatns trying to give me a goddmaned heart attack.
As far as th job goes I dont know too much about it but ive pulled my fair share of security in Afghanistan. ECP guard, tower guard shit like that. No fun, 12 hours on, 12 hours off of sitting there waiting for shit to pop off. Gets to your head after a few months.

Well I'm already done with basic. In tech school you get a little more freedom, at first its kind of overwhelming like wow I can do that.. That sounds like a damn nightmare, and I thought 8 1/2 weeks of living in terror of TI's was shitty enough.

Shit sounds like it could really suck too, talked to a lot of grads out here as far as tech school it is what you make it. I imagine a lot of people get shit gigs, some people get better ones, it just depends.

Unfortunately I didn't hear a pair those foot-steps today.

Not all sucks and its quite the upgrade from basic. Good food. Gyms on base and free weekends; going to take boxing. Actually not too bummed about this week.

[HotelKilo47]

Avoid the 343 hop.