Tuesday, May 26, 2009

On Being An Air Force Wife... Part 3

Through my blog I get a lot of questions about what it is like being an Air Force wife. I know that my experiences are not typical, and that some other spouses have had a harder time with being married to the military, while others yet, have an easier time.

I have decided to post some parts of emails that I have sent in answer to questions that I get as a way to help others.

I know that some people may disagree with my answers, because their experience is different than mine, and that is fine.
I am just saying that this is my experience, my life and the way that I have seen things unfold in the last 14 years of being married into the Air Force.

If your experience is different then you post about it on your blog, please don't slam me for my experiences.
So without further ado here is part three:

In this segment I was asked by a friend what questions I thought she should ask when she met with her husband's Army recruiter, this is what I came up with:

If you deciede to go this route, how soon would he leave for basic? (especially important question if you are worried about his job. And word it just like that, that way the recruiter doesn't think its a done deal, because if he thinks its a done deal he will try to screw you.)

Are they going to promise him a certain career field? (Some times they say you will get such in such, and then after boot you find out they were wrong, if you can, get it in writing.)

What rank will he be when he joins?

How much money is that per month?

How much time is there between promotions typically in this career field (each career field has an average promotion time frame, don't believe the recruiter if he says he doesn't know, push him to find out. The higher the rank the more money.) And Army promotes differently than the Air Force, so that is one they definatley have to answer for you. ;)

What post most likely will be his first assignment? (If they can tell you this, promise you this, you can figure out the rest, and a lot of your concerns will be answered. ) Google is a wonderful thing. :)

Will you have to live on post or off? (Depends on the post)

If you can live off post what will the housing allowance be?

What is the seperation allowance for his rank?

Will you get seperation allowance while he is in basic?

While he is in training?

How much time will he spend "in the field", not gone persay, but training on post, and not coming home at night?

How soon after he signs up would insurance kick in?

When will you get your id card so you and the kids can be seen at Luke while he is in basic? She is in Phoenix so Luke is the closest base.

How often will you have to move? (Army is really different than AF in this reguard)

Ask about deployments in the career field that they are saying he is going to get, or the battalion that they say he is going to get. I think most battalions do 18 months at home, 12-18 gone, even now. (Air Force is definately better in that reguard.)

No comments: