PARENTS

As a parent, you want your children to have choices about their future career path. The Air Force offers a variety of careers that coincide with their interests and natural talents. Choose a career field below to learn about Air Force career opportunities.

Enlisted Careers

If your child is currently a junior or senior in high school or has recently graduated, there are many opportunities waiting in the Air Force. We offer careers in mechanics, administration or electronics. If none of these specific areas are of interest to your child, the Air Force has a multitude of other opportunities in the general careers section.

Learn more about enlisted careers.

Learn more about enlisted scholarship and educational opportunities.

Officer Careers

There are many ways your son or daughter will get important leadership experience and a fulfilling job as an officer in the Air Force. Keep in mind that while a flight career sounds appealing to many, the Air Force also offers extraordinary opportunities in technical, scientific and specialty areas as well. Officer careers have some preliminary requirements, which include having a college degree.

Learn more about officer careers.

Learn more about officer scholarship and educational opportunities.

Healthcare Careers

If your son or daughter displays a natural affinity for helping others, the Air Force has openings for healthcare professionals in all specialties: general physician, nursing, dentistry, hospital administration and biomedical sciences. Working together as a team, healthcare professionals focus on patient care and work with the latest technology in state-of-the-art facilities.

Learn more about healthcare careers.

Learn more about healthcare scholarship and educational opportunities.

As a member of the Air Force, your child will receive great benefits regardless of the career path.

Salary

All Air Force members receive regular pay increases based on their rank and duration of time-in-service. They also receive a yearly cost-of-living increase, a yearly clothing allowance, a monthly food allowance, and will be eligible for tax-free housing. If your son or daughter becomes a healthcare professional, they may receive special incentive pay, substantial annual bonuses, as well as continued educational opportunities.

Healthcare

The Air Force offers great healthcare benefits at competitive insurance rates. As an Air Force member, your child will receive comprehensive medical and dental care, and receive full pay and allowances for any sick days needed. If your son or daughter has a spouse or children of their own, they too may receive medical care at military or civilian facilities for little or no cost.

Retirement

Air Force members are eligible for retirement after 20 years of service — one of the earliest retirements in any field! Another great thing about our retirement plan is that it doesn’t require payroll deductions from a person’s salary while on active duty.

Housing Allowance

Enlisted Airmen live in dormitories located on base. If they’re married, they have the option to live in on-base housing/apartments; their living expenses (including utilities and maintenance) are covered by the Air Force. If they decide to live off base, they receive a monthly tax-free housing allowance based on their rank and geographic location.

Food Allowances

The Air Force will give your child a food allowance. Single enlisted Airmen are eligible to receive “Rations in Kind” meal accounts allowing them to eat as many as four meals a day for free in the on-base dining facility, which provides a nice variety of “home-cooked” meals, as well as fast food options. Regardless of career path, your child will also be able to shop at the tax-free on-base grocery and department stores.

Whether your child is right out of high school or has completed college or postgraduate studies, there are many opportunities to help expand his/her skills and knowledge with unique programs tailored to his/her specific career path. In addition, the Air Force offers numerous tuition assistance plans.

Enlisted Education

The education Air Force members receive goes far beyond career training. Our goal is to provide members with programs that will help them reach their goals and tap into their ultimate potential.

Community College of the Air Force

Those who enlist in the Air Force are automatically enrolled in the Community College of the Air Force, America's largest community college. They can choose from five areas of specialty to work toward their associate's degree.

Financial Programs

Airmen can also receive financial aid through the Air Force Tuition Assistance program, the Montgomery GI Bill and the College Loan Repayment Program. The Air Force ROTC program is another way your child can earn partial or full scholarships during high school or college. Other options include the Airman Education and Commissioning Program (AECP), Scholarship for Outstanding Airman to ROTC (SOAR), Professional Officers Course-Early Release Program (POC-ERP) and the Airmen Scholarship and Commissioning Program (ASCP).

Technical Training

After your child completes Air Force Basic Training, he/she will be enrolled in technical school where he/she will learn in more detail about his/her chosen area of study from highly skilled instructors.

Learn more about enlisted education opportunities.

As a member of the U.S. Air Force, your son or daughter will have more opportunities than he/she ever thought possible! As an Airman, your child will have access to more than just a wonderful career; his/her quality of life will be excellent due to our outstanding base amenities, living quarters, travel opportunities and recreational activities.

Life on Base

Each Air Force base is a self-contained "minicity" created specifically for its citizens. With amenities like tax-free shopping and refreshing pools to relax by, your child will probably spend more time on base than originally thought. Interested in paying your son or daughter a visit? The Air Force also offers on-base lodging where parents and friends can stay for a nominal fee.

Learn more about Air Force bases with the BASE LOCATOR.

Travel

One of the best opportunities of joining the Air Force is the chance your son or daughter will have to travel and really take advantage of seeing new and exciting parts of the world! Your child will have 30 days of vacation with pay, which is far more vacation than most civilian jobs offer! Your child can also take advantage of available space on Air Force aircraft, which fly to exotic locations around the world and within the United States.

Camaraderie

We understand how hard it is to say goodbye to your son or daughter and send him/her off to parts unknown, but keep in mind that when he/she leaves home, he/she is being welcomed into a much larger family with support and understanding that are truly second to none.

Basic Military Training

Your son or daughter's journey to become an Airman begins in Basic Training. Recruits work extremely hard and are pushed to realize their full potential, but our support is unwavering throughout the entire eight-and-a-half-week period.

Learn more about enlisted Basic Training.

Officer Training

If your child enters the Air Force as an officer, training is just as rigorous but spans over 12 weeks. During this intensive training period, your son or daughter will learn to lead the men and women of the United States Air Force.

Typical schedule

5:20-6:20 a.m.: Begin the day with physical conditioning: calisthenics, stretching and running.
6:30-7:15 a.m.: breakfast
7:15-11:00 a.m.: Hone your skills in drill practice, firing range or parade practice or learn the value of teamwork on the LRC (leadership reaction course).
11:00 a.m.-12 noon: lunch
12:00-5:30 p.m.: Broaden your horizons. Classes include writing strategies, principles of war, USAF history: WWII, leadership and management case studies and more.
5:30-6:30 p.m.: dinner
After dinner: Prepare for the coming day. Clean your uniform, attend flight meetings or study.

Learn more about Officer Training.

Commissioned Officer Training

JAGs, chaplains and healthcare professionals attend Commissioned Officer Training, where they spend four weeks learning the ways of the military and military healthcare. They participate in physical conditioning three times a week, training, financial seminars and classroom studies designed to accommodate typical schedules.

Typical schedule

5:15-6:00 a.m.: Three days per week, you'll begin the day with physical conditioning.
6:30-7:15 a.m.: breakfast
7:15-11:00 a.m.: Get acquainted with military life with classes covering military law, dress and grooming, etc.
12:00 noon-1:30 p.m.: lunch
Afternoon: Learn about the Air Force in classes such as air and space functions, pay, allowance and leave and motivation.
5:30-6:30 p.m.: dinner
Evenings: Prepare for the coming day by studying, cleaning your uniform or organizing your dorm room.

Learn more about Commissioned Officer Training.

The Air Force understands your need to know when and if your child can be deployed as a member of the military. The deployment structure recently changed to respond to the increasing number of contingencies and maintain a sense of predictability and enhance the readiness of all military branches.

As of September 15, 2004, the length of Air Force deployment has been changed. It ranges to four, six or 12 months depending on the Airman's specific job, location and mission requirements. And there is a possibility of being deployed every 20 months. This new structure was designed to achieve more predictability in deployments.

In an effort to help ease the stress of deployments, the Air Force offers a free online service that lets your Airman communicate with friends or family in the Air Force. Through Friends and Family Instant Messenger (AFIM), extended family and friends can stay in touch with Airmen from virtually anywhere in the world. AFIM can be accessed through the Air Force portal and requires you to be sponsored by a friend or family member with an active account.

Many parents have concerns about their children being away for an extended period of time. We understand that and know how important it is to keep in touch with loved ones.

During BMT

While in BMT, your son or daughter may need encouragement. He/she will have opportunities to phone home as well as receive mail from family and friends. For a complete list of BMT squadron addresses, please visit BMT Squadron Addresses.

After BMT

The Air Force Friends and Family Instant Messaging (AFIM) service is a great way to stay connected with your son or daughter after graduation from BMT. To get started, follow these steps:

• Step 1
  Tell your Airman about the program if he/she is unfamiliar with it.
• Step 2
  Ask your Airman to enroll you in the program (you cannot register on your own). AFIM can be accessed through the Air Force portal.

No matter where your child is stationed after Basic Training, there's always some form of communication available (phone, e-mail, AFIM, etc.), not to mention 30 days of vacation with pay each year and depending on location, an opportunity to fly on an Air Force aircraft to come home for a visit.