Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am kind of in limbo about a very important decision. The AF is reducing its manning once again and my career field is in that reduction area. If you are wondering what I do well in a nut shell I do telephone maintanence(sp). I would have to pay back my remaining year of my bonus ($500). I am going to put out my resume to test the water. What do you guys/ladies think?

 

well from a guy who served once myself, anytime you can get out with a skill is a good thing. Lets face it, my infantry skills dont bear much weight in corperate positions unless I went into the mercanary fields.

I know that local telephone coops normally have pretty decent pay. At least in SD I know they are making about 30-35 a year, and for South Dakota thats pretty damn good. You have to realize that my mortgage on a 3 bdr house is only $640 a month.

 

is that after taxes? i pay $800/mo for a 2/1 apt.

 

Yes that includes taxes. Insurance is something like $240 a year for my house too. Then again I dont get to ride about 4 months out of the year which I am not sure is worth it.

 

Apartments cost more than a mortgage... at least most of the time they do. You're paying for someone else to deal with all the head aches of owning the property.

I just separated from the Navy about 9 months ago. Never once regretted it. The military/navy wasn't bad for me, just too much time away from the family and my wife and I wanted to start a family (meaning kids).

In my opinion, the retirement offered by the military isn't worth the hassle, I mean they had to offer the TSPfor a reason. Then you will be in your 40's trying to start a new career competing with a fresh bunch of college age kids willing to do the job for half of what you will.

The only thing I can say is... if you get out have a REAL plan. Not I plan on going to school and looking for a job. Have the school behind you and tons of resumes out there. That's what I did and it's working great for me. I now work for a division of Tyco or Tyco Fire and Security... depends on who you talk to (Tyco freaking owns everything)... anyways working for SimplexGrinnell as a tech to repair fire alarm and security systems (ADT is our sister company that does the residential side of things, we do business and commercial properties). Just have a plan is all I'm saying. Oh yeah... and make damn sure you have your DD-214 in hand before you leave, I took terminal leave and had to fight to get mine over about 5 months. Without your DD-214, you're worse off than someone with dishonorable discharge.... you're nothing.

 

i can get a $125,000 house and pay a $600/mo mortgage, although there is an additional $500/mo for taxes. so its like $1100/mo. i am just waiting to buy a house cause this is ridiculous....ive given my apts over $30,000 and i have nothing to show for it. sucks ***!

sorry for the thread jack.

 

When my ex-wife got out of the AF, all the medical training she did, didn't translate into the "real world". I would think, however, you have a great advantage having been in the military. I think it shows a potential employer you have discipline...provided you have an honorable discharge, of course. I remember when I was going to try to take the test to work at the post office, ex-military got spotted a few extra points (maybe it was vets). You may think about something like that, too. Public servant (State, Federal) is a descent gig with benefits and retirement. Just a thought. Good luck.

 

Yeah, I just saw the newest force shaping message yesterday. Personally, I think we're screwing ourselves again by giving early out options, because we're going to need more folks in the long run for our world-wide policing campaigns. Happened in '92, '96, and '01 then we had to "plus up" in the Recruiting field to bring more folks in. Terrible brain drain on middle and upper management.

But on to your situation. I have a credo I live by....when it's not fun anymore, then it's best to leave. I have to say my 19 years in the "war" have been fun, and that includes good times and bad, because when all's said and done, I wouldn't trade the experiences for all the money in the world. I hope your experiences have been rewarding to you in some form or other.

I agree with Don in that it's a good idea to have a plan BEFORE you get out. The most common is "I'll go to school when I get out." Don't fall into that trap. As a member of the AF, you're automatically enrolled in the Community College of the Air Force and those credits are transferrable to other collegiate institutions. Take advantage of the 100% tuition assistance, and the one-time $9,000 certification funds (you can only use $4,500 per fiscal year and you can't take classes (TA) and certification at the same time, so choose wisely). In short, try and get something under your belt to enhance skills already learned in your AF career field.

I hope you decide to stay though....we always need good people to keep our AF strong. I don't agree with Don in that a military retirement isn't worth the hassle; if you're in it for the money, then yeah...it's not worth the hassle...either to you or the folks that you work for/work for you. I've been lucky...like I said...life's been good to me so far (Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good To Me So Far" is my theme song ). Other than that, a quick calculation of my estimated retirement check after taxes comes to $2,800 per month....not much, butmore than enough to cover my $900, 3 bedroom/two bath/rumpus room (yeah), large yard w/detached garage mortgage payment. I have a house in Los Angeles and I bought it or $80,000 back in '99...way before this crazy housing boom. Added on the rumpus room and I'm working on making the garage a private home for my truck and motorcycle. Last valued at $325K, but the bad part is my property taxes went from $900 to $2,500 per year.

P.S. Get on some job mailing lists. I'm on Raytheon's and they're always sending me job matches. I interviewed for a management IT job last year when I thought I'd be retiring in Oct '07, but I made rank and I'm in until Jan '09. Starting pay with my MBAwould have been$80K with the opportunity to go to $90K after a bit. While in Baghdad, I got offered a help desk job w/TAMSCO starting at $100K. Lots of opportunities out there, you just have to be able to market your abilities effectively. Employers love
ex-military folks, so you should have no problems getting a job....but I hope you decide to stay.

 

If you are wondering what I do for the AF, telephone maintanence(sp).

 

Well here is my $0.02 former military/Navy.
The experience you bring to the table on the outside is very valuable. My experiences are thatformer military experience is held in high regard in the workforce.
I agree with stephygee that maywant to recoinsider staying.Especially now, beacuse the military needsthebest and those who are strong willedin these difficult times. I separated in'93. Would have re-upped butI could not get the orders I wanted. (Shore duty in Japan) There were also cut backs. Deffinatly have a solid plan if you do get out (with a DD-214). Also, consider homeownership rather than renting, in the long termit might be more advantageous for you. Same debate as buying or leasing a car, find out what work best for your situation and what is available to you.Take advantage of everything you have entitled to you for joining in the first place.

GOOD LUCK!!!