Is there any leadership training in the Air Force? What are the advantages of the Air Force?
I’ve tried the Navy already. It sucked. There was no leadership training, and the Navy boot camp sucked!
What are the advantages of U.S. Air Force? Please point them out honestly.
What don’t you like in the Air Force? (I hope the answerers are people in the Air Force or people who used to be in the Air Force.) Please tell me the truth extremely honestly.
Torstein, thanks to be the first to answer right after my question came up. You mean no specific training formally was given to you or any of your group-mates (in Navy, we called shipmates… don’t know what is called in the Air Force, Airplane-mates? =]) Why did you have nightmates? About the Air Force?
Torstein, what are the 55 major civilian corps? But the time frame you had been in USAF is 1967-71? Can anyone answer me how the living condition given by the Air Force is ?
What if I will not join USAF as an enlisted member because I want to join USAF via ROTC?
They have ALS Airman Leadership School, which is open to anyone E-4 and above.
November 15th, 2011 at 2:32 am
Too often stripes don’t come with management training, that brings up lots of nightmares for me. Especially in the 55 major civilian corps I spent 40 years in. I can’t say whether the AF is better, that’s the only branch I’ve been in. But I’ve heard from 100s of sources that all living conditions are better there.
References :
USAF 1967-71.
November 15th, 2011 at 3:08 am
They have ALS Airman Leadership School, which is open to anyone E-4 and above.
References :
Former USAF/Current USCG
November 15th, 2011 at 3:34 am
sure. mandatory PME courses for rank advancement i.e. ALS, NCO Academy, SNCO Academy
Advantages: CCAF degree program, all your courses throughout will be accredited to it…well, most. then again, it’s only an advantage if you pursue it. some don’t finish it up with the required courses for credits to complete it.
what i don’t like? well, depends on your specific AFSC. everybody’s experience is different with the nature of the job, duty location, etc.
i find it boring, feels more like a 9-5 job than anything else.
References :
ad af service member
November 15th, 2011 at 4:04 am
Since Torstein was in, the entire Air Force Professional Military Education system was created and implemented. To make E-5, you MUST have ALS – Airman’s Leadership School. To make E-6, you MUST have the NCO Academy. To make E-8 (and it’s coming down to E-7), you MUST have the Senior NCO Academy. And, finally, to make E-9, you MUST have the Chief’s Leadership Course.
That’s almost six months of training that you have to have that specifically deals with leadership and management.
Regarding your amplifying info, Boot Camp is SUPPOSED to suck – that’s its purpose!! We have to take snot-nosed civilians and turn them into military members that can and WILL follow orders. This can’t be accomplished by being nice.
The Air Force has to suck up to their pilot corps – which means that they spend a LOT of money on amenities. Their bases are the best in the military, and they have MANY more programs to support their dependents than the other branches. Barracks are MUCH better, and the treatment of their people is WAY above what the other services get.
Of course, this comes with a down side as well.
Many (not all!!) members of the Air Force have a civilian corporate mentality – and I’ve seen near riots break out when the bosses said that a particular shop had to work 15 minutes later than their normal 8-4 job hours. A "deployment" to many of them is an overnight trip to Florida or Texas… and their actual Middle East deployments are usually 120-180 days, with very few getting sent there for a full year… where the other services are sent for at LEAST that long. There are many Senior NCO’s that have NEVER held a weapon in their hands – they didn’t have to qualify in BMT and they have never deployed or held a position that required it. There is a LOT of political correctness in the USAF, where they don’t want to offend anyone… which leaves a lot of passive aggressive folks just dropping hints as to what needs to be accomplished. The other services aren’t like that.
The "55 major civilian corp[orations]" that Torstein talked about were the 55 businesses that he had experience with after he got out of the military.
Brian Raini
References :
I recently retired after a long career in the military – and I taught at the USAF Senior NCO Academy for a couple of years.