How long does it really take to enlist into the Air Force?

As an ex-military guy, 4 years in the Air Force, I can say that the armed forces are, as a whole, a completely different outfit. Civilian ideas and standards and assumptions cannot be assumed the same in nature as in the armed forces.

Even their laws fall under the code of military justice, not civilian justice, which is called the UCMJ -- Uniformed Code of Military Justice: that is, when one becomes an active-duty person of any of the 5 branches of the armed forces, he or she becomes a Government Issue, a G.I. That is, he or she becomes the property of the U.S. Government.

Thus when their quotas and ratios are being met and not strained to recruit suitable men and women, they can place greater requirements on prospective recruits -- they can be more selective.

If your son's weight is the only bar, then he needs nothing to be concerned about really: that is not an insurmountable restriction at all and is rather common in this country nowadays. And the nation's medical authorities now put greater scrutiny on health for the sake of the prospective recruits like your son -- it is for his protection.

Let me say this -- the military takes care of its own!

I will say it is best that one be in as good a shape as he or she can before going into the armed forces and not assume that these outfits will get your son into shape physically -- which they will -- as much as develop sobriety emotionally and mentally in terms of your son's outlook on life, which in the military is most important !

The military is a whole other life and is not to be trifled with in any naive manner. However, it 'can' demonstrate a sweet life as a trade off.

It is good that you do allow your son the freedom to make his choices while he is still not an adult [ if he is still legally a child ].

In any case, whether he be a child or adult, you can ferret out this information that bothers you, directly by contacting the Department of Defense and, for your son's sake, specifically the Department of the Air Force.

Don't do internet or any of this expedient stuff as your sole reliance, for your son's life and career is too important to relegate such important information to some willy nilly information found on the internet.

Civilians or more correct, American citizens, have tremendous power. You can oblige that branch of the armed services in which you are interested to give you a response in 'writing.' Sometimes one of the aides of your Congressman/woman will call you directly. This is true.

Your answers are best corroborated by wielding the authority of your U.S. Representative or U.S. Senator in Congress to act on your behalf -- whose powers are simply off the charts and who can make or break the career of any military person or authority.

Go to that representative's local office in your city. All of these individuals have an office in their voting district as well as their head office in Congress in Washington, D.C.

They have to respond to you. These inquiries from the constituency -- people such as yourself -- are called "Congressionals."

A defense (civilian) official or a Congressman/woman can marshall the forces to provide you with the Truth.

Recruiters are not required to give detailed information quite as you might like -- not that they are lying but rather, this is not their mission. Their respective branch has been mandated by Congress to ensure that the military is kept strong and manned, and so the recruiter is the one who must carry this out. He would defeat that mission if he gave all the focus addressing all the details of the nation's defense objectives.

Certain restrictions 'have' been dropped while others have been raised.

Even more direct is to contact the Armed Forces Defense Committees in the U.S. House of Representatives or the corresponding committee in the U.S. Senate. They can override their own guidelines with comparable impunity...

A recruiter cannot do this...

These U.S. representatives are voted into their positions first by the public, of course -- that's you and me -- then they are assigned through Congressional protocol into their ranking positions: the military 'has' to respond to them -- or else !

Take nothing for granted -- when you have a question on your son's prospective, then do what you can to pursue and obtain the answer. It can be done.

Things in the military today are ever changing, however, especially amid the weft and warp regarding the Iraqi War. The military is undergoing, say, a holding pattern anyway, for the troops may begin pulling out within a half year or less. The requirements will change still again if not before, so the recruiters are constantly getting briefed on new directives coming in on changes all the time.

So, what the recruiters told your son may be due in part to something only they know that is rated 'official' [somewhat guarded] or 'confidential,' which classification means certain information is not to be given over to anyone in the civilian population out of hand.

That is why is best to go to Congress for the answers: they can get it for you -- and are required to by Federal Law under the U.S. Constitution to provide it.

Actually 3 months sounds fast.

I was in DEP for 4 months before i went to basic.

The Air Force is not one of the other services, the AF does things it's own way.

The Air Force is in the process of downsizing 30,000 people right now, so they just don't have the demand for new enlistee's that the other services have.

Also, the Air Force turns away 5 people or more, for everyone they enlist.

Thats why the three month wait, the people going to basic now and for the next 2 months, all enlisted 3 months ago.

Three months will give your son, time to get into better shape, he should be running, doing pushups and situps.

EDIT:

As to why the AF is downsizing right now.

Congress determines the size of each branch of the military.

Congress determined that the Air Force should have fewer people and the Army should have more people.

Also, the Air Force has reorganized how it sets it's units up.

It used to be, if the Air Force deployed, you had some people from SAC (bombers), some fram TAC ( fighters), some from MAC( transport) , they were all stationed at different bases around the US.

Now the AF combined everyone into deployable units. So the whole unit deploys together and has all the needed skills for the deployment.

This has meant that many skills that were duplicated at every Air Force base, are no longer needed, or they don't need as many people doing the same job.

There's a big difference in the living conditions between the Air Force and the Marines. My only exposure to the Air Force was in Okinawa when I transited through there when I was coming and going back and forth to Vietnam. Even when I was a corporal (E-4) when you got to go on liberty call you had to be back on base by 12 midnight (they called it CINDERELLA LIBERTY). The guys in the Air Force only had to be accountable for their time when they were scheduled to work. Typically in the Marine Corps you will live in a squad bay with 80 other Marines stacked up in bunk beds. In the Air force , even below the rank of Noncoms they slept 4 to a room with regular beds. I couldn't get into the Air Force because I'm color blind but I wanted to be a Marine even when I was a kid because of family tradition. The best thing you can do before enlisting in the Marine Corps is get on a regimen of daily physical exercise. Recons are physically and mentally tougher than the average person, you would have to be very successful as a grunt and apply for Recon.

Here is the deal. The reason it takes 3 or 4 months to leave for Basic Training is because the Air Force matches you with a slot in technical school, not Basic Training. That is why other branches can send you to basic, because they can have you waiting around for months and moths for your school to start. As far as the weight goes, he has to be at or below standards before he can even do his physical. He can also get a Body Fat Measurement if he is 20% or below he will also qualify. It is is not that the Air Force isn't anxious to recruit people, but as recruiters we have to follow the standards. It is also normal for a Mom to be nervous, but be happy he wants the Air Force. He will have the best quality of life

From experience.. I was in DEP for 9 full months before I shipped out for Basic. I signed up in April 04, and did not ship out until January 05. You can go faster than this obviously, but I wanted a guaranteed job before I sign the contract. I didnt want to go in open anything and get stuck with a job I didn't want. Since they only take so many recruits per career field per week.. it can take a while to get in.

You have to be within standards to ship off to Basic. And he will get put into remedial PT (special PT program where you work out twice a day instead of just once) when he arrives regardless of if he's in his weight requirements if he is struggling to pass his PT tests.

One: all applicants must meet weight standards BEFORE shipping out.

Two: The AF is not hurting for bodies and therefore is not in desperate need to get people in training ASAP.

Three: WHEN anyone ships is directly related to when their follow on school begins. they schedule projected completion of Basic training to coincide with the beginning of their follow on school with as little lag time in between as possible. My Step son, for instance, actually signed up in April, but since he didn't graduate HS until June, the next slot open for his A school is in late November.

So, he needs to lose the weight. If he still wants to go ASAP after meeting standards, have him look into the Army, they are sending people in as little as a week.

The AF has no problems getting enough enlistees, so in their case, they're not "anxious to get healthy young men". As for the weight, there is a specific limit for enlistment that recruits have to meet before they can go to basic.

The timing...basic training can only accept so many recruits at a time.

Here are the USAF entry weight charts, if you're interested: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforcejoin/a/afma...

The first answer on here is the correct answer. Be proud of your son, and thanks for letting him make up his own mind and backing him up on his decision.

we are in a war right now ? how can you be anxious to enlist your son ? send your son to college. he needs an education and to be prepared for the future. he does not need to take a chance on coming back less one of his legs or in a casket.

it looks like more people are trying to get into the navy and air force. that's because fewer of the body bags are filled with naval and air force personnel in iraq.