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The Skid just put the last nail in his plank. Now he has to walk it.

Rags's picture

Submitted by Rags on Tue, 01/18/2011 - 11:45am

The Skid passed the drivers test this AM and now has no barriers to going in to the AF. He will be coming home from my parents tomorrow to a packed room and the unequivical message that he goes to basic training NOW if not sooner.

He walked right in to our well planned trap and now we will no longer tolerate 13yo couch potato crap from him.

}:)

Comments

JMC's picture

Submitted by JMC on Tue, 01/18/2011 - 12:12pm

I've seen alot of young men and woman go into the military and come out better people. They learn alot of respect, discipline and guidance. Prayers to your family, Rags.

Rags's picture

Submitted by Rags on Tue, 01/18/2011 - 2:22pm

Foxie,

Yes, we gave him a car for Christmas. It is the last thing we can do for him to get him out and engaging in his life.

Rags's picture

Submitted by Rags on Tue, 01/18/2011 - 2:28pm

Yes, he has been through MEPS and passed his physical, interviews and FBI background check. He swore in the the Delayed Entry Program before Christmas.

With his high AVAB score and now his DL he is qualified for the MOS that the AF wants him in. Aerospace Medical Tech. Basically an EMT for the AF. He missed the Linquistics qual test by 2pts. Not bad but not good enough.

Rags's picture

Submitted by Rags on Tue, 01/18/2011 - 2:57pm

Weav,

He chose the AF at the recommendation of my wife's youngest brother who is an E6 in the Army. My BIL spent two deployments in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. He just transferred to an Engineer unit and is prepping for another deployment to Iraq.

I was bucking for the USMC since IMHO he could use the more rigorous discipline and problem resolution focus.

He is very good and very smart kid. He just has maturity issues and has little interest in anything and almost no self motivation. He was doing very well at NMMI until his BioDad hooked him up with WOW account and stayed up all night nearly every night playing on-line with the Skid.

Since he will be covering most of college with his benefits his mom and I will help him in other ways when he is ready to buckle down and finish college.

Thanks to you and your boys for your service to our country.

Best regards,

NCMilGal's picture

Submitted by NCMilGal on Tue, 01/18/2011 - 7:14pm

Rags,

Good for you guys! It'll be good for him.

There's only two issues I have with the AF - the promotion rate and the paperwork.

OMG, the paperwork! I've been Joint Service my entire career (work with Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines) and the amount of paperwork the AF does boggles my mind. You can't even chew an airman's butt without paperwork. When I was a young buck sergeant, I could do silly things like make my troopies do pushups if they smarted off (they didn't do THAT again!) or make 'em carry around a huge clock if they were late for work. One of my friends could do a darn thing to his problem children - just had to fill out reams of paperwork - that these little punks ignore anyway.

The promotion rate... I had an AF friend sew on E7; he had 18 years in. I got selected for E7 at 9. DH got selected for E9 (only 1% of the enlisted ranks make it that far) at 18 years.

Here's hoping your boy makes some wise financial decisions. The first 5 years suck for pay, but the sharks out there will offer him easy credit terms just because he's military. If he decides to make a career of it, the paychecks get pretty nice; the government claims that I make the equivalent of $72k/year, once all the tax free and benefits are accounted for. DH's is over $90k, and once he gets promoted it'll hit six figures. Of course, that's just equivalencies; the actual cash we get is quite a bit lower.

Rags's picture

Submitted by Rags on Wed, 01/19/2011 - 11:19am

Trish,

Thanks for feedback. I have no direct experience in any of the armed services. The closest I have is from my military school experience. They don't take diabetics in any of the services though was told that if I had already been at one of the service academy’s when I was diagnosed I may have been allowed to commission. But, I will never know.

This is the first I have heard about the long promotion cycles in the AF compared to the Army.

Definitely something to he needs to consider if SS decides to make it a career.

Thanks for your service to our country. People like you make it all work.

Best regards,

majka's picture

Submitted by majka on Wed, 01/19/2011 - 11:04am

I am in the AF, and I think that this is a good decision on your SS's part. I think that this will teach him what he desperately needs to learn, and he will come out a better MAN. Or he will suffer the consequences... see, this is the beauty of the military... he is no longer allowed to play WoW all hours of the day, sleep until 3pm and accomplish nothing... they WILL enforce the rules and standards... or, he will be faced with real life discipline and this will affect the rest of his life. Good for your SS! Perhaps once the military starts to instill the good aspects of it, your relationship will improve. Crossing my fingers for you.

Majka

Rags's picture

Submitted by Rags on Wed, 01/19/2011 - 11:11am

majka,

Thanks for the feedback on the AF from the perspective of someone who is living it and thanks for your service to our country.

I am confident that the AF will be a growth experience for my son. Our relationship is actually very good. His mom and I just want him to live up to his potential and live the best life that he can.

He will figure it out eventually and much sooner in the AF than he would otherwise.

Best regards,