Considering Air Force College Programs?
Air Force Mission
The mission of the U.S. Air Force is to fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace.
Air Force History
The U.S. Army Signal Corps formed an Aeronautical Division shortly after the Wright Brothers made their first flight. While this division initially focused on using balloons and dirigibles, in 1909 they received their first plane from the Wright Brothers and began test flying. In 1914, the Army established an Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, and several weeks later, World War I began. U.S. planes joined the Allied Forces in combat, and because they were so inferior to European air divisions, Woodrow Wilson created the Army Air Service in 1910. It became the Air Corps in 1926, and remained a small arm of the Army until World War II. At this time, the Air Corps came into its own, dominating the skies and making an Allied victory possible. In 1947, the Air Force became a full partner of the U.S. Military, along with the Army and the Navy.
Air Force Opportunities & Benefits
There are two ways civilians can join the Air Force: as Enlisted servicemen and women (for those who enter with a high school diploma) or as an Officer (for those who enter with a college degree). Both enlisted recruits and officers will go through basic training, receive full benefits (salary, medical, dental, vacation, housing stipend, food stipend), begin a career in the military, and have an opportunity to continue their education.
Notes about basic training and deployment: Enlisted Air Force recruits will go through 8.5 weeks of basic training; officers go through a 12-week program. Deployments range between 4, 6 and 12 months based on the specifics of the mission. Airmen and women can be deployed every 20 months.
Enlisted Career Opportunities
Enlisted recruits will find that there are a variety of careers to choose from, including:
- Mechanics: Serve as an aerial gunner apprentice, aerospace maintenance apprentice, aircraft hydraulic systems apprentice and much more
- Administrative: work in logistics, information management, traffic management and more
- Electronics find a job in airborne missions systems, avionics, or ground radar systems.
- General: work in one of the many other departments that makes the Air Force run, from communications to medical.
Enlisted Education Opportunities
The Air Force gives enlisted men and women a chance to advance their education in a variety of ways:
- Associate’s Degree: All enlisted Air Force servicemen and women are automatically enrolled in the Community College of the Air Force. They will earn their associate’s degree in applied science in one of five career areas —aircraft and missile maintenance, electronics and telecommunications, allied health, logistics and resources or public and support services.
- Bachelor’s Degree or Additional Schooling: For those who want to take their education to the next level, the Air Force has a variety of bills and programs to help you take off-duty classes of any kind.
Officer Career Opportunities
Anyone with a college degree can enter the Air Force as an officer. Officers serve in a variety of areas, including:
- Flight Become a pilot, air battle manager or combat systems officer
- Technical Fields perfect for scientists, civil engineers, developmental engineers and more.
- Non-technical Fields work in the field of intelligence, communications, command and control, and logistics, among others.
- Specialty Fields serve in the Air Force’s judicial or religious offices.
Officer Education Opportunities
Officers can pursue graduate level degrees at the Air Force Institute of Technology’s AFIT) Graduate School for Engineering and Management, or through AFIT’s Civilian Institutions Program, which places students in more than 400 civilian universities, research centers, hospitals, and industrial organizations throughout the United States and in several other countries. The Air Force also has a variety of bills and programs to help officers enroll in off-duty classes of any kind.
For more information and program details, visit www.airforce.com.
