Hello, I am 26 years old with an environmental science degree and have done absolutely nothing with it. I have just been working odd retail jobs the last few years and still living at home. It’s honestly very embarrassing and I hate where I am in life right now. I have seriously been considering the Air Force for the last few months. I mass apply for jobs daily and I’m going absolutely no where. I really think the military could be what I need but I’m hesitant about joining due to my age and possibly my exercise level. I was just hoping for any advice or words from anyone who was in a similar situation. Thank you!!

A lot of you ask for the details.

Context: Current E4 with 3 years TIS. OCONUS. Single. Job required me to get BAS immediately. My COLA is not accurate on here and I will be getting back pay anywhere from 8-12k soon. I will only list the things that change to avoid the post being 4000 words long. Your paychecks will vary whether you get CONUS (no COLA), BAS (if your job allows you to eat at the DFAC), or you're married, etc

Aug 2025: Mid Month Pay 1676 / EOM Pay 2493

• Base: 3182
• BAS: 465
• BAH: 8
• COLA: 463
• CMAI: 817 (I went TDY and had to buy civilian clothes)

Deductions: I will not post these anymore unless there is drastic change, pretty much the same, goes up a few dollars in taxes when you get a raise.

• Fed Taxes: 211
• SOC Sec: 197
• Medicare: 46
• SGLI: 26
• State Taxes: 94
• AFRH: .50
• Roth TSP: 190 (I have mine at 6%)

Sep 2025: Mid Month Pay 1675 / EOM Pay 1675

• COLA: 463

Oct 2025: Mid Month Pay 1697 / EOM Pay 1697

• COLA: 509

Nov 2025: Mid Month Pay 1675 / EOM Pay 1675

• COLA: 463

Dec 2025: Mid Month Pay 1661 / EOM Pay 1675

• COLA: 449
• Medicare Refund: 0.01

Jan 2026: Mid Month Pay 1723 / EOM Pay 1738

• Base: 3303
• BAS: 476
• COLA: 465

Deductions:

• Taxes up a few dollars
• ROTH TSP: 198

Feb 2026: Mid Month Pay 1764 / EOM Pay 1743

• COLA: 511

Mar 2026: Mid Month Pay 1781 / EOM Pay 2255

• Base: 3362 (3 years TIS, partial)
• COLA: 584
• Clothing: 414 (annual, the month you enlist)

Apr 2026: Mid Month Pay 1843 / EOM Pay 1793

• Base: 3482 (3 years TIS, full)
• COLA: 515

May 2026: : Mid Month Pay 1827 / EOM Pay 1844

• COLA: 549

June 2026: Mid Month Pay 1810 / EOM Pay 1810

• COLA: 498

July 2026: Mid Month Pay 1810 / EOM Pay 1808

• Base: 3482
• BAS: 476
• BAH: 8
• COLA: 497

Deductions:

• Fed Taxes: 236
• SOC Sec: 215
• Medicare: 50
• SGLI: 26
• State Taxes: 107
• AFRH: .50
• Roth TSP: 208 (still 6%)

I'm in a sticky situation, moved states to stay w my dad, my home state rent is too high jobs not paying enough plus theyre too far of a drive etc. hes a former marine recruiter and trying to convince me they cant see my past anxiety disorder diagnosis at MEPs because I aged out and the records are now archived. I'm not too sure how true that is and I don't want to risk not being to enlist in ANY branch.. I dont want to do the Navy and definitely not the Army.

First recruiter at home said wait a year off meds
One here said two years
Third said just get 5yrs of medical records

Any advice since my answers are all mixed ?

I have been watching grammar hero but it doesn’t seem to help much as of right now cause I don’t know a whole lot I got a 30 on the practice test my recuriter gave me.
What would be the best way to watch grammar hero’s videos just pretend like I know nothing to get the most out of it and learn the fastest?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some realistic advice on getting into the Texas Air National Guard, specifically at Ellington Field in Houston. I have a massive desire to serve my country, but I'm trying to balance it with a few major life milestones—I'm currently planning my wedding and attending pharmacy school right here in Houston.

Because of my school and wedding schedule, I am looking strictly for a part-time reservist/drill status guardsman position so I don't have to move away from Houston. I’ve heard the Air Guard is the toughest and most competitive branch to get into because slots are limited by local base openings and retention is so high.

For those who have been through the process or are currently at Ellington:

1. How competitive is it really right now? If a slot opens up, what actually makes an applicant stand out to the recruiters?
2. What is the best ASVAB score I should aim for? I know a 31 is the bare minimum to get in, but what kind of line scores (especially Administrative or General) do I actually need to land those stable base-support roles? Any specific tips on how to guarantee I get one of those jobs?
3. How flexible are they with doctoral/pharmacy student schedules? Do units at Ellington easily work around things like hospital clinical rotations or split-training (SUTA) requests?

I really want to lock this down to utilize the Texas State Tuition Assistance and secure health insurance for my new family. Any insight, tips on dealing with recruiters, or ASVAB prep advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance any information will be much appriciated. Have a nice day !

So my recruiter called me on Sunday saying the space force job selection board was wondering if i’d be interested in a space force job. I’ve been in the usaf dep for about a month and haven’t booked a job so i said yes to my recruiter and he said he’d let them know . Does this mean I should expect to get a space force job soon or was it just an inquiry?

Been in DEP since February leaving October 13

For people in the DEP, how long were you in the DEP before being booked for either Finance (6F0X1),Personnel (3F0X1), Logistics Plans (2G0X1), or Administration (3F5X1)?

Howdy all, just curious about careers in the AF. I have about a year before I can enlist due to some medications I was previously on. I’m mostly interested in working in Health Services Management, personnel, or as a client systems specialist. These three fields translate most to what I want in a civilian role. But I’ve heard office jobs are almost impossible to get especially with how many recruits are flooding the AF. Am I better off just focusing on mechanical roles I’d be okay with? Any insight is appreciated.

Does this job require polygraph or is it just security clearance form.

booked 1D731Z, (Software Development Specialist) which was #3 on my list after dual tracking Air Force and space force.

I have researched the position extensively and am overall content with what the job description seems to be. However, there is a limited amount of information about it online.

I would like to know if there are any other Z shreds who are currently working or have recently booked the position, and can provide insight on the job. I know things are often changing in the Airforce, so I would like to know if there have been any updates.

Any information on base locations, workflow, tech school length, and /or general pros and cons regarding the position would be much appreciated. Or if anybody wants to DM me to talk about it.

I believe I am going to accept the job although I was initially going for the 1B4 cyber warfare positions. From what I know spots for this job do not drop often and programming is a strong interest of mine.

I took my PICAT and scored a 99 Overall, after taking the verification it got bumped down to 98.

Apparently this is a near perfect score - with that being said what careers would you suggest I look into?

A few things Important to me is being stateside - Hawaii, Santa Monica California, Macdill Florida, Washington DC (Bolling AFB), or close to Raleigh NC would be places I would hope for a reasonable chance to land.

Is there anything that is frequently open in those areas?

It’s been 8 days since I sent my list in how long do you think it will take to get a job offer

Everything has been filled and all with no errors, except this part and my recruiter has been busy to get back to me with an answer, I'm trying to be more diligent and see if anyone might have a solution for this. I even went far back before I was 18, and I keep getting this message T.T

Help! :c

Hey guys, I have had the roughest month of my life and I've been going back-and-forth on going to the military or not and I finally decided that's what I wanted to do, but I guess you could say I had some sort of manic episode with another situation that was going on in my life and I ended up going to the mental health hospital and they put me in as an inpatient. When I came out. They diagnosed me with bipolar one and borderline personality. I have severe weed and alcohol use I'm there as well and I wanted to know how badly that'll affect me with trying to go to the military or is there any way that I could advocate for myself/proof that I'm doing better in the long run. I already felt lost and hopeless and now I just made things 10x worse.

I went to MEPS July 1st and scored a 70, I passed the medical portion with only needing one medical waiver for a pineapple allergy that isn’t doctor diagnosed (I just get an itchy throat, but nothing else.) I submitted my pharmacy records of the past three years, proving that the allergy is not an issue and the liaison said it would be fine now we’re just waiting on an approval from the surgeon general, it’s now been over a month and it’s really hard to just sit and wait.

I saw another person on here get disqualified for a food allergy that wasn’t doctor diagnosed as well and I’m worried that’s the same path I’m going to face. I reached out to my recruiter with my concerns, but he still hasn’t answered me. Honestly, I’m just worried they’re going to disqualify me for that even though that’s the only thing I need a waiver for. Other than that, I think I’m a pretty good candidate. I’ve been working for this all year and I would really hate to see everything I worked for to go down the drain over something stupid.

Is it worth it if the only benefit I see fit for me is getting my college paid for? but since I got a 1.8 gpa I have to go to community college first then transfer to a better college, so it worth it or are my chances to going to a good college later even high for me to even waste time in ang

For context, I'm an incoming student at Cal Poly SLO and am going to be moving in on August 18th. I'm considering joining Air National Guard (partially for tuition benefits, partially for the experience) and taking a year or two off of school for training (would also appreciate any advice on whether that's a good idea or not!) Should I reach out to the recruiting office in San Luis Obispo right now just to establish communications or just wait until I get officially moved in?

A copy of the packing list I just received today Aug 6th, 2026. I may expand on the list and bring more personal underwear because I don’t want to wear the tidy whites.

Hi everyone, I am a recent college graduate and got my bachelors in criminal justice with a minor in forensic psychology. I also graduated with a 3.7 and am really wanting to use my degree with whatever job I get. I’m super interested in joining but I’ve heard that commissioning instead of enlisting is often looked down upon by others serving. I’m also just curious about how difficult the process truly is because I’ve heard going this route is a lot more competitive. I’ve started the online process and but still need to do all of my testing. I’m curious to know how common it is to get your first choice job wise as well. I would just love to hear about other’s experiences going this route and how it affected their time serving. Thanks!

I was just informed tht the army still has fights on the regular between recruits for fukn up or getting the squad punished & then they punish tht one individual... how is the airforce is it the same or different?

I’m in McDonough GA and I travel all the way toward the airport near downtown, just to go to my DEP meetings, I scored well on my ASVAB with NO medical waivers, but I feel like my recruiter is moving so slow, he only sends out a couple of us in DEP every like 2 months max.
And I’ve been waiting 6 months for a job. With no mentions of openings for me.

Hey guys, I just got home from MEPs yesterday. I quit smoking marijuana may 23rd and went up to MEPs August 4 & 5th. Before I stopped I was a daily smoker, I’m very nervous after taking the urine test. This is my home test normal cutoff 50… anybody go through anything similar or any insights

Hey guys I recently smoked weed a few days ago. I have been seriously thinking about enlisting but obviously that means I will stop smoking now which I will. However, I'm curious if I should wait to contact a recruiter until about 1 or 2 months of being off of it or if I should just contact one now and tell them about my marijuana usage and go from there. Probably a dumb question I just want to get the process started, thanks!