Portable Folding Hammock

Hello A. Jacobs,

No. There is nothing wrong with you. People who make fun of the Air Force are just jealous or plain ignorant about what we do in the Air Force.

First off: there are terms that I "hate" to see used and thrown about. I don’t know how the term "chair force" got started unless ignorant people think that all we do is sit around on swivel chairs all day!

Or Air Farce? Is there any other Air Force in the world better than ours? Sure the Army, Navy, and Marines have their own smaller versions of an air force. But, those are close support requirements within their service. And, I do respect the Navy pilots who must fly off and back on to carrier decks. That, is a skill that is most envious by even our own Air Force pilots!

But, you can also make fun with name calling about the Army and Marines calling them "grunts" and "dog faces" etc. How about calling the Navy "swab jockeys?" Does every sailor have a mop and bucket and swab the decks of their ships? I don’t think so.

But the WORST degrading term that I detest is when children of all our military forces refer to themselves as "Army Brats" "Air Force Brats" "Navy Brats" "Marine Brats" etc.

STOP THIS CHILDREN OF MINE!

Military dependent children do not behave like "brats." For the most part they were better behaved in public schools than the local civilian population surrounding the military base the military children’s parents served at. My own two sons would never fit the description of being an unruly "brat." Today, they are grown men of ages 40 and 33 and they are employed in their jobs and careers and have fine families of their own. They are not now nor were they ever "Brats."

Now: For you to decide is this: EACH service has its own philosophy. You have to mesh with one of them to decide if you are compatible with that service. Then, that will be the service you are most likely to join and support and help remain the best of the world.

IF you like ships and want to sail on them "all" the time; say 4 – 6 months out of a year, then join the Navy.

If you are an out-of-doors type person and like a more rugged lifestyle then join the Army.

If you wish to support the Air Force’s mission to "Fly – Fight – and Win" then join the Air Force. But remember this: you will NOT be hanging around airplanes all day long. Only about 5% of our 450,000 members every get a job that is directly associated with an airplane. The rest of us support those planes from behind the scenes on our bases. A plane doesn’t just fly all by itself. If the Supply Man doesn’t bring you the parts your plane sits on the ground. And, the rest of the AF jobs all are like that.

If you are a single man, as fit as Superman in your strength and resolve, if you only want to move about the world being the first in combat and the last to leave, if you are focused on a combat mission that only knows one outcome: TO WIN and never retreat; then join the Marines. Our Marines command the highest respect of all the services. To be a Marine is to be a Marine forever. And, even I, could not qualify for this honor.

Don’t forget the Coast Guard. It is difficult to get into the Coast Guard because they have much fewer numbers of personnel. But, if you want to be out on a boat every day rescuing people in distress or interdicting drug smugglers, terrorists, and illegals, then, maybe the Coast Guard is for you.

Air Force "Intelligence" jobs require that you be able to obtain a Top Secret military clearance. Not everybody can get this. The investigators, F.B.I. and other "agencies" will come and talk with your school teachers, principals, neighbors down the street, bosses you had at work, your own family and relatives, the police agencies, the Courts, your banks and financial affairs and many other groups that we can only guess at. And, only then, if your background is squeaky clean will we take a chance on you for such a clearance. After training you will work in rooms that have locks on the doors and can only be entered by talking to someone on the telephone by the door or if you have a combination code to enter. You can never talk with anybody about your work – not even your wife or your family or best friend or your dog!

Because what you know, if you compromise your "intelligence" could bring "GRAVE DAMAGE" to the United States and all our citizens.

NOW – is this something to make fun of by being in the Air Force?

I don’t think so.

Go visit all the recruiters and learn about the 5 branches of the service.

But, remember this about them all:

"The NEEDS of the Service come before the WANTS of the Individual."

You may "want" a certain job but the service will give you the job "it wants" you to have.

Best wishes,

Larry Smith
Senior Master Sergeant, USAF (Ret.)
First Sergeant

Other services rag on the Air Force because it has been characteristically known for having more relaxed fitness standards along with higher standards of living, so they are perceived as the "soft" branch of the military.
Outside of the friendly ribbing, no, there’s nothing wrong with the Air Force. Go for it.

Jealousy.

Flying is fun. go fly,son, like an elephant.

You just used Air Force and Intelligence in the same sentance ( contradiction in terms..sherly..) and you ask
is there something wrong with you?
Seriously though, The Air Force in general,requires a higher standard, due to the more technical and skilled nature of their work. It’s jealosy and envy. Go for it. Chocks Away!

As an ex-paratrooper, I have a certain respect for the air force. Though on one jump, one of these kids decided to put his fingers in front of my face as if to count down for me like it was a rocket launch. I was door position, and watching for the green light to come on. It was probably my twenty somethingth jump and he was really pissing me off. I half thought that if he wanted to play paratrooper that bad, I might take him with me for a free ride. I don’t even know why he was there.The little prick should’ve been sitting on the ramp playing with his headset where he belonged.

(just thought i’d tell you this so that you remember that when you are in the company of combat arms, you don’t get any illusions)

There is a friendly rivalry between the services. Each branch of our military is proud and honorable. When you are in the Air Force, you too will feel compelled to say something about the other services.

All of the branches of the military talk negatively about the others. Considering the Air Force used to be part of the Army, it’s kind of like a big, ugly brother ragging on his little brother. The first major part of any war is taking control of the skies, so being part of the Air Force is critical to success. Any military service should be applauded. If you want to get into Intelligence in the USAF, do it with pride and don’t let anyone talk you out of it.

tell your friends this: when you get out of the air farce you can go directly into a well paying civilian job.

When the other branches are pinned down and call for air support your song is You dropped the Bomb on Me. They would not want to go into battle without the airforce. Everybody knows their part. Don’t try to whip them hand to hand though. As I said, everyone knows the part/place. Be glad thats the way it works. The mind set for a man facing a man in a life or death battles sees thing different from the man in the air. Face to Face, you need ever edge you can get, even at the expense of the airforce, you don’t want to trade with them.

that is intra-service humor that has been going on for 63 years ,ever sence the air force became a separate service in 1947 .

They think that it is cushy work and not manly. However, they probably don’t have enough gray matter between their ears to handle it. That’s why they are grunts.

Who cares what people think. If we didnt have an air force we wouldnt be safe.

Small example of differences…I just got back from Osan South Korea…When it rained (RAINS HARD!) The Army and Marines were not allowed to use umbrellas. We were…

The servicemen and women of the Army may make fun of the Air Force until they are engaged in battle and need help.

real men join the army? haha thats funnny… i would think it would be the marines… its allot tougher and harder to join than the army… but dont listen to your friends… there dumb… be what u wanna be dont let them influence you..

well we all know who the real victim is the NAVY!!!!

Whenever I hear someone ragging on the Air Force, I just remember what a colonel told us a year ago. The army doesn’t have enough people to fill all the positions needed in Iraq, so the Air Force is doing a lot of ‘in lieu of’ jobs for the army, meaning they’re leading convoys and stuff too. So when the colonel’s unit was at this army base in Kuwait or Iraq, they made a big AF symbol on the ground with the saying ‘when hooah isn’t enough.’

In regards to your friends’ ‘real men join the army’ comment, you can always retort with ‘real men with brains join the Air force,’ and cite pararescue jumpers. Not only do they have to know special ops-type procedures, but they also have to know almost as much medical stuff as a doctor.