I agree, go to your local recruiting station. Call first though to set up an appointment cause they can be busy sometimes.

Like Ame said, call them, and schedule an appointment. The Air Force is overmanned as is, and you have to take the initiative if you want to get in, they’re not going to wait on you.

Please understand that Air Force recruiters especially are very busy right now. That’s not to make an excuse for him, but the reality to day is there are about 6 to 7 applicants for every opening today – so there is a lot of competition to get in. You would think that would make a recruiter’s job easy. I would say yes and no. Yes from the prospective that there are plenty of recruits to choose from, but no from the perspective is that it is an awful lot of people to sift through and packages to fill out, and so on.

With the economy the way it is right now, and no signs of improving, this trend is likely to continue. Throw on top of that the Air Force and US Navy are trying to get smaller (due to cuts in troop strength), and not as many people are getting out (meaning many are being forced out to reach the authorized troop level) and that means it is tougher than ever to get in the Air Force today. I am not saying this to discourage you (quite the opposite), but I wanted to be honest with you and let you know what you are looking at, and why you may not have heard from the recruiter.

My best advice to you? Be persistent. VERY persistent. Don’t wait for the recruiter to call you, because you may be waiting a long time. You have left messages and sent emails. Now it’s time to show up at his office and introduce yourself. IF his office hours aren’t on his voice mail, then drive down to his office and see what is on the office door, then be there to greet him. That first meeting – greet him with a smile, a handshake, and tell him, “I would like to join the Air Force and am here today to start the best career I will ever have – what can we do today?” In the meantime, call daily. Call hourly (but don’t leave a message each time), until you reach ‘a person’. If you still have trouble reaching the recruiter – look up the number for the recruiting office supervisor, or call a recruiter in another area. someone, somewhere will talk to you.

What can you expect? At the first meeting, expect to take a ‘practice ASVAB’ on a computer to determine your basic eligibility. The higher you score, the better (and the more likely the recruiter will want to work with you), because you would qualify for more opportunities in the Air Force. Go to your library and see if they have any ASVAB study guides. Look for one that comes with a CD that will allow you to take practice exams. Although those aren’t the “real” or “official” tests, they are pretty good to help you prepare. Speaking of being prepared – be ready to fill out a lot of paperwork, answer questions about your education, grades, criminal background, etc. Take 2 forms of picture ID, and your social security card. There will be other things to do as well, but this is a nice beginning.

There is something else you should know about Air Force careers as well. Most of the recruiters I have met and know have the mindset of “we want applicants who want to join the Air Force (Army, Navy, Marines) FIRST”… meaning if you have dreams of being a medical assistant in the Air Force, you may be disappointed. The military is looking for people who want to join first, and will be more concerned about their own goals second. They want (and need) people to join that will accept the jobs offered to them, and do what they need them to do. I don’t think the recruiters are doing that “because they can”, but the facts are, if you don’t want to do the job, there is someone out there that wants to join bad enough that will. A lot of people go to basic now without a guaranteed job

Does that mean you CAN’T get your ‘dream job’ in the Air Force? Of course not. That just means competition for jobs in the Air Force is tough, and because of downsizing and current retention rates – there just may not be that many choices for you, and if you want to hold out for that dream job, you may be in for a long wait. A friend of mine (who is a recruiter) told me that in general, a recruiter will offer you a list of job openings (5 or so) from the area of the ASVAB that you score the best in. The jobs available change rapidly. A job that may be open right this second, may be gone in 5 minutes – so if you see one that interests you, don’t delay and grab it as your ‘guaranteed’ job. Every other Air Force recruiter has that same list, and whomever reserves the job first gets it. The odds of getting the job you want depend on many things – scoring well on the ASVAB is a must, if you have any special skill sets or are fluent in a foreign language (and by that I mean Arabic, German, etc- not so much Spanish) – that is a plus.

Remember, be persistent – and good luck!