Benjo6

Hi all,
I have accepted my appointment to USAFA Class of '10, I am potential pilot qualified, and I love flying... That being said, from reading some previous posts i recognize that it isn't guaranteed that flying will be my MOS. I know junior year (or the summer after or something) there is a psuedo-"carreer-fair," so that cadets can determine what job they will have in the Air Force. How popular are the Air Force special forces (like the CRO's, STS, Para-rescue Units, SOCOM, Forward Tactical Air Command Teams, etc.)? I was telling myself that if they don't let me fly I want to go into one of these fields? How many Academy Grads actually get into such programs? Are these positions generally reserved for enlisted Airmen working their way up? I appreciate any input on the subject, and home someone shares my secondary interests.

texas_falcon

That too is my second interest. I really know nothing about how to get there. I recall somewhere reading that like 4% of each graduating class go onto Special Forces.

sempergumby

I think the academy does a pretty good job at bringing in Air Force personnel to talk about different occupational specialties. They also invite the sister services.

snipper_cr

If i couldnt fly, id love to be a Tactical Air Controler, a type of AF Special Forces. Basically they are the guys on the ground with the soldiers, they look like regular infintry but have another 20 pounds of gear with them. They are the ones who Laser designate targets and call the air strikes, sometimes only a few meters from where they are standing.

EDIT
I also like how most people look at me weird when i say "Air Force Special Forces", they normally dont think about that. In fact when i show them pictures of TAC teams, they usually think they are marines or army guys. They dont picture guys in camos with packs and M4s as being Air Force....

Benjo6

haha i know exactly what you mean. the TACTs (tactical air command teams) actually train with the Infantry, and people don't understand that there is a member of the Air Force with every special teams detail... I too think that being on the Front Lines with the infantry, while retaining the cerebral aspect of the Air Force would be almost as incredible as flying.

eeee14

I know three actual officers and one of them was one of those guys who goes in and sets targets. He loved it and has all these AMAZING stories. Luckily for him, though, he was in right after Vietnam and right before the first Gulf war, so he never saw a lot of actual combat... mostly training. None of us will have THAT. I am definitely thinking that if flying doesn't happen for me (my darn eyes...) that's what I would want to do. Something special forces, I actually have an Air Force pararescue poster hanging in my room.

I just love that all of these things are possibilities. I love that we can actually consider this as a career. It is so much more than I ever expected to be doing. Oh yeah, I'm going in c/o 2010 too.

snipper_cr

Breif information on TACs

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jan2...200401206.html

fiterace87

I think that Spec Ops have vision requirements that are as strict as or more so than pilot vision requirements. That is where the original idea of laser eye surgery for the military came up--for special forces so that they would not have to worry about glasses/contacts in a combat situation. Then the whole idea gradually branched out to pilot/nav and beyond. Unfortunately, I know that spec ops out of USAFA is pretty competitive simply because there aren't a whole lot of spots that trainees can be placed, especially officers. Similarly, getting a SEAL officer slot out of USNA is very competitive. Honestly guys, I think that the people that end up doing spec ops out of USAFA put that down as their first choice, not their second (behind pilot). Of course, things could change in the future...

Benjo6

Alright I trust you, I'm just saying if something were to happen that would disqualify me I wouldn't want to be sitting in some bunker out in Nevada you know... besides we have untill Junior year to make our "first choice"

fiterace87

True--and I wouldn't want to be a bunker guy, either. I understand where you're coming from, Ben--and junior year is a ways off...I'm simply saying that Spec Ops is really competitive, and the guys who REALLY want to do spec ops will get the slots before anyone else.

Benjo6

Agreed, but lets not forget that there are combat opportunities which don't entail "special ops." (I don't know if TACT is tech. special ops?) And, Airmen lately tend to do convoy security and act more and more like infantry-- correct me if I'm wrong but I believe they were a big part in the Afghanistan Elections... Although I haven't come across any yet, I'm glad there are people enrolling in USAFA strictly for Air Force Spec. Ops and if that includes you Fiterace (although your name implies otherwise lol) more power to you!

fiterace87

My roommate at USAFA summer seminar wants to be a combat controller, and I know another guy in ROTC who wants to be a CRO, so based on this, there are definitely people who go to both USAFA and ROTC who don't want to branch aviation but rather spec ops. I don't know exactly what entails "special operations" and whether CRO or Combat Control are both considered spec ops, or how the USAF determines that, however--was always confusing to me; they all seemed to be the same idea with numerous specialties...
Yeah, fiterace87 has been my "online name" forever, so I just use it for everything I sign up to post on...but my goal right now, after commissioning, that is, is not to do spec ops but to get either a pilot or nav slot...as my name entails

skirbyy

A cadet my family sponsered who was in the class of 2000 went special operations, though he's a pilot. He's currently stationed in Britain and he flew in the first troops in both Afghanistan, and that's pretty much all he's let anybody know. Sounds like a pretty sweet job, though I much rather be a CRO.