Did your friends son have to get a recommendation from a local politician and I know you said he was enlisted but was he sent as engineer. I’m considering it but I’m not sure about being enlisted in combat. Did he consider a ROTC program.
The US military isn’t summer camp where you get to opt out of arts and crafts. You go where you are sent. I have a cousin (an officer ) in the navy who spent time in Hawaii, San Diego and some of the most beautiful and safe places on Earth. And then he was sent to Iraq for his final deployment and still won’t talk about it.
Think this through carefully. There are other ways to learn to fly besides the Air Force.
You can monetize your drone license by working for real estate agents. You’d have to learn to do drone photography, get good at it, create a portfolio and then use that portfolio to get clients. Look at some real estate websites or examples of pictures and on YouTube real estate listings for examples of video.
That statement would apply to those in the Navy. Substitute “remote air base” for “aircraft carrier near Yemen” for Air Force personnel.
No, he did not consider ROTC. He wanted a fast track to an aviation career and as I said, was deployed to the Middle East twice, with the aircraft he works on.
Obviously, a military career isn’t for everyone and a lot of consideration should be taken before going this route. He comes from a military family, so he grew up in it. Note that if you go the academy route (or ROTC) you’ll still have to serve after you graduate, although it would be as an officer and not as an enlisted soldier.