DJ Hitman

Thanks for the information on ENCS. I understand your concerns about the cost of the car, but as of right now I can pay for more then half of the vehicle with the money I have saved up and I havnt left for bootcamp yet. Once I continue to save in bootcamp and in tech school I will have plenty to make a nice down payment without hurting myself. Just wanted to get some general info about Mazda, if it worked like buying a BMW in Germany. But, after reading your posts I might invest in one after a finish my tour in Japan, I'll just have to see.

smd3

what makes you think you have a tour in Japan?

ScudRunner

I must second these comments as well. You'll notice that there is often an unusually high number of title loan establishments in military towns. It is specifically for the reason stated in the first sentence above.

ezrider55

All the above advice is good but there is one more thing you should know. The Air Force will train you as agreed but they do not have to let you work in that career field. After Tech school you will be placed where you are needed the most, MP, BB stacker, etc. In a time of war this happens more often than peace time.

cgrx

San Diego is ridiculous

WANKEL-ROCKET

I'm a SrA (SSgt Select as of a couple weeks ago) and I got a few questions. First of all, if you haven't even joined yet, how do you know where you're going to be stationed? There's no way you could know that yet because you haven't gone through Lackland and been entered into EQUAL+.

I just checked the EQUAL listing for Yokota, Japan. There are no slots available for your career field (1C1X1 correct?) open in Japan at all, let alone Yokota, except for a SMSgt slot in Kadena.

Chances are, you aren't going to Yokota.

I hope your recruiter isn't trying to sell you on some BS orders to Japan he can't possibly know you're getting.

Secondly, as of right now, enlisted members can't take US cars to Japan. I don't even think officers can, but I'm not sure. I don't know if the reverse is true anymore, but in general it costs so much to convert a car to US standards it's not worth it to bring one back. In general what most people do is, go over there and get a monster used car for really cheap. Used car prices in Japan are really low because the general mindset over there is that they have to have the newest things. So lots of servicemen get over there and then buy an R32 Skyline or an S13 Silvia or a 300zx Fairlady for cheap, then drive them around and sell them when their tour ends.

If you really do have $15,000 or so saved I would say by all means get an RX8 while you're here in the US. So long as you're credit is good. That's what I'm planning to do after all. As others have said though, it'll be difficult to get Mazda to do that for you, and even harder to get it back to the US as the military isn't really paying for that anymore like they used to.

My advice to you is to find out who told you you're going to Japan, and slap them. Only get the RX-8 over here, and only do that if you can afford it.

DJ Hitman

1. Well there are 3 Airforce Bases in Japan. With the Career I put down a list of 5 jobs which I want to go into. The first was Air Traffic Controller and the rest were intelligence jobs, when I was at MEPS I saw all of the careers I put down were located on the bases over there for all ranks.

2. Ya, I know you cant take a car to Japan, doesn't matter what rank, you just can. But, you can in reverse order. I'm just not sure if they will assemble a US spec car over there, like the germans do by request with their BMWs.

3. If I dont get the jobs I selected I'm not going through with the Airforce and I will join the Army because they GUARANTEE your job and first duty station on paper.

ScudRunner

They might guarantee your duty station, but if you join the Army you can be almost guaranteed never to see it. Instead, get used to the idea of the sunny beauty of Iraq.

WANKEL-ROCKET

I understand how the job selection process works, I've been through it myself. What I'm saying to you is there is no way in hell you can have any idea what your first duty station will be until you are IN tech school and get your orders. You can make sure the job you want is located at the base. Still, there might not be any open slots available at that base. That's just the way it works. I just checked the EQUAL listings and there are NO open slots for Air Traffic Controllers in Japan at all right now, with the exception of one at Kadena AFB for a Senior Master Sergeant. Unless you can convice your MEPS station to let you enlist at the pay grade of E-8, you're not going to Japan this cycle.

I have a friend in Japan who I can ask whether they really are shipping cars back. It is my understanding that no orders are currently allowing for this.

Take this for what you will, I have been in the Air Force for 3 years and I've worked directly with Army soldiers at CENTCOM. Don't join the Army. The quality of life is seriously inferior to that of the Air Force. Moreover, if I understand correctly, the way the Army recruiters are bait and switching people currently, is guarenteeing the job and first assignment. Yes, you will get the duty assignment you sign for, and yes you will go to MOS school for it. But then the can also send you to infantry school or whatever and THAT'S now your job. They guarentee the training but not the job, in essense. Talk to someone who's in the Army (besides the recruiter or soldiers on recruiter assistance), seriously, before you consider it.

smd3

If I were you i wouldn't join. You seem seriously mis-informed. You can't bring a car over from japan. (reverse order) Good luck with that!

Good luck getting overseas. Just about everyone and their brother wants to go overseas. You're name will be put in with the rest. nevermind the high washout rate of the careers you want.

Oh, get this. You wash out of those tech schools the Air Force will put you where they want. Trust me, I've been there. I voluntary washed out of EOD, you get to make a dream sheet of jobs you'd like, then the Air Force picks. I didn't get any of the jobs I asked for in that process.

So there I was, guaranteed job gone, Bonus for that job gone, oh and still enlisted for 6 years that I signed up for with EOD!

Luckily the job the airforce gave me is pretty good, but I could have just as easily been sent to SP or services!

So I say it again, you sound quite naive and mis-informed. You need to find someone to talk to about what someone has told you and get the answers straight. I'll tell you right now that the chances you get through the tech school are worse than %50, then the chances you get the base you want in Japan will be pretty damn slim as well.

Remember, wash out of those tech schools and your *** is at Air Force mercy! You won't even find out what base you've got until you've been in tech school for a while.

ScudRunner

Don't make any decisions based on the possibility of washing out of your chosen career field. That's weak minded thinking, and is setting yourself up for failure. Decide what you want, and take it.

smd3

agreed, but I've talked to people that seem to think that once they've got a guaranteed job they're golden. It's risky, and the jobs he's chosen have high wash out rates. He'll have to work hard to pass the school. And if he doesn't pass the school they can have him flipping burgers, it's a fact.

Again, most of that was to point out how mis-informed he really is. People forget that when they sign their *** belongs to the air force. Then we get them and the complain all the time about the hours, and conditions and such. Don't join unless you really want to be in the military, I mean the Air Force is as cushy as it gets, but it's still the military. There will be days of 12 and 14hrs, maybe more. There will be weekends, nights, all kinds of stuff.

Instead of being all fluffy and cheery I prefer to remind them of Murphy's law, and tell them the consequences.

Why do you think the AF give guaranteed Jobs? It's to get people in, if they make it great, but if not it's too late. Hand them a spatula, especially since the Air Force is not going to waste money putting you in another difficult tech school after you wash out of the first.

Razpewton

A lot of interesting reading in this thread. I'll share with you my experiences and knowledge of the intricate administrative mechanics of the military.

I completed Aviation Electronics School, then later Avionics Electonics Engineering, was a Navy Recruiter for 4 years in Alabama and was stationed in Atsugi, Japan for 33 months (22 of which I was haze-gray-and-underway).

Let me give you some info:

1) You can save on buying a new vehicle, but they're the same cars anyone else would buy in the U.S. You just don't pay taxes, delivery or dealer prep, and are allowed to pick out your color make model, etc. It will be delivered to the dealership of your choice upon your RETURN to the U.S.

2) You can buy used cars there for dirt cheap, then sell it to the next service member being stationed there. For short durations, these are called "Deployment Cars", but the principle is the same. I had a Honda Prelude and a van of some sort, but they were both good vehicles. I wish I could have brought them back, but that's more trouble than it's worth, due to the U.S. have much stricter emission control standards. Save your money and look into the AFFEES vehicle purchase program after you get there, and decide your course of action then.

3) You always want to buy your gas ON BASE. Off base it was $15 a gallon and that was 1993 thru 1996!!

4) To my knowledge, NO ONE (no branch or MEPs classifier) can guarantee your duty station AFTER your "A" school... (M.O. , Tech or whatever you want to call it) This ESPECIALLY holds true if you do not complete your school. If you do not complete yopur school....you're pretty much manual labor...and will be used according to the needs of that branch of service.

KEEP THIS IN MIND. NO MILITARY would assign you to a school that you are not capable of completing. There is ALWAYS help available if you struggle...(after school study, group sessions...even one-on-one). 99.99% of those failing to complete their assigned tech school, do so because of PARTYING, chasing girls, or being away from mom and dad for the first time, and don't mature to a level of committment necessary to succeed.

5) Some recruiters WILL tell you whatever you want to hear to get you to join. This includes sometimes presenting the truth from a prespective conducive to fulfilling YOUR "Wants, Needs and DBM." (dominate buying mode). Recruiters attend sales school as part of their training and are under tremendous pressure to fill their quotas. I was once threatened with being placed on report for not forging a signature. I didn't play their games...and was still successful. Every person I put in the Navy, went knowing exactly what to expect....as I am now sharing with you.

6) I've been all over the world, and Japan was probably the greatest place I ever lived. The Japanese people are some of the friendliest, honorable and respectable people you would EVER want to meet in your life. Japan is steeped in tradition, culture and harmonic beauty. Japanese girls are some of the loveliest ladies on Earth, not that American girls aren't.

7) If you make it to Japan, and you accomplish NOTHING else....climb Mt Fuji. It was without question, one of my most memorable life experiences I ever er......experienced. Take a lot of pictures, get your hiking stick branded at every station on the way up....and only climb it ONCE. A wise man will climb Mt Fuji once, but only a fool would climb it twice. :D

Good luck on your future endeavors, and remember, regardless of the branch of service you join we're all on the same team. All branches have both positive and negative attributes.

Take as much college while you're in, and take advantage of your VA benefits.

cgrx

Good old Atsugi/Kamiseya/Zama - over there as a dependent for 3 years. Good times. If you could get a classic American car to Japan and sell it ~ you'd make a fortune. The opposite is true for fast imports.
Anyone have their own boat? =)

Nothing much is guarenteed in the military. It varies GREATLY between services too.
Good luck !

Air Force RX8

Great points! While these are the jobs that you want and even if they do have slots in Japan, only the "needs of the Air Force" determine where you go from Tech School. Pipeline students as we call them do not figure in to the ads in the EQUALS system for openings as was suggested earlier. So forget that stuff until you get to your first duty station and are ready to PCS. The assignment process is quite complicatedby many factors and not worth getting into here. As for overseas assignments Command Leveling is what determines overseas assignments. Each Major Command functional manager is responsible for ensuring that they keep levels balances across the overseas bases because if they put too many people at Kadena AB and then Pacific Air Forces has a critical manning situation develop at Hickam they can't simply cry to Air Force Personnel Center that they need x bodies at Hickam ASAP because they have too many at Kadena and that would exceed their max authorizations for the Command. So, put it on your dream sheet and you may get lucky, but do not count on it.

Now on to the Tech school part. Go into it expecting a lot of information in a short time. Like Raz said, don't chase the skirt when you know you need to study, and unless you are 21 do not get caught drinking it makes for a lousy career start. Plus it takes away from time you should be studying. Do not hesitate to ask for Individualized Study Assistance the instructors are there to make sure you learn the material and askiing for help does not make you stupid, quite the contrary it proves you are motivated to learn which comes in handy if you do blow a test. Get plenty of sleep every night because hours of classroom lecture make staying awake difficult. Study, did I mention that? Study every night even if you don't think you need to, go back and study previous lessons. Your friends in tech school will pressure you to hang out, but remember you are responsible for your future not them.

Now post tech school advice...CDCs as in Career Development Course. Devote a lot of time to your CDCs. If you fail these your commander has the option to seperate you, retain you in another career field or let you re-test. Now back to your study habits in tech school, if you had negative comments in your Student assessment form from your instructors you will most likely not be given a chance to re-test. Now if you had comments like seeks extra instruction and very attentive and prepared you have a better chance than if you have comments like not prepared, sleeps often, etc... after you pass your CDCs start looking to get your degree. Don't waste time or you will regret it later like me as I still have not finished my BS.

Good luck and best wishes no matter what you decide. If you have any questions please feel free to PM me!

LiveBlues

No offense, but it is good to see that EOD school hasn't gotten any easier. It is a tough job.

(AF EOD 81-87)

DJ Hitman

I have seen the contracts at the Army office, clearly on them it said the first duty station and the job and any enlistment bonus.

I'am motivated, theres no reason for me have trouble in tech school I can do anything I set my mind to, if I really want it.

marcj1

You sound like you've got a great attitude, don't let it go.

I've read most, if not all, of the posts on this thread and there's a lot of good advise, especially from the current and former military folks--you cannot get enough of that. I've been out of the Army for almost 10 years now and though it all worked out better that I could have imagined (after 11 months in green, I found myself somehow wearing Cadet Gray), my recruiter screwed me six ways from Sunday. But anyway, take the career advise to heart, stay sharp and make it work for you.