Aerospace career after USAFA?

FEIMOM

5-Year Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2014
Messages
20
My son is a HS jr interested in USAFA and majoring in aerospace or astronautical engineering. We are trying to get a better feel for the career that he would have after the academy. I see a lot about the UPT path but not as much about alternate career fields. (non rated if I have my terminology correct)

Looking at the website, my guess is that Space and Missile Ops officer, space engineer, or space aggressor might be a fit. Does anyone have any real world experience in these areas that I could share with him?

We got a little bit better feel for Navy when we went to an information session but haven't been able to attend one for USAFA yet.

Thanks.
 
Well, your major does not necessarily send you to a specific career field, although some require specific majors. He could be a pilot, CSO, ABM, intel, maintenance, space, missile, security forces, etc, etc, officer.

Developmental Engineer is a possibility, if he wants to continue in engineering.
 
My daughter in law, who occasionally posts here, was astronautical engineering. She is a maintenance officer now.
 
This is one of my pet peeves. Not trying to flame, just from a dependent spouse of a retiree and now a Moms perspective.

1. 5 years is the time owed....BUT.... If they take AFIT or a fellowship, heck even tuition assistance (TA) for Grad school the timeline will most likely change.
~ IE they take the TA which runs concurrent with the commitment, and assume it ends at the 4 1/2 year point. You think you are free to go, but you forgot that orders come with a specific time frame. They send him to Ramstein for his first tour and does three years. They send him back stateside and he now is stuck until 6

2. Posters forget that the business world changes very quickly. If they don't get their Masters during this time they can be behind their peers regardless of work experience.
~ LITS did the 5 and dive. He was getting his Grad degree from GWU...an ivy by all standards, yet the economy tanked and it took him 6 months to get a job. He has been very honest about his path and how he drained a lot from his savings to maintain his lifestyle.
~~ Nobody can predict the economy in 2025 when your DS can leave. It would be equivalent of you predicting the housing bubble of 2005/6, banking crash of 07/08 in 1994, 95,or 96!
~~~ he would be eligible to leave May 2025

3. SERVICE before Self. See fencers post. Just because their degree is xyz it does not mean the AF will place them into that field.

Honestly, if fencers DIL gets a masters and with her maintenance background she will be very competitive with Lockheed and the AF as a GS. Either way she will be able to understand the needs from both perspective employers. She can tell Lockheed this does not work from an AF POV, and can tell the AF Lockheed can't do that from a fiscal POV.
~ The downfall is if you live in Illinois and think that he will be able to get those types of jobs in Illinois. Yes, I get there are aerospace companies in your area, but if he wants to run with the big dogs, than impo, don't expect him to live in Illinois.

JMPO.and with $2.06 you will get a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

I don't mean this in a harsh way, but the reality is once they leave for any SA life changes.

When they commission you will be happy to have either Thanksgiving or Christmas... The idea of Easter/passover, Memorial Day, 4th of July, anniversary, birthdays are gone.
~~ Sorry to put this reality shocker into the equation. Grandma/pa dies they may not make It home for he funeral.

This is the life they are entering accept it now.
 
Thanks for the input

Thank you for the responses. I don't pretend to know the life of a military family but I have diligently researched and have read this board for a long time before it seemed appropriate to join. I have no idea if he will 5 and dive or stay for his entire career. He does have a strong desire to serve his country and we understand that there are sacrifices involved. I understand that the needs of the service come first and that he may not get his desired career field; just wanted to understand the possibilities.

I have no need to keep him in IL - my job is to give him roots and wings and the rest will hopefully take care of itself.
 
Or, you could get NO holidays or birthdays or any days at all for a year or more. And this might have a tendency to make mother very unhappy. Mother can't even really write to the nice AF folks and tell them that her son REALLY likes her ability to make one mean TG dinner, and those creamed onions are quite the same at Denny's.

Strap in, Mom. And bring a box of tissues.
 
Our DS was all about Aero as well. Accepted to UT in Austin with a Presidential Scholarship and everything.... but once he got to USAFA, he discovered a whole new world.

Operations Research has his attention for now, but as a C4C, he's got a little time left to work it out.

Once they leave the nest, all bets are off.

Sent using the Service Academy Forums® mobile app
 
My son graduated in 2014. Two of his friends in those majors are going for graduate work. One is at MIT, I forget where the other young man is going to school.
 
Or, you could get NO holidays or birthdays or any days at all for a year or more. And this might have a tendency to make mother very unhappy.

Why I'm glad my kids went Air Force: Reason #26 - It's not the Navy

Nothing against Navy of course, but just to compare... during one stretch of my youth we moved 13 times in 6 years. I attended 3 different kindergartens. And when Dad was at sea for certain stretches there weren't even phone calls home for holidays; but at least we did get cassette tapes in the mail we could play back... over and over. Can't even guess at the total number of family events that were missed.

So yes, military life is still very hard on families. But in many ways it's gotten better than it was at least.
 
Back
Top