I took my deep breath (had to run errands).
First, those conjoined bases/posts have been there for decades. They will always exist...why? Because anytime the Army needs a ride, the AF usually gives them one. It is for strategic purposes. Just like in the AF, they have wings that have fighters and heavies, since the training missions include refueling, it is strategically sound to keep them based neareach other.
I want to say this to Jezzie and any other candidate trying to make a decision. For some it will be clear cut, they want to be in tanks, boats or planes. For others the decision is more difficult, because their career field is more general. The beauty for them is they are not locked to any particular base/post.
I would not really place any emphasis on the look of any base, because you will not spend your career at one base, regardless if you do 5 and dive. G*d has a way of laughing at us, you see the beautiful base/post, and without a doubt you will be sent to the armpit of that branch
For example Dix is not as pretty as Hurlburt. Fort Hood is not on the tops of the list, nor is Laughlin for the AF, both will have PAOs
What I would have my child ask are a few questions:
1. Statistically if I become a PAO, what are my chances of being deployed forward if it was today?
2. Where would they deploy me to?
3. What does the typical PAO do for that branch?
4. What is the promotion rate?
For both the AF and the Army there is always a chance of a remote assignment, thus it will equal out.
I want to make this clear, Bullet and I have very good friends that are in the Army an we tease each other constantly. I respect the Army, but through my own life experience living 1/4 of Bullets AD with the Army. I would say this to my kids:
1. Do you want to jump out of perfectly good airplanes? Then go Army, because the only time you jump out of them in the AF is when they are not "perfectly good"
2. Do you want to be in the action? Than go Army.
3. Do you want to serve, but would be happy never to shoot a weapon? Than go AF.
And I agree with Bruno, even as an Intel officer for the AF you will not be on the front line. You will deploy with the AF flying squadron as an intel officer. For the AF in the end of the day, remember right now that is usually a 4 mos deployment, whereas the Army it could be a yr. However, it is 6 and 1/2 dozen. The AF has never left the sandbox since 1990, thus, over 20 yrs you could be returning to the sandbox every 18 mos for four months at a clip, with them hitting you with a remote for 1 yr in that time to. If in 4 yrs from now we are gone from the badlands with boots, it does not mean that the planes will be gone. It is a true crap shoot to try to see in the future if you use that as a determining factor. In the end it lands up being equal, just depends on how you want to take the medicine...little bit at a time or a big gulp.
You need to place more emphasis on what you want to do as a PAO, and really be specific asking those questions.
Now to be fair I will say there is also an AF adage...if you are not flying then you are scooping up bird sh*t off the runway
. You need to be realistic that for the AF fliers will always be the "golden" children. The positive for you compared to a maintenance officer, is that they are not going to take a flier and place them into Intel...they will do that for maintenance, and MSSQ. That being said for the AF it is a mission specific job that nobody can just step into when they have an abundance of fliers, or rejig the system. We entered Maintenance was a separate squadron, then it came under the umbrella of the flying squadron and then they separated from the flying squadron again. That is why fliers took maintainer jobs.
Last tip, what ever branch you choose, it will warp and change before you have the chance to dive. Join the branch that your heart feels a tug on.
JAM and I may argue over the branches, but I can guarantee you one thing, if an outsider attacked either branch both of us would be mother bears protecting our cubs. She would defend the AF and I would defend the Army. We both also respect every child, and at my age you are still a child, who is willing to step to the plate and serve to protect this great nation. So in advance, thanks for protecting me.
Off topic Bruno...I know about Leavenworth we were there when they condemned the housing. However, the irony is Kickapoo was the ones condemned, but instead they renovated Shawnee, which is where we lived. I would have loved to have lived in Infantry, but only if we got the 1st floor. Interestingly enough Pawnee the newest of housing for School was removed, yet they kept kansas. In the end I question if the housing arrangements have more to do with how CGSC now occurs then anything else. Also, Leavenworth is CGSC, typically, command schools have better housing than the avg base. From a personal experience, I don't believe housing should be a make or break since the waiting lists typically are yrs long if the housing is new, if it has not been reno'd you could move in the next day.
