My daughter is an AFA grad of about 8 years now as well as her husband. She is more in the management side I would say, her husband is a pilot. They are both very happy in their work. (maybe she is a little more than her husband) She has more flexibility for bases so they can go together to the bases that work for his airframe. (but that did sort of push them to get married younger I would say) She has had the opportunity to apply for many different jobs and positions. She didn't always get offered but she usually was a finalist which is also an honor. I would say her career interests have changed as new opportunities have come her way, and others maybe didn't turn out... Her bosses and former bosses have mentored her and helped her make good career decisions. Originally she wanted to be a foreign officer liaison (serving in foreign countries of her chosen strategic language) but her husband wouldn't be able to join her in that situation she realized. They have both been deployed at various times. They both have their masters, but they had to finish them online due to their work commitments. At her current base she works alongside of the different branches of the military, it's a large important base. She gave us a tour last year and she literally sits next to every different color of uniform in her office. Right now they are enjoying putting down a few roots, they have purchased their first house and are looking into some fixer investment properties. They enjoy having neighborhood friends as well as their pets. She said that soon they will be required to live on base as they move up in their career fields so they enjoy their current situation a lot... She said her deepest friendships are those from her academy days. She likes working with smart people (don't we all) and I think generally she is pretty happy in the AF. She was accepted to other academies but I have never heard any regret about her choice. I think the toughest has been losing some of their closest college friends to crashes or hostilities. I feel so bad for that aspect of their lives.
She has had amazing experiences in all parts of the world and as a parent, I am sure proud of her. The military gives opportunity to folks from all different regions of our country, and family backgrounds also. She would have gone to college anyway, but she gets to interact daily with people who are first generation college grads which is really a great experience I think.. She enjoys the regional flavors of the US.
In contrast, her younger sister who is graduating from our local university (with 3 STEM bachelors and a masters next year) , will also have a great career I'm sure, but her life experiences will be totally different. She is worried she'll be pressured to get plastic surgery so she can always appear young! (which seems very sad to me)
The AF daughter can't talk about her work, but we can't understand much of what the other one does either. You used to hear that females had it tough in the military, but it seems even harder in tech as the frightening and sobering information for females is coming out ( like for Uber) The younger one's last software job meant going to an office where there wasn't another female there on many work days. There are more resident canines in the office than other women!. Many tech companies serve up 3 meals a day (like being on a cruise ship) and she feels the implication that it's preferred you do everything with your co workers. Time will tell as she tries different work environments. Even though the tech careers are great of course, I am thinking that the military experience develops you as a person and citizen and you can still have a private life.
