How do the Army and Air Force compare?

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 12:01:27 -0400

Can anyone who has been in the Army and Air Force compare daily life and operations between the two branches?

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Aug 8 at 2014 12:04 PM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 12:04:00 -0400

Compare the Motel 6 to the Hilton that should be a good starting point

Response by LTC Yinon Weiss made Aug 8 at 2014 12:06 PM

LTC Yinon Weiss — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 12:06:08 -0400

I would add that it probably depends on a lot on what community one is in within the branches. There may be more difference between Army Infantry and Army Finance for example, as opposed to Army Finance and Air Force Finance. It would be really interesting to get somebody's perspective who has done a similar job in both the Army and the Air Force.

Response by Maj Chris Nelson made Aug 8 at 2014 12:24 PM

Maj Chris Nelson — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 12:24:56 -0400

I started as an Army Medic, now am an Air Force nurse..... ok, so Enlisted with the Army and Officer with Air Force, but still medical field. Also, keep in mind that this is stretching across time and space....I have been playing in the military since 1987, so much has changed.....

Army: very mission focused. Family was distant second. Quarters, entertainment, and other off duty quality of life aspects were often worn out, old....just less.
Air Force: Very mission focused, but also family was an important aspect. Quarters, and off duty aspects were often much nicer. More offered.

Day to day work: Army is much more of a field operations thought process. Air Force is less so as they have combat reach with aircraft. Just a different feel to things.

Nothing wrong with either one. I for one, miss some of the aspects (tradition, enforced standards, etc) of the Army, but really enjoy the perks of the Air Force in regards to family and facilities.

Response by COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM made Aug 8 at 2014 1:54 PM

COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 13:54:06 -0400

Comparing Army and Air Force daily life and operations between the two branches is like comparing apples and oranges in some cases but I'll give it a try:
- Mission. Very different missions and orientations. The Army is land based and generally tactically focused while the Air Force is air based and generally strategically focused.
- MOS. The Army has about 125 MOSs. I do not know the number of MOSs in the Air Force. Some MOSs are the same or similar such as engineers, firefighters, and logisticians that are common to both. Others have similar names but different functions such as MPs vs SPs. Others have no counterpart in the other service at all such as infantry, armor, or field artillery MOSs.
- Installations. The Air Force generally has more success with their facilities (barracks, housing, headquarters) than the Army does based upon a different philosophical and tactical approach.
- Deployments. Due to differences in missions, the service approach to deployments is different. Army deployments are 9-12 months because close team work and consistency on the ground are key while Air Force deployments are 3-6 months since air crews themselves should stick together but units are more interchangeable.
- Therefore daily life and operations within the two services depends a lot upon the MOS a person is in within the service. This drives a lot of the other considerations (mission, installation, deployments, etc).

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 8 at 2014 5:47 PM

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 17:47:57 -0400

Having worked beside the Army for the past 6+ years (out of 10 years in the Air Force), I found that the fundamental difference is that the Army is more rank conscious than the Air Force. While I do find a lot of respect from lower enlisted to upper enlisted or officers, the Army grinds the parade rest/attention and "Sergeant"/"Sir/Ma'am" mentality very hard. The Air Force is more people oriented; Leaders try to get to know their people, not just from a work viewpoint, but from a personal one as well.

Personally, I have seen SPC and PV2s openly defy and disrespect CPTs and 1LTs, while I have not seen the corresponding lack of respect from SrA and A1Cs to Capts or 1st Lts. I think a lot of this has to do with the mentality of how the two services treat their lower ranks. The Air Force generally tries to better the person, while the Army tries to better the worker.

All this being said, I have the utmost respect for my Army brethren. I love working alongside them.

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 8 at 2014 10:35 PM

CW4 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:35:30 -0400

Having spent 10 years in the Air Force enlisted and 3 years in the Army as a Warrant Officer I can see a vast difference in the two Signal fields. I worked primarily in tactical communications for the vast majority of my career and the difference I see is the checks and balances. For example, in the Air Force I had a list of tasks in my training record and was required as a lower enlisted to have an SrA train me and an NCO certify me on a task. At any point QA could pull my training record and force me to perform any task I was signed off on to standard. With the Army it seems the commander can say that a soldier is qualified even if that person cannot perform the task. This then leads into my second point in accountability with the Air Force if I screwed up or if one of my subordinates screwed up they were held to account for their actions. It seems in the Army if a person screws up the first question I have heard asked is what actions did the leadership do to ensure that Soldier would not screw up. There is a shifting of accountability from the culprit to the first line or even the Company Commander.

Response by SSG Pete Fleming made Aug 9 at 2014 8:36 AM

SSG Pete Fleming — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 08:36:29 -0400

Times have changed and standards/conditions change... but I remember being in Honduras staying in crappy tents with only a cot and recycled MRE boxes for furniture. While the Air Force had air conditioning and comfortable furniture and other accommodations to better their living conditions. Yet we were both stationed in the same middle of no where jungle outpost!

Response by SGT Suraj Dave made Aug 12 at 2014 2:54 PM

SGT Suraj Dave — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 14:54:59 -0400

Its simple to me. The Airforce has better food and living conditions then we do. They also tend to be in safer places and have safer living conditions then we do.

i.e the Army lives in tent's and B-huts, the Airforce gets brick and mortar buildings.

Response by SSgt Tim Meuret made Aug 26 at 2014 12:37 AM

SSgt Tim Meuret — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 00:37:21 -0400

I was at an Air Force Unit in Germany that had an MI Detachment assigned and a Marine Detachment as well.

Both my Marine and Army counterparts remarked positively on the Air Force standards for quarters and chow. The Marines described it as Embassy duty without standing out front.

We were all there to do the same mission. Provide Intelligence to the European Theater. My Army counterparts spent more than 50% of their time training for their job and doing daily PT. I never understood why they needed to train for the job. They went to tech school like I did and we were doing the job in real life right there, no simulations and no exercises. We in the Air Force were expected to accomplish our PT on our own and during our off-duty time.

They also made rank faster in the Army then we did and this resulted in many of us working for NCOs with less experience.

Please do not take any of this as negative. It just was strange to me that the day to day requirements of the Army could not be adapted to the mission.

The best officer I worked for during my service was an Army Ranger. He was driven and committed. In contrast the best NCO I ever worked for was an Air Force CMSgt and I worked for a SPC4, 2 GySgt, 2 SSGs, an SFC and 2 TSgts during my 6 years.

An Air Force Colonel once remarked to me that "The AF treats its enlisted personnel well because they maintain and support the aircraft flown by the officers. An unhappy airman would result in downed aircraft and dead pilots."

On a lighter note the Marines, always and consistently, down to a man, looked sharp every day. The AF and the Army had individuals that looked great everyday, but not everyone had the esprit de corps.

Response by SPC David S. made Aug 26 at 2014 1:05 AM

SPC David S. — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 01:05:57 -0400

Father was lifer in Air Force I myself choose Army after leaving the Air Force Academy. The biggest difference I noticed was that the Air Force was very procedure focused as apposed to Army was more mission focused. You will never see an F-22 pilot have 2 day stubble as with an M1 tank jockey. Look at it as differences in corporate culture. The Army is focused on a very dynamic environment as Air Force is more static in flying sorties out of a controlled air field. As to housing a very good example was when I lived at Ft. Monroe and then we moved to Langley AFB. Everything was nicer on the AFB. PX, commissary housing, ect...

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 8 at 2014 9:28 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 09:28:28 -0400

The Army has more air craft and more pilots.

Done.

Response by COL Jean (John) F. B. made Oct 8 at 2014 1:22 PM

COL Jean (John) F. B. — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:22:07 -0400

First, I have not served in the Air Force, so I do not meet the criteria you established to answer the question, however, I have served in joint assignment that included both Army and Air Force personnel (as well as Marine and Navy).

From my perspective, the Air Force appears to be much more "laid back" than the Army in military courtesies, as has been discussed by others. I don't think it is intended as a sign of disrespect, it is just the culture of the that service to be more civilian oriented. Having said that, I think the Air Force gives their NCOs more authority in support services than the Army does. I have seen Air Force NCOs running operations that the Army would have at least a Captain performing a similar duty.

There is one aspect of the Air Force that caused me great aggravation in the past. Back when I was a battalion commander, we would send a company of MPs to Honduras for an enduring security mission that had been going on forever (and I assume still is). We would rotate companies down for 4-months at a time. The company deployed as a unit. Since part of our mission involved security of an Air Force base, the Air Force attached a certain number (25, as I recall) of Air Force Security Force (called Security Police back then) to the Military Police Company. The Air Force personnel lived in the same huts as the Army personnel, ate in the same dining facility, and performed the same duties. However, all deployed Army personnel drew $2.50 "incidental TDY" per day and the Air Force personnel drew $22.50 per day, as I recall. The reason for that was that, while the Army personnel were deployed on "unit orders", the Air Force personnel were deployed on "individual TDY". While the Army personnel all came from the same unit at Ft Riley, for example, the Air Force personnel were from Lackland, Egland, Andrews, Pope, Wright-Patterson, Whiteman, etc., etc... While I certainly understood the rationale for the disparity, it was not a popular thing with the Army troops.

Funny historical note: My dad, also a career Army officer, who was on active duty for over 42 years, was branched Corps of Engineers. When the Army Air Corps became the Air Force, the Army assigned a couple of Engineer regiments/groups to the Air Force to build Air Force bases. This group was known as "Special Category Army With Air Force" (SCARWAF). While they were still in the Army, they served with the Air Force on a permanent basis. According to my dad, who was one of the SCARWAF Group (0-6/COL) commanders, the only difference between the Army and Air Force uniforms, at that time, was the color of the hat and the color of the belt. The Army had brown hats and brown belts and the Air Force had blue. He said that his troops had both colors of hats and belts (even if only authorized the brown) and that, any time SCARWAF personnel were on an Army installation, they wore the blue hat and belt, and, when on an Air Force installation, they wore the brown. In that way, they were always perceived to be "the other service" and nobody ever screwed with them.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 8 at 2014 1:55 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:55:30 -0400

I joined the Air Force Reserves before I went active duty Army. Living conditions were so much better in Basic and Tech School in the Air Force vs. AIT in the Army. For the most part, in my reserve unit, it was a lot more relaxed. When I crossed over to AD Army, I thought I was in a totally different world. Initially, I had a hard time trying to adjust. But 6 1/2 years later...I don't think I could go back AF.

Response by LTC Jason Strickland made Oct 10 at 2014 8:47 AM

LTC Jason Strickland — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 08:47:48 -0400

Best example I can give was when we went into Haiti in the late 90's for Operation Uphold Democracy. I was with the 10th Mountain Division and we were on Port-Au-Prince Airfield just a couple of days after the operation began. I was literally sleeping on an AF pallet in the open and eating MRE's, while my AF brethren already had air-conditioned tents erected and were flying in fresh fruits and vegetables for their airmen.
Not complaining...just sayin'

Response by SFC James Barnes made Oct 10 at 2014 11:28 AM

SFC James Barnes — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 11:28:46 -0400

Major nelson hit the nail on the head. As both prior air force and army both are mission oriented but the air force at least in my experience has more a family orientation. TSgt tumble is correct on most of his comments also. I have seen an airmen go off on leadership and it was interesting but anyways I digress.

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 18 at 2014 5:41 PM

Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 17:41:01 -0400

I would say from experiences in the AF are that we are 95% a combat support agency. We are the Fedex and United airlines for the DOD. A small percent of my service is at the tip of the spear with their fangs out. Most of the service is to support those operations.

When someone joins the Air Force the mindset is on this support. What I notice is that the AF enlisted have very diverse and specific career fields that are not parallel to most of the officer positions. The thing I notice from this site is that it seems that this is not always the case with the Army. In the Army if someone becomes an Infantry officer they must learn learn the same corps basics as an enlisted in the infantry. I base this off of previous discussions on this board.

In the Air Force that is not how we do things with minor exceptions to some very specific careers. The AF has officers that oversee enlisted, but the officer is more of a generalist in the specialties and do not get into the very specific details of how their enlisted actually do their jobs. They understand the big picture of the enlisted technical specialty and know what the end product is supposed to be but they are trained at the myopic level as the technician. Take Aircraft MX for instance. The MX officer is not going to be turning wrenches on an airplane. However that person will be responsible for making sure they get the appropriate parts in time and can make sure that the fleet is being managed properly.

As a pilot in a Tanker. My job was to know how to fly the plane. My enlisted boom operator was the expert in the back of the plane to actually do the in flight refueling. I did not know what the exact technical details on how he/she did their job, but I knew what I needed to do in the front to keep a stable platform for them to do theirs.
We put a lot of responsibility on the boom operator. They were my eyes in the back. I relied on the Booms judgement to prevent another aircraft from crashing into us.

In some respects the AF expects a lot of responsibility from our junior enlisted personnel to autonomously do their job without a great deal of supervision. That is because they get the very specialized training and are certified to accomplish what they have been charged to do. We generally do not interfere with their ability since they are technical experts in their realm.

Response by SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 24 at 2014 8:58 PM

SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 20:58:58 -0400

I cant compare the daily life, but i can compare the lodging, I have been Army Guard for 10 years now, so im used to sub standard housing, there is nothing to complain about, it could always be worse, HOWEVER, i stayed on an AFB for a weekend during Weekend Drill, and it blew my mind, i walked into my room after work, all I seen was a couch, a love seat, and a TV, the first thought that came to my mind...Where is my bed? Put my bags down, turned to see a doorway on my left, walked in, turned on the lights, there is the bathroom, which led to another doorway, walked through that door, and what do you know.....the bed, another TV, a mini fridge.... Blew my mind! Air Force has it nice, thats for damn sure.

Response by MSgt Charles Johnson made Dec 5 at 2014 12:12 PM

MSgt Charles Johnson — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 12:12:11 -0500

I started Army, did two consecutive tours in SEA then got out and joined the USAF, retired from that. If your a non-combat oriented individual, the USAF is for you. There are dang few jobs in the USAF that will result in your being exposed to combat. However, almost all the jobs in the Army will result in combat deployments to the combat zone. The Army is a vast meat grinder of a machine. It has little time for "gentle" talks, "persuasiveness", or "commander conferences". In a Combat zone you will be expected to perform 100% every day. Expect 18 hr work days, 365 a year while deployed. You will as enlisted, burn sh*t, clean latrines, scrub pots and pans, stand fire watches, scrape your knees and palms from sharp rocks while low crawling. Typical stuff. In the USAF, you will have contract workers doing the dishes, maids on some bases cleaning your room, wear your Class A's as a work uniform (something I wore only twice in the Army after Basic). Get the picture? The Army has no time for niceties, nor will they tolerate anyone who doesn't abide automatically with the program. The USAF will pander, ponder, and pucker up for the doubting airmen/women.

Response by SPC David S. made Dec 5 at 2014 1:04 PM

SPC David S. — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 13:04:25 -0500

Being an Air Force brat yet going Army there is one big difference due to the role that each branch brings to the armed services. Air Force is very procedural focused as it is integral in how they carry out there mission - its role is to support pilots and their flight crews or nuke crews. In contrast the Army is very mission focused meaning that the end result of completing the mission is top and supporting the boots on the ground on the front lines. In the Army its all about adapting and overcoming and this does not translate so well in a missile silo or flight line environment. I really wouldn't want to see anyone improvising anything with a nuke or a 500 million dollar aircraft. Air Force you have lower level SR's supporting upper level where in the Army this is flipped with upper SR's supporting the privates at the front. This is why you will never see a F-35 pilot with 2 day stubble compared to a scout platoon leader. Different environments require different approaches as air force being more static (air field) and Army more dynamic (battle field) they have very divergent methods in how they engage the enemy. In garrison they are more the same with the Air Force being a little more civilian like when it comes to CoC being more relaxed.

Response by SSG Christopher Parrish made Dec 5 at 2014 5:06 PM

SSG Christopher Parrish — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 17:06:55 -0500

Response by Sgt Packy Flickinger made Jan 14 at 2015 12:58 AM

Sgt Packy Flickinger — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 00:58:01 -0500

Army drinks their MRE coffee from a field canteen at 0500 from a foxhole waiting for the sun to come up. Airforce complains Starbucks wait is to long at 0900 and thinks it might make them late to "work". ;)

Response by SSgt Charles Edwards made Jul 6 at 2015 1:45 PM

SSgt Charles Edwards — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 13:45:43 -0400

Air Force cops and Army Infantry might as well be kindred spirits. Both entities have worked with each other in deployed locations during my time in service and Gen. Franks preferred to have Security Forces working alongside his soldiers.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 29 at 2017 8:54 AM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 08:54:53 -0500

even on deployment you never see a disgruntled AF person

Response by SGT Christopher Lachcik made Nov 29 at 2017 3:15 PM

SGT Christopher Lachcik — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 15:15:56 -0500

Army > Air Force