Posted on Oct 21, 2020
What is the standard time you have to wait to enlist in USAF as a "Prior Service"? Are there any waivers required?
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Long story short...my son initially enlisted in the Army in 2016 and subsequently quit half way through basic. In theory he was given a discharge code that would allow him to re-enlist at some given point. He has finally made up his mind he definitely wants to move forward in life and enlist in the USAF. What would be the "standard" time he would have to wait before they would start pursuing enlistment paperwork (3, 4, 5 years?) What if any waivers would be required as well as any other special fiery hoops he may have to jump through?
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
The standard time is however long it takes the AF to approve his waiver. The AF only accepts a limited amount of prior service every year, and they don't like to accept prior servo e with waivers.
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SSG(P) (Join to see)
SFC (Join to see) - Quite possibly. I don't know their recruiting regs. I have heard both extremes of USAF Recruiting; that they don't take ANY Prior Service, and have read plenty here that people have transitioned seamlessly into the USAF from other services. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
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SFC (Join to see)
SSG(P) (Join to see) there was an AF Captain who posted about it in one of the threads here. He explained rules. Basically, they are only authorized to take a few hundred prior service recruits a year, and those slots fill up almost immediately at the beginning of the FY. That is unless you have an MOS that directly transfers. to one of theirs like most of our Aviation MOS's. Officers are a different story as well, and Army transfers still have to worry about RCP which is called High Year Tenure in the AF.
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SSG(P) (Join to see)
SFC (Join to see) - Sounds reasonable. Back in '07 when I was in AIT at Fort Eustis, the USAF had decided to use the CH-47 (would be called HH-47 for the USAF) for their CSAR aircraft, and there were USAF Airmen training at the Aviation Logistics School (USAALS). They were staying in the same type of barracks that we AIT students were, but they were getting $200/month extra for "Substandard Housing" allotment. That was my first indication I might be in the wrong service. But, right now everything seems to be working out... Army Aviation is awesome, but Army Watercraft are more awesome.
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SFC (Join to see)
SSG(P) (Join to see) lol Army boats is probably the second most requested MOS people ask me for, right after Dog Handler
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The Air Force can be difficult to enlist into for prior service applicants. Has he considered the military instead?
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He might have a better chance going Reserves or the National Guard. Then he could try to transfer/enlist after a time spent there. But no guarantees that it will work.
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Has he spoken with an USAF Recruiter? That ought to be his 1st step! That been said, other services (besides the Army) are hard when it comes to prior service.
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LTC (Join to see)
AF only takes a limited number of prior service a year. having to get a waiver is a show stopper because they already have more than enough applicants that do not require waivers.
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Having quit basic once I would be very surprised if they let him enlist in any branch of the military. I am pretty sure in their mind they would be thinking, "He quit once, what is to stop him from quitting again?" Sorry but I think he will be disappointed.
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SSG(P) (Join to see)
That's what would be in my mind if I were a recruiter in that situation. Of course, recruiters don't care what you do after you swear-in the second time (for Active Duty).
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Cpl Vic Burk
I was told by a Marine Corps recruiter that the didn't actually get full credit for the enlistee until they completed boot camp. That they got credit towards their quota for that month but if the recruit didn't complete boot camp they had to recruit an person to make up for that one. This came from the mouth of a recruiter, not third party hand me down information. Personally, I probably wouldn't expend my time with someone in this situation.
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SFC (Join to see) LTC (Join to see) CMSgt Virgil Horsley MAJ Javier Rivera A1C Chris Pointer MSgt (Join to see)
Thank you all for your input and arming me with some information to further discuss with the lad later this evening.
SFC Michael Hasbun Tried that already, but will throw it against the wall again to see if it sticks this time.
Thank you all for your input and arming me with some information to further discuss with the lad later this evening.
SFC Michael Hasbun Tried that already, but will throw it against the wall again to see if it sticks this time.
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