Welcome to Blog 3, time flies quickly when having fun.
Today I want to talk about the second frequent question that I am always being asked. Why did you join the Air Force instead of other branches? I can answer this one with just 1 sentence, to be honest. It would go like this: “Because the Air Force is just the best one there!”, but I want to tell you the whole story from the beginning to the end of that chapter of my life. It is actually a pretty interesting story, at least for me. Seeing how far I made it from that little guy who didn’t know or was too lazy to plan his future out for me right now, still lazy, sometimes. Honestly, I had zero idea what I would do after high school, I wasn’t ready to move on and face the world head-on. Heck no! I know a lot of people feel exactly the same, and it shouldn’t be that way but unfortunately, it is. The pressure that society creates is not for everyone. That is one of the reasons why I decided to join the military.
I have a bother. His name is Alex, and he is 2 years older than me. Honestly, he paved the way for me in pretty much everything. Good for me, huh! Back when Alex was in 10th grade, and I was in 7th, he joined the wrestling team during winter sports in high school. He convinced me to try it out, just in middle school. Ever since I wrestled for the rest of my high school career. My parents and Alex began thinking of what he should do after high school. College was an option but going in studying and having a loan to pay back was a tough option for our whole family. Still trying to find ourselves in this country, we weren’t ready to take on that huge responsibility. Then my dad suggested the military, but what branch, how does it work? All these questions started to rise. The only person we knew who served, was our wrestling coach. He spent 4 years in the Air Force as Security Forces, separated, went to school to be a teacher (I believe), and was working as a PE teacher in our high school and a part-time as a wrestling coach. Alex talked to him, and his response was to join the Air Force and not even think of any other branches. That is how the Air Force was chosen for us. I say, “us” because as I said I followed everything my brother did. Alex joined the Air Force roughly at the beginning of 2014.
Ever since Alex joined and we were aware of the whole process, in my mind I was already set for the same. College was not something I had desired at that point in my life, honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about it. As everyone in my class was busy with college applications, essays, etc., I was already more focused on the military. As I mentioned above I wrestled for the whole high school career. My senior year I made it to the state championship and was a runner-up in the state finals. Lost in the finals with 20 seconds left of the match. It sucked. A couple of weeks after that, I received a phone call from the wrestling coach of Highline Community College in Washington offering me a scholarship for 75% coverage of my tuition. I was not expecting that at all, he said he wanted to give me a full ride, but they ran out of money at that point. At the same time, I was already talking to the Air Force recruiter and started a process with the military. Everything was going great, I did not decline the offer, I asked for more time to think about it, in case something would not work out with the military. Well, it was not meant for me to join AF that year. I failed the ASVAB test the first time I took it, bummer. The recruiter told me I had to wait another year to retake it. What the heck? – I said. College perfectly lined up and I ended up going to community college for a year while getting my ass whooped by college wrestlers. It was miserable. I was barely keeping a 2.0 GPA, I couldn’t focus on studying when I was getting beat down every day. College athletes are monsters, I praise them a lot. I was there to make the time pass but others had goals of achieving heights within the sport. I never had a passion for sport after high school. My college record was terrible, I lost more than I won ha-ha. By the end of the year, I could tell that coaches did not want to give me more money for next year and we parted ways on a good note.
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Since then, I passed my ASVAB summer of 2015 and continued with my enlisting process. I put Security Forces last on my list, and guess what? They gave it to me, not even looking at my other choices. The explanation they gave is that one has the quickest ship-out date. Alex, who had already enlisted for roughly 2 years told me not to do it, but I just wanted the change. Speaking now, after everything I experienced, I can say that it was a great choice. The job could be super slow or very high-paced. Great opportunities always come up; it is important to take advantage of them all. If you’re SF, don’t be scared to try something different in the career field. You will never know if you will like it or not unless you give it a try. Do it all and stay positive.
For those who still have not decided what branch of the military to go with, here are my two cents. I don’t really know how other branches operate and how it is when you’re in it. Here is my opinion that I formulated over 8 years in service. For the Navy, I know they are great, but I never wanted to be on the ship for months. I am sure there are jobs that don’t require you to be on the ship, but it was my first impression, and I did not want that. The army is a bit different. I was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and saw a bunch of Army service members. Morning PT*, rucks, motor pool, and being in the dorms until E-5, was not for me either. I feel like people in the Army don’t really have a lot of freedom. Every morning going to work at 7:30 in the morning I saw Army battalions doing PT no matter what the weather was like. I talked to an Army guy on a mission, he told me that they don’t get to go to a hotel sometimes when they travel. The Army brings tents and gives them MREs* to make it overnight. Marines, I feel very similar to the Army. Constant PT, rucking, and other BS that drains a lot of people over time. If you want a challenge definitely look into Army and Marines. Air Force was the way to go for me, it was very chill and mindful of personal time. You are paid for everything when traveling, and the quality of life is much better. No wonder everyone calls us “chair force” ha-ha. My recommendation is to do as much research as possible. Talk to recruiters, google, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have it all now. Don’t make a choice you will regret for the rest of your enlistment.
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Next Friday, my blog will be about, “Why joining military was a best decision for me”.
Pass this information to everyone who might find it useful. Thank you for all the reads and support!
You guys rock!!!
Very Respectfully,
Vlad Kalinin
PT – physical training
MRE – meal ready to eat.