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You can make it work but it's not as simple.įeel free to PM me with specific questions or you can ask me here as well. I'm not saying you can't go to college or have a family as a 1A8 but deployments and other tasking make it more difficult. If those things aren't a priority right now then go with 1A8. So let's say you have a significant other or looking to go to college then 1N3 is your better choice. If you are looking for a more stable life in the military than I would go for ground linguist. I can't emphasize enough how each of those things impact your deployment rate. It will depend upon your language, where you are stationed and world events. I can't give you any specifics about how much you could possibly deploy as an airborne linguist. You can no longer switch between ground and airborne. I got the opportunity to do that due to world events. I wanted to fly after being around the mission. I was stationed at a flying location but as a ground linguist. When I joined the military there was only one career field, 208 was the AFSC. You also spend much more of your time accomplishing training and requirements being a flyer. There is much more big AF involvement in your personal life being a flyer than being a ground linguist. I loved my job and the people I worked with and deployed with were my crew and my family. The other thing is the training pipeline to actually do your job is longer as well. There are more requirements and rules to be a flyer than to be a ground linguist. You have a head cold you have to go to the doctor for medication, no over the counter drugs and you're not flying until you go back to the doc to get cleared. The other thing to consider about flying is you are much more restricted medically. My longest flight was a little over 19 hours and that is just the time spent on the jet and doesn't take into account pre and post mission duties. You can also have some extremely long work days. If you are a flyer there are more training requirements you have to accomplish in order to do your job since it involves getting on an aircraft. The good and bad of being an airborne linguist is you can spend a lot of your time deploying depending upon your language and where you get stationed. I spent about 18 years of my career flying and I loved it. I retired 4 years ago to give you a reference point. My salary is a calculation of all the health and dental benefits in addition to E-4 salary - more.Former 1A8X1 here that started off her career as a ground linguist. Despite the military not being a good fit for me, they offer great dental and healthcare coverage, perks including corrective eye surgery and time during the paid workday for medical appointments, an exam and performance-based points system and structured tier for advancement, steady income, and many other resources and opportunities to support you both personally and professionally. In terms of the culture, I believe in putting people first, but in the military accomplishing the mission comes first. My civilian supervisor granted 3 days a week to leave 1.5 hour early for working out in order to meet Air Force standards for physical fitness and deployment readiness. Some people really love this job they love the camaraderie, the mission, the military framework-so do not be deterred by this review. However, there was often no customer feedback on the direct impact of my work in any situation, which was unfulfilling for someone who wanted to rest assured she was making a difference. The intelligence I reported was rewarding in that it provided policymakers with information necessary to protect U.S. The job was stressful in effort to appease the urgent requirements of two separate chains of command, one civilian and one military. The other 4-2 hours is spent on administrative duties related to Air Force extra duties and responsibilities. A typical day as a cryptologic linguist involves language translations and other mission-related work for about 4-6 hours.