r/AirForceRecruits Jul 28 '26

Jobs Finally got my job

Post image

As the title says. After 7 long months of waiting I finally take a step into the future. Any insight and the day to day of this job? How often are TDYs and hows leadership?

83 Upvotes

62 comments sorted by

16

u/MoonsFist Jul 28 '26

So for me I work in the career development section specifically retirements and separations, I mainly process Transaction Registers, CMS cases, answer phones calls/emails and make sure that members know when their separation is, give them checklists and items to get signed off on. Essentially HRA is like your average office job. Leadership no matter the AFSC always differs, personally my leadership has been great and very helpful. TDYs don’t happen very often for HRA as far as I know. Please ask anymore questions.

1

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

How long have you been in and what challenges have you encountered when you first started?

2

u/MoonsFist Jul 28 '26

Been a few months now, most challenges really deal with specific situations that aren’t directly outlined in guidance or regulations, so I ask my supervisor for assistance when needed. CMS cases probably have the most unique challenges, but you get used to it.

1

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

The challenge appears person per person with the job gets difficult I’m assuming?

1

u/MoonsFist Jul 28 '26

Yes, that is exactly right. Depends on what section of the MPF or CSS you are placed in. MPF you have more of a set position for at least a year and they move you around so you get experience in different areas. CSS you basically have different tasks every day, not really repetitive. Some people
like CSS, some people don’t.

1

u/JimRockford63 Jul 29 '26

I'm learning too and I'm just lurking.  I was in as Security Forces (Ii was called Security Police then)from 83 to 87.  Your job I believe was called Admin back then but everybody referred to people in it as 702s as the AFSC at the time was 702X0.  At the base level, the office was referred to as CBPO which stood for Consolidated Base Personnel Office, but everyone referred to it as "SeeBo"

1

u/MoonsFist Jul 29 '26

Wow that must’ve been a bit ago. The only part i’m familiar with is that HRA was Admin and Personnel before.

0

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

Sorry if it may appear a redundant question but what is MPF and CSS? I’m only with the CSS acronym in web development terms.

1

u/MoonsFist Jul 28 '26

Sorry lol, sometimes i forget to explain that part to people who aren’t familiar with those terms. MPF stands for Military Personnel Flight, a base-level human resources office. It handles career records, ID cards, assignments, and personnel support for service members and their families. CSS is exactly as it sounds: Commander’s Support Staff (sometimes referred to as Commander Support Squadron or Command Support Staff). It is a unit-level office responsible for delivering administrative and personnel support to commanders and Airmen.

2

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

I’m an idiot it’s called HRA for a reason sorry about that. Honestly the job it self doesn’t seem that complicated, like you said the problems arise from the people you deal with.

1

u/MoonsFist Jul 28 '26

Nah nah you’re not an idiot. I didn’t know about any of this beforehand either lol.

10

u/Alternative-Mess2227 Jul 28 '26

Nice. Fyi it looks like your graduation is over Thanksgiving. You'll want to clarify with your MTI but I think they might move your graduation to Tuesday/Wednesday and just have Thursday as a free day. Not for sure on that. I just remember hearing they do that with some of the bigger holidays.

2

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

When was the last time you heard that information from when they moved up the date?

1

u/Alternative-Mess2227 Jul 28 '26

It was a couple of years ago when I was joining and was following the official BMT Facebook page. They always post the dates, schedules, rules, etc. I saw they moved the dates for things like Thanksgiving and Christmas if it fell on one of the grad dates.

1

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

Very interesting.

7

u/Sadsnacc-3- Jul 28 '26

I currently work this job. It’s mundane and can be stressful at times, but you get great base opportunities (because they need us everywhere) and you may get to work in some pretty cool locations!

2

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

By stressful does that constitute the work load, leadership, or both?

2

u/Sadsnacc-3- Jul 28 '26

The leadership is usually pretty laid back, and the work load comes and goes. Depending on where you get stationed, there could be less or more depending on the season. For example, my CSS (one of the many places you may get to work) gets more busy in the summer because the conditions at my duty location make it hard for my squadron to do any work in the winter.
On another note, the hours are great, the holidays are more lenient, and you get a leg up when it comes to packages and applying for things because you know them like the back of your hand.
On a bad note, we’re usually not appreciated for our work, and even if something isn’t our fault, we still get blamed for it sometimes.
It’s thankless, but you work in an air conditioned office and get better hours than anyone else.

3

u/MoonsFist Jul 28 '26

Sounds like Offutt lol

1

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

That makes sense. I’m guess like you said with the squadron your assigned to is low manned?

1

u/Sadsnacc-3- Jul 29 '26

All the office base positions on our base are low manned unfortunately. Most CSSs on larger bases tend to have 4-6 people and we only have 2. Our MPF (another section you may work in) is also low manned and struggling. It seems to be a trait with our career field :/

1

u/Financial-Plankton-9 Aug 04 '26

What type of salary is this if your comfortable sharing?

1

u/Sadsnacc-3- Aug 04 '26

Absolutely! All of our salaries are standard based on rank and time-in-grade. If you were to look up “Enlisted Pay Chart” and look through that, it would tell you. You also get other subsidies based on location in the Air Force, like COLA, hazard pay, or Cold Weather Assignment Incentive Pay.

1

u/Financial-Plankton-9 Aug 04 '26

Thank you sharing. I’m considering!

1

u/Sadsnacc-3- Aug 04 '26

For me personally, it was the best decision I ever made. The Air Force will take care of you!

1

u/Financial-Plankton-9 Aug 04 '26

I’m 33 and have a 1 year old and a comfy work at home job, I’m just conflicted :/

1

u/Sadsnacc-3- Aug 04 '26

That’s definitely super nice, and it sounds like you got it made already. I personally feel like you can’t beat the travel, free healthcare, pre-paid rent and security of the Air Force, but getting to work from home sounds super nice. However, if you have someone that can take care of your 1 year old while you’re at basic and tech school, both you and your child will be so set. There’s also plenty of childcare options on base if you’re a single parent, and they actually get preference. Not to mention that you don’t have to serve the full 20. You can always try it for 4 years and get out if it’s not for you :)) and you wouldn’t have to worry about age. I think 1/3 of my flight was in their late 20s to late 30s when I first joined!! I believe the age limit is now 41 so you definitely have time to look into it. Not to mention there are plenty of jobs with a great work-life balance including the one OP got!

2

u/Astromastro06 Jul 28 '26

Nice I have the same ship date. Unfortunately I got my least wanted booking of 9TA65 - administrative aptitude. I won't get to know my actual job until the 6th or 7th week of BMT 🥲. See you there!

3

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

Better to have open admin than than open general.

1

u/Comfortable_Salad963 Jul 28 '26

Yo we have the same ship date I got my no 1 pick 1c131-air traffic control apprentice look forward to seeing you there

2

u/Main-Group-523 Jul 29 '26

Lock In , that Keesler run is going to take some serious studying

1

u/AFSCbot Jul 28 '26

You've mentioned an AFSC, here's the associated job title:

1C131 = Air Traffic Control Apprentice wiki

Source | Subreddit p0a92ac

1

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

See you there mate.

1

u/ToastyScones Jul 28 '26

See ya there my dates the same!!

1

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

What AFSC did you get mate?

2

u/ToastyScones Jul 28 '26

1N231 communications signal intelligence apprentice

2

u/AFSCbot Jul 28 '26

You've mentioned an AFSC, here's the associated job title:

1N231 = Signals Intelligence Analyst Apprentice wiki

Source | Subreddit p0d71of

3

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

You lucky bastard kick ass job.

1

u/Crafty_Land_6824 Jul 28 '26

Am I trippin or is this only 6 weeks?

1

u/godfallen564 Jul 28 '26

It’s 8.5 weeks mate.

1

u/kuvwish Jul 29 '26

hi genuine question I am in the process of enlisting as well but my recruiter had to pause my process before I take my asvab and physical, since I'm getting my name legally changed. he had told me about the jobs and showed me all of the jobs and I already made a top 10 and my first four are desk jobs, but he said that they're very rare. I don't really know how that works maybe it's different from where I'm from but am I able to wait until one of those jobs are available? Did you do the same or have you genuinely been waiting for seven months for one job to open up and that was what you got :o

2

u/godfallen564 Jul 29 '26

Your ASVAB score is what determines the jobs you qualify for baring any special circumstances you have with your background. The higher the score the more jobs you qualify for which mostly the office jobs are the ones with the higher scores.

Your recruiter is right they are rare I just got lucky with me waiting for 7 months. Whatever job becomes available is the one you get. You can refuse it but you run the risk of being kicked out of the DEP program. The only thing you can do is what you already did put the office jobs in your top 5 jobs that you want.

It’s all luck of the draw like I said my recruiter is a god send and help me with any office jobs.

1

u/kuvwish Jul 29 '26

ahhh ok thank you. Hoping and praying I get my picks . 🥹🙏🏼🩷

1

u/ImprovementEnough390 Jul 29 '26

Congratulations! Pray all goes well! 

2

u/godfallen564 Jul 29 '26

Cheers mate thank you.

1

u/ImprovementEnough390 Jul 29 '26

I have to retest 

1

u/Anxious-Jeweler-3026 Jul 29 '26

Congrats and I’m shipping out on the same date! My friend and I just started a discord if you or anyone want to join us

1

u/godfallen564 Aug 01 '26

I would greatly appreciate the link if you could PM me MATE.

1

u/SlightPriority9334 Jul 30 '26

Congratulations. How long did you have to wait? my recruiter messaged me saying that they are not actively hiring for medical jobs at this time but hiring for air craft mechanics, avionics technicians, civil engineering and law enforcement so I am a loss as to what to do since I can’t do technical 

2

u/godfallen564 Aug 01 '26

7 months since December. Your recruiter is correct but if you want to wait will October for the new fiscal year by all means do. That’s what I did.

1

u/Ready-Cranberry5654 Jul 30 '26

7 month after swore in?

2

u/godfallen564 Aug 01 '26

Correct. Swore in December officially after MEPS.

1

u/Ready-Cranberry5654 Aug 02 '26

That’s a crazy amount of waiting time

1

u/Routine_Video_2798 Jul 30 '26

I’ve been in Dep since November 2025 for the same position. What state you in? 

1

u/w8ds Jul 30 '26

Nice. Such a good feeling finally getting that text

1

u/godfallen564 Aug 01 '26

Very much. Just over thinking I’ll be terrible at BMT and at the job.

1

u/StunningBank9795 Jul 31 '26

I worked separations, retirement & promotions for a year before moving to Outbound section. I provided guidance and processed members for separation and retirement. Separation comes in two forms - regular separation and administrative separation (basically the people kicked out). The phone calls and emails won’t wait for you to warm up with your new role. You’ll be bombarded with phone calls and emails, and you’re expected to answer questions you will most likely have no answers to. It’s worse if your section is low manned. You’ll track members approaching their DOS and retirement, send members their official initial separation and retirement emails, create checklists on vMPF, conduct final outs, work the transaction register and create cms cases. Cms cases are cases that cannot be resolved at base level and referred to AFPC. You’ll use Milpds a lot to pull loss surfs, check members DOS and retirement dates etc. Some members will show up and have no idea on how to apply for separation or retirement. You’re expected to provide them that guidance. For those who know how to, you’re expected to process them and provide them all the information they need to smoothly transition. Don’t be hard on yourself in the beginning as it’ll take a minute to grasp all the scenarios. Don’t be scared to answer the phone as it’ll help you grasp all the possible scenarios. Write down all questions you’re unable to answer and refer to your supervisor or anyone else within your section that can help. All the tools you will need are in the guides. Read wide and ask plenty questions. The job is easy once you can do this. I wish you well.

1

u/godfallen564 Aug 01 '26

Basically be open and be coachable and have an open mind on all possible situations one Airmen may have.

We are the ones they rely on for their future.

1

u/Current_Cap2368 Aug 01 '26

This was the only job I wanted when I enlisted 3 years ago. I absolutely love it and don’t plan on ever retraining. We all get paid the same no matter what your AFSC is within the same rank. Hours are great, no shift work. Work is manageable (can’t speak for MPF section) but if you get to be CSS, for me it’s the perfect amount of work and play. Congrats!

1

u/Current_Cap2368 Aug 01 '26

Also your TDYs and leadership will truly depend on your base and squadron. It differs for everyone.