How intriguing. What is this language called 'Iraqi' and where do they speak it? Is it in the same language family as 'Muslim'? I heard Muslim is a pretty hard language to learn too.
I do not believe he said " What is this language called 'Iraqi'"
Then please stay on topic.
I did indeed say the language was Iraqi. I'm a she, btw. ;P I would think it would be obvious, but Iraqi is spoken in Iraq. Egyptian is spoken in Egypt. There's Levantine which is broken down into Jordinian and Syrian. They don't speak Saudi in Saudi Arabia though, they speak Haliji (خليجي I'm not sure how you'd cognate it into English). See, Arabic--proper Arabic, called MSA--isn't a spoken language, it's a written one. And the Arabic you hear spoken isn't a written language because it's a dialect. I say "Iraqi" instead of "Arabic" because I'm learning specifically Iraqi dialect, not MSA, Leventine, or Egyptian all of which are also taught here. Kurdish and Assyrian are spoken in Iraq too and though the people of those ethnic groups are called Iraqis, they're not called Arabs and their languages are not considered Iraqi. Muslim, it might surprise you to know, is in fact not a language at all but a religion so no, they're not in the same family. Arabic versions of the Q'ran are written in MSA, though. So if you were trying to call me ignorant because I called Arabic Iraqi, xavier, then yes, please stay on topic unless you know for a fact that I am completely ignorant of that to which I've dedicated the past year and a half of my life. Unless you weren't being snide...then, now you know.
One of the things that will effect you from what I know is did they complete your SF-86 investigation. If so from what I know you will be reclassed to another intel field.
They did finish my investigation, I believe. I talked to the security officer here about it because my grandmother wanted to show me around her work and I needed to make sure I had my clearance for it and I did. I can do intel. Intel is good. Did you reclass from here also? Or were you reclassed from somewhere else?
If they decide to keep you then this is the most likely course of action that will be taken with you.
Your career field has a re-enlistment bonus. I think it's a safe bet that you will not be allowed to retrain unless it's into another shortage career field.
The only way you'll be stationed near your fiancee is if your dream sheet selections are made with that in mind. In reality it'll be a total crap shoot whether you actually get stationed near each other. Once you get married you'll likely have to fulfill your remaining minimum time on station requirement in order to move.
I've never heard of a tech school marriage working out. Too young and not enough time to really know each other. I do wish you the best of luck though.
-I know Air Force tries to keep married couples together, but if reclassed how likely are they to consider a preference to be stationed with someone I'm not married to yet, but intend to marry?
Anyone who could answer any or all of these questions, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
They won't consider the preference of engaged couples very heavily at all.
Why? Because then you would see an incredible number of 'engaged' couples, one of whom is already stationed at Italy, Hawaii, Japan, or Colorado, but none in Montana, Lousiana, or Bahrain...and somehow, the engagement just wouldn't work out once the fiancee got there. In case someone doesn't get the point-the fiancee might simply be trying to get to the primo location, but not legitimately be involved with that person already there.
Married couples have made the commitment that can't be broken quite as easily, and quite a few people are ethical enough not to even consider abusing them in this fashion. Engagements could, and quite obviously would, be abused, easily, if they were to be considered to have the same weight as a marriage.
Oh trust me, we both know the dangers of tech school marriages, especially here where people get married simply to be able to live off post even if it's contrary to their sexuality. We're trying specifically to wait until after I'm out of training (he's already out of training), though if I get reclassed we'd probably get a paper marriage so we can apply for joint spouse before I get orders.
Many years ago, near the dawn of time, I was in Air Force public affairs, or more commonly called Information Specialist or Public Information Officer. I was also in an Intel branch, so I'm well aware of your specialty. I didn't read if you were officer or enlisted, but I'll assume enlisted. Either way, jobs will be similar. I was enlisted.
As far as qualifications for the fields, if I'm not mistaken linguists had to be in the 90 or 95 percentile, and I'm thinking that information specialists needed to be in the 80 percentile or above. I think it had to be higher than that to land in intelligence, but I'm not sure.
I joined an E-6 in the information office, and mine wasn't even an "authorized" spot. It still wasn't authorized when I left 2.5 years later. (I requested and was granted a 6-month extension there so I could get my discharge in Alaska.) Much of that time I was the only information specialist there, since my supervisor was transferred and it took a few months for the next one to be assigned, then another few months for his clearance to come through. I mention this because if you're assigned to an intel group, there's not much demand for information specialists in them.
Of course we didn't produce a newspaper from our office. I wrote news releases for the base newspaper just as I did for the local media. It was a pretty plush job. Easy. After my first supervisor left, I also wrote the group histories. I really enjoyed that, as it was basically investigative reporting -- looking for problems in all the offices, interviewing all the OICs, reading over correspondence between the various offices and to and from higher headquarters, attending staff ops meetings, etc. It was also good for politics. I knew all the officers well, including the group commander, so if I needed some help from someone high up in group headquarters, it was there for the asking. I was also promoted about as quickly as possible, making E-5 at just under 3 years.
It was also fairly good training for my post-military career. I got a part-time job on the biggest local newspaper my last year there, then went to work for them full-time when I was excused from reporting to work at my assignment the last 3-4 months. We did decide to leave Alaska shortly after my discharge, but I had a choice of a couple good newspaper jobs lined up. The civilian media had no idea how little I did or learned in a military public information office. It looked good on a resume, so it got me job offers.
That said, if you can pass your linguist training, stick with it. For one thing, it'll be easier for you and your bf to be assigned together. As I said, there's little call for information specialists, especially in intelligence outfits, but there's lots of call for linquists. Promotions for linguists seem to come fairly quickly. If you want to re-up, bonuses are excellent. If you want to get out and continue working in that field, pay will be good.
WyoNewk thank you very much! That was very informative and helpful! Now the only problem would be *landing* the job...not many people get reclassed into Public Affairs, I hear.
bellhead, he's an Environmental Electronics Engineer. Basically an electronics maintainer for life support and AC systems.
gumbo31, is that how long you have to wait before you retrain, or how long you have to retrain?
With Environmental EE, almost any place is open, as long as you reclass into something that's not limited you should be ok.