I'm happy and I like the Air Force.

tl;dr - I like the AF and it has done a lot of great things for me. It's not all doom and gloom. I just wanted something positive to be in here for a little fresh air.

There's a lot of negativity on here lately due to the drawdown confusion and various other things.

I know it's human nature to come to these places to vent more than to say things are going well, but I just wanted to bring a little positivity to the place. We have a lot of DEPpers and potential recruits here that are getting the wrong idea of the AF, and the negativity spreads even among those of us already in the AF as well.

In general, I really enjoy the Air Force a lot and am very proud and lucky to serve. Sure, I have bad days, bad leadership sometimes, decisions that I don't understand or agree with, but on the whole it's been an unbelievably positive experience.

I've met and worked with some excellent people, people I can call true friends and keep in touch with even though I don't work directly with them anymore. My wife and I were saying the other day that sometimes we feel closer to another Air Force family that we just met than we do with our lifelong friends growing up. We share common experiences, have similar challenges, and know that we have to take care of each other. Sure, there are bad folks too, but on the whole people are great.

The AF has given me an education, going from a few college credits when I came in to two associates degrees, a bachelors, and a masters, all for the cost of $0. Hell I even made a profit thanks to selling my books at the end of class and applying for Pell grants and scholarships.

The AF has saved my son's life. He has a handful of serious medical conditions, and the AF has paid for every cent of his treatment, to the tune of well over $1,000,000 now. And while he spent six months in the hospital, my commander wouldn't let me come to work, said to take care of my son. The AF paid for my wife and I to stay in a hotel for six months, paid for our gas, for our food every day, all while I was still getting a full pay check. Other families in the pediatric unit had to leave their children with the nurses all day because they couldn't miss work, or they'd get fired and then lose their insurance and be unable to pay for their child's medical care. I didn't have that financial stress added on top of the already crushing stress of seeing my son in that condition.

The AF has given me a career. There aren't many civilian employers that offer the career progression that the AF does. I came in at 25, I worked at least 15 civilian jobs before I joined the military, so I've seen both sides. You would be hard-pressed to find a civilian job that allows you to promote as quickly or with as little politics as possible. Yes, there is some subjectivity in the EPR system, yes, it's inflated. But holy crap, all you have to do is study for a couple months every few years, score well on a test, and you hold your promotion in your own hands. That does not happen in the civilian world. And the criteria for everything is so clear! There's a form that even categorizes everything that is expected of you. Do it, and do it well, and you will rise quickly. There are people I used to work with nine years ago as a civilian that are still doing the exact same job as when I left, probably for the same or very close to the same pay.

The AF gives me the opportunity to better myself. In addition to the education mentioned above, I've also received good training from the AF in various schools. I get to work on multi-billion dollar satellite systems that would be almost impossible to get into as a civilian. I've volunteered to do a lot of things I may not have otherwise done, and I enjoyed it. There are so many programs and classes you can take to not only teach you a profession but for other areas of your life as well. Training like Airman Leadership School and OTS may seem silly at times, but if you actually take the concepts they are trying to teach you and apply them to your actual job and life, there is quite a bit of value there if you choose to apply it and don't just shoot it down or make fun of it and think it doesn't apply to you.

Anyway, that's part of my story. The AF is definitely not for everyone, and it has plenty of problems, but there are a lot of good things as well. So new guys, don't be afraid to join. If you have the right attitude, you'll find plenty to enjoy in the AF. Old guys, honestly, bitching and tearing everything down all the time really does no good other than to bring yourself and everyone around you down even more. I know there's been some big missteps recently but just try focusing on something positive for a little while.

If anyone else has a little positivity left, share it here if you like.

While I am paid by the Air Force, this is not sponsored by the AF. I'm not some plant from General Welsh trying to raise morale! Would just like to see something positive in here.