First Year In The Air Force

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, TX, UNITED STATES

01.14.2016

Story by Airman 1st Class Katherine Miller 

7th Bomb Wing

Recently, I celebrated my one-year anniversary in the United States Air Force. I hadn't planned to join the Air Force, but I'm so grateful for where I am now.

A few years back, during one of the hardest times of my life, I was having a very difficult time making ends meet. My father and stepmother divorced, which in turn, caused one too many problems. I had to move out on my own when I didn't expect and wasn't prepared to. I dropped out of college and began working three jobs to get by. By age 20, I could barely pay my bills on time, was living paycheck-to-paycheck, and seemed to be plummeting further down the hole. At one point, I decided to check out the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. After a failed attempt to enlist due to being severely overweight, I spent the next two years working ungodly hours and hitting the gym when I could to lose the extra weight I had packed on.

Finally, I mustered up the courage to return to a recruiter. After taking the practice ASVAB, I realized that I was capable of scoring high enough to choose any branch I wanted and almost any job, too. I went to see my local Air Force recruiter who recruited only for active duty. At that moment, I realized it was all or nothing. I was not ready to leave the only place I called home, yet I knew I had nothing going for me there. The choice quickly became clear, and I pursued active duty as opposed to guard/reserve.

After reading through all the books describing Air Force Specialty Codes, I made my job list, but honestly I didn't have much of a preference - I just wanted to leave and start my military career. My recruiter suggested going Security Forces, since that was his job and he spoke highly of it. Also, he told me the slots for SF come up quite often, so I was going to be able to leave for Basic quicker than if I waited for something else.
However, a few days after I left his office, my recruiter called me and said, "You need to make a decision and quick. I have an open job slot for a Photojournalist that'll ship you out on Monday morning." At this point, my heart was racing and I was speechless. What was I supposed to do? Leave my job right then and there so I could prepare and see my family before leaving in a week? Yes, that's exactly what I did. By noon, I had accepted the offer, left my job, given my family the news, and spent the next few days with those closest to me.

I left for Lackland AFB on December 29, 2014, and graduated on February 26, 2015. I attended the Defense Information School for technical training at Fort George G. Meade, Md., where I was lucky enough to be only an hour and 45 minutes away from home, allowing me to see my friends, boyfriend and family a lot during my training.
After graduating from DINFOS on July 17, I went home to Pennsylvania for the Recruiter's Assistance Program and leave. During that time, I married my now husband, Shane, on July 25.

I finally departed Pennsylvania to head here to Dyess and arrived in early August. I was here by myself until my husband was able to move down on my birthday two months later. It was definitely one of the hardest parts of our relationship. Granted, we were accustomed to being apart due to Basic and technical training, but it was so difficult having to spend the first months of our marriage apart. Most married military couples understand the struggle of completing all the paperwork a new marriage entails and the many changes marriage brings - moving to a new base, getting an
apartment, getting adjusted - made especially difficult by being 1,500 miles apart.

Since entering the Air Force and becoming a photojournalist, I have been given so many different and amazing opportunities. I have been to places I had never seen and probably wouldn't have, had I not enlisted. I have been able to meet so many people, tell their story, or take their photos. I am able to return to college to finish what I started and I am financially stable and capable of providing for myself, my husband and our future family.

Joining the Air Force has provided me with so much stability and endless opportunities... and it is definitely the best decision I have ever made.

• Date Taken: 01.14.2016
• Date Posted: 12.19.2016 16:11
• Story ID: 217714
• Location: DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, TX, US