My job in the Air Force

When I walked into the recruiter’s office at 18 years old, I had no idea what the Air Force really was. All I knew was that it was the military and it could give me a job. I wasn’t sure what job I wanted and I told my recruiter “something in the medical field”. There were no slots open for a guaranteed job in medical and I was ready to leave right away. I ended up taking an “open mechanical” slot, which basically meant that I could be put into any position in maintenance. I ended up with a job as a fuel system repair apprentice.

I have been doing my job for four and a half years now and I have to say that it has grown on me. I am now a fuel system repair journeyman and I have had the privilege to work on the F-15, F-16, KC-135, RC-135, E-3 and the HH-60 helicopter. As a fuel systems repair journeyman, or a “tank rat”, it is my responsibility to troubleshoot and repair the fuel systems of the aircraft assigned to my base. If a component fails and needs to be replaced my crew and I have to crawl inside the tank and replace it. Some tanks are huge and easy to work in, but some tanks are very small and make it hard to change out parts. It is a dirty job; my career field was even featured on an episode of Dirty Jobs!

Although this is not the job I want to do for the rest of my career, I am honored to be doing it right now. We work long hours, weekends and we are away from our loved ones for long deployments and TDY’s. It is all worth it though, because in the end it is because of us that the aircraft in the Air Force can fly and complete their missions and in the end support America’s freedom.