The United States has always had a strong military and we all know how difficult it looks to be a part of, but what does it really take? We have six U.S. Military branches that work together in order to keep American citizens safe. Today, we focus on the United States Air Force and the story of one of our many heroes.

I had the opportunity to interview A1C (Airman First Class) Logan Night who has been part of the United States Air Force for one year now in hopes to help others better understand what the Air Force is looking for.

Now, you might be thinking, how does the Air Force even compare to the rest of the six branches, how did you figure out the Air Force was what you wanted to be a part of? Night said “The Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (AFJROTC) provided by Canyon gave me a chance to figure out what the Air Force is really like. Since I wanted to be in the Air Force I learned all the benefits the AFJROTC program provided, for example after 3 years of being in the program cadets are able to rank up to E-2 (Airmen), but if in the program for 4 years cadets rank up to be E-3’s (Airman First Class) which means a higher pay grade when enlisting into the military. Personally, it depends on what you want to do as a career but the Air Force provides a lot.”

The AFJROTC program provides military experience for students’ future careers. Many people don’t know what to expect when going into the Air Force. Night says to “Expect to try a whole bunch of things that you probably haven’t done before. A piece of advice, try to work with other BMT [Basic Military Training] trainees. Trainees come from all over the U.S. You’ll probably work with people that come from every single state within your first year, guaranteed. When joining, being a family to the rest of your buddies is incredibly important. You suffer as one and you get through it together.”

Looks like teamwork means a lot when trying to get through 8.5 weeks of training. As we continue, citizens watch from the stands to admire the hard work and dedication that goes into each soldier. When asked what the best part of being a soldier is, Night said “meeting new people from everywhere, they all have a story that comes along with their character. You get to go places you’ve probably never been to and get to try new things.”

The Air Force and other branches provide experience for everyone. Military personnel are able to be placed anywhere in the U.S. and other countries including South Korea, Iraq, Japan, Italy, Germany, Kuwait, Qatar, Honduras, Philippines, Cuba, Thailand, and Afghanistan. Of course, this is all depending on what career you pursue, some careers require specific military bases.

At the end of the day, military personnel is expected to have a certain mindset, what would you say those traits would be? “When you’re first starting out you need to be able to take orders and commands. Your job is to listen and follow orders, as soon as you join you get paid. Once you get on that plane and bus ride to BMT it is your job to follow without hesitation for those 2 months and a week.”

Having listening skills and being able to execute commands is incredibly important. Commanders and your flight members are expected to work together no matter what, so being open-minded and giving full attention is a trait needed for training.

Besides the acknowledgment of making sure you know what you need to do and be like for both BMT and graduating to be a part of the Air Force, how do you decide what you want to do as a job? “I chose to take a maintenance job because I love working with my hands compared to sitting behind a computer and punching in numbers. I believe that’s the answer… do what you love to do not what gets you the most money. If you don’t love your job then you’re definitely going to have a problem being motivated to work and you’re going to have nothing but negativity to work with.”

When asked about going through the motions during training, Night said he coped with failing tasks and managing the anxiety by realizing“There will be moments you fail at a task and they know you will. Your commanders consider this as a lesson and will take the opportunity to guide you and your flight to a better understanding. There’s no way to overcome anxiety, it’s all just mindset and the thought process that guides you to keep moving no matter how scary it is.” Many people, including myself, suffer from anxiety, and don’t feel like they could ever cope if involved in the military. But I’m telling you now, this is your chance to be what you want to be and work for what you want. The Air Force focuses on “one force, one family” and is looking for future military men and women to join someday.

Air Force Recruiting office:
Address: 24201 Valencia Blvd #100, Santa Clarita, CA 91350
Phone: (661) 255 – 5484
Website: Airforce.com