If I could do it all over again, I would have done either this or counter intel (which was actually offered to me at the time) for reenlistment.

Major regrets now. And now that I am back in school and sorta hating it, threads like this really make me think about my life decisions...

Yeah I do have some questions, if you don't mind. My email is graefwork@gmail.com

Hi AggieEP,
I just joined the USAF and want to be a Cryptologic language analyst. I see you served as a ground support analyst before teaching in Monterey? Here's a few questions I have about the job:
-What was the work atmosphere like for you?
-How is the work/life balance?
-Is the job like a typical 9 hour day, or do you do shift work?
-What type of work does one do as a ground support crypto language analyst?
-Is the work very routine based? (do you sit at a desk all day?)

Also, if you know anything about life as a airborne crypto linguist for USAF, would you be willing to discuss this?
I am wondering if the missions you get sent on are ever combat related.

Ultimately, I'm trying to decide if I should do ground support or go airborne, and so I am weighing out the pros and cons. Thank you for the content!

Quote:

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Also, if you know anything about life as a airborne crypto linguist for USAF, would you be willing to discuss this?

I am wondering if the missions you get sent on are ever combat related.

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They absolutely are combat related. Very interesting work for your standard intel analyst. While I am not an intel dude I have worked in this specific area both on active duty and as a contractor.

I'm sorry I didn't see this until just now. I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my ability.

-What was the work atmosphere like for you?

Work atmosphere in the field was pretty good, as a ground linguist you will be assigned to one of the main cryptologic centers depending mostly on your language you are assigned. The work can be a mixture of tedious and boring some days, but that's mostly because the exciting days include putting intel on the president's desk which makes the typical days seem more generic by comparison.


-How is the work/life balance?

In my opinion, of all the branches the Air Force values your home life and off time more than any other. You might not always be home for holidays and your work schedule can be difficult at times, but my supervisors have always made it up to me by making sure I am able to take care of my family when I need to. If my kids get sick, a quick text and I'm covered for the day, need to take my wife to the airport, no problem. Once you are out of tech school you are a professional military linguist and you will be treated as such.

-Is the job like a typical 9 hour day, or do you do shift work?

There is no solid answer here. I worked shift because I supported live operations in Afghanistan from Georgia. Many other missions were on day shifts working M-F. A lot of offices tried to do 4 ten hour shifts so we always had 3 day weekends.

-What type of work does one do as a ground support crypto language analyst?

Again, there are so many possible things you could do so it's hard to give a definite answer. I've had friends take green door assignments where they stopped wearing uniforms and spent time doing things they couldn't even tell us about in a classified facility, we support counter terror operations, we always provide intel support anywhere our troops are deployed, there are diplomatic targets... Really I could go on forever.

-Is the work very routine based? (do you sit at a desk all day?)

Some will sit at a desk all day, others will deploy (usually volunteering to do so) but in general I'd classify it as an office job.

Also, if you know anything about life as a airborne crypto linguist for USAF, would you be willing to discuss this?
I am wondering if the missions you get sent on are ever combat related

For this just search for news stories involving the RC 135 rivet joint. The airborne linguists are right on the edge of international airspace. If your questions is whether they jump out and do the job on the ground in hostile areas, that answer is no. The Marine radio battalions and Army signal teams handle that part of the job. The airborne linguists stay airborne the duration of their missions.

I have some questions about the DLAB and preparing to be an airborne linguist with the air force. Could you email me at Jenessaingledew2@gmail.com?

Hi AggieEP,
Honestly, I am so glad that I stumbled upon your thread about being a linguist in the Air Force. I am currently in the USAF delayed-enlistment program and am taking the DLAB in two weeks, and haven't really had any article or person help assure me with any solid information on being a Cryptologic Language Analyst or what the process to becoming one is like. Like you said multiple threads down, most recruiters know very little on what you guys do, and mine is no exception. Your post indicated how knowledgeable you are, so I was hoping you'd be able to answer a few extra questions I have. First of all, I'm married and my husband is my world, he will always be my #1 priority despite anything ,no matter what, even though that may not make me the best soldier or airmen. With that being said, I always want to know certain aspects of how being and becoming a linguist will be in regards to my life with my husband. So, to dive right in, I've been told that preceding basic training I will be sent to Monterrey, Ca to attend language school and they will send my spouse as well which allow us to live together in a temporary housing assignment while I am going through training. Is this all true? And if you've experienced it, please provide details on what that was like, if there were any rules and what the housing was like. Also, will I have the ability to request being ground or airborne? ( I would obviously greatly prefer being a ground linguist to possibly avoid deployments.) Also, will I be able to list/request bases that I'd like to be stationed at such as requesting Alaska and Hawaii as top picks? My last question is, do you know how popular or often people get assigned to Korean? I really do not want to get Korean because, I'm sure you guessed it, I don't want to go to Korea, as spouses are not aloud to accompany you. Your response would be very much appreciated. Thank you.If you'd prefer to reply through email: madisonmarinell@gmail.com

Not going to comment on anything else but you should totally go to Korea. As Air Force you'll be down south on the peninsula probably Seoul or Osan. I think you'll enjoy your time. I did a year unaccompanied closer to the DMZ and I even had the option to bring my family, I just chose not to. While I didn't enjoy being in ththe Army in Korea I did enjoy Korea itself (what little I experienced). Being Paid to live in Korea is something you'll probably never get again. I would love to go back and take my family. The food is great and if your a young couple the night life in Seoul is amazing. Take it!

Maddie, anything that can happen bad to you in the military WILL EVENTUALLY HAPPEN.

Think long and hard before you sign up. Military lifestyle is very hard on the spouse and pretty tough on the service member as well. Been in for 5 years and I have missed birthdays, holidays, anniversaries and the first 9 months of my child's life. Guess where I was.....Korea. But I always make the best out of any situation so I have had a great time in the Army. There are a ton of Air Force personnel in Korea.

Please do not join if you are trying to dodge deployments. Many times I have been force to place military over family.

Maddie,

There should be videos on airforce.com that describe the training pipeline pretty well.

Your husband can definitely accompany you to Monterey, and the housing provided should meet your needs. (You can also use your BAH to find off base housing if you don't like the base housing on Ft Ord.

As to the concerns of others about your post, I both agree and disagree with them to certain extents.

They are correct that when you enlist in the military it needs to be for the right reasons. I've been on duty on holidays and unable to take leave for important days at times. I worked 12 hour night shifts for 1.5 years right after my daughter was born and definitely missed out on some of her milestones while I slept during the day.

But, the Air Force puts a premium on work/family balance and they have been very good to me when I've needed time off to care for my family. Our slogan of sorts right now is that the Air Force retains families. It's meant to remind us of the value of taking care of our airmen and their families.

I'll send you an email as well and you can ask any question you are curious about.

Thank you for the positive 411 on AF linguist! After my daughter's Asvab scores, her greatest interest is towards becoming a linguist. Second is Contracting. She is a Dec. college graduate in International Relations/Latin America focus with a Spanish minor. She is having her first meeting with the recruiter(post asvab) today. I hope she has the opportunity to take the DLAB before committing to a career choice. Do you have any advice towards this enlistment process.

Mom

MSR,

Does your daughter want to be a Spanish linguist? If so, tell her to tell the recruiter that she talked with a current 1N3 (Linguist) and heard about a program called precision recruiting where they are trying to match individuals with pre-existing language skills with those same languages (or language families in some cases) If he/she is doing their job well, they'll know who to put your daughter in touch with.

As for the enlistment process, if your daughter wants to be a linguist, it will happen (as long as she gets over a 110 on the DLAB). Contracting is also a fine AFSC that has many opportunities on the outside, so she should just be insistent on what jobs she really wants. The recruiter will make her list 7 jobs (probably) but if she's made her preferences clear with maybe the hint that she walks away without getting the job she wants (although not too strong on this point since you risk coming off as not committed to serving and perhaps upsetting the recruiter)

If you, or her have any questions about the career field please get me a contact email I can get in touch with you and I'll gladly expand on these thoughts and answer any other questions you have.

AggieEP: Thank you so much for all of your informative responses. I am considering enlisting in the Air Force to join the cryptological linguist program in Monterey. I am looking into the ground cryptolinguist option. I do have a few questions I'm afraid recruiters won't be able to answer accurately.

First of all, my first spoken, written and read language is Russian. I am fluent, although I might need a slight brush up on my grammar. What I'm wondering is if I have the option to choose the language I study or if there is a way for me to be tested on my proficiency in Russian, and how long I would need to be in the program if I was found to be fluent.

The second question I have is what life would look like for my family. I have two kids and a husband. Would they be they be moved to Monterey with me?

I would love to continue the conversation with you via email if you have the time.

rvmattoon@gmail.com

Thank you so much for your service.

Just to let others know, I'm still around and would love to answer any questions anyone has about the job.

I hope this thread has been helpful for anyone considering making the plunge and enlisting.

Hi aggieEP,

I'm in the DEP and about to start my journey as a USAF linguist, I'm trying to decide between airborne and ground. What would you say the chances are of starting out as a ground linguist and switching to airborne part way through my enlistment? I don't want to miss out on the trainings and opportunities that are provided to you as an airborne linguist (like traveling and SERE) but I also have heard that ground linguists work more closely with 3-letter agencies (Is this accurate? Working for one is ultimately my end goal). I know starting out as airborne and switching to ground is highly unlikely because airborne's are currently needed more, but perhaps the other direction is a possibility? If you'd prefer to email me my email address is Rachel_haney@live.com, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you

RachelMHaney said:

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Hi aggieEP,

I'm in the DEP and about to start my journey as a USAF linguist, I'm trying to decide between airborne and ground. What would you say the chances are of starting out as a ground linguist and switching to airborne part way through my enlistment? I don't want to miss out on the trainings and opportunities that are provided to you as an airborne linguist (like traveling and SERE) but I also have heard that ground linguists work more closely with 3-letter agencies (Is this accurate? Working for one is ultimately my end goal). I know starting out as airborne and switching to ground is highly unlikely because airborne's are currently needed more, but perhaps the other direction is a possibility? If you'd prefer to email me my email address is Rachel_haney@live.com, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you

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I was an Army linguist, but I work alongside a lot of AF linguists in my civilian job now. From what you've written and your desire to work for/with one of the agencies, your best route is a ground linguist. I'm not sure what options you have as I wasn't an Airman, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Best of luck!

I'm really missing this world right now. Wish I was back in

Why am I just seeing this? I was a DSO from 1999-2004. Part of that time was at JSOC. Man I miss it. Loved it

Uhhh. Is that not you that posted three years ago?

(Unless I'm missing something, which is totally possible)

JABQ04 said:

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Uhhh. Is that not you that posted three years ago?

(Unless I'm missing something, which is totally possible)

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Oh crap it is. I saw this last night and hit reply while it was on the first page. My apologies. I did see this three years ago apparently. My mind isn't what it used to be

You spend enough hours in the back of a -130 and that will happen to your rattled brain.

Is there an officer track for linguists?

OldArmyCT said:

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Is there an officer track for linguists?

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Not that I am aware of (in the Army anyways…well maybe warrant officer) but I do know the Army has their Functional Area 48 branch (FA-48) which is a Foreign Area Officer which I have worked with a lot over the years and seems like a pretty good assignment.

From what I have seen you are either in the country or region of your "expertise/language" with the US military uniformed "DAT" Defense Attache at the US Embassy in said country, working at one of the Army 3 Star HQ in your region (example you are fluent in Malay and work at the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur or you are stationed at Fort Shafter Hawaii as part of USARPAC in their G something cell with other FAOs and Civil Affairs types planning exercises etc for your "specialty" SE Asia). The other assignment would be at DC, so compared to other Army careers you are pretty much doing your FAO job all the time (and because the Army invested a lot in you to become fluent in Malay etc etc)

If there are any FAOs here on Texags (and maybe I oversimplified things) feel free to correct/elaborate on any part of my post.

Nice multi year bump here

I'm still around and now back in the education field again. Since the last time I posted here, the Air Force put me back through DLI to learn another language, sent me to work Counter Terrorism missions against ISIS, deployed me as a translator on a diplomatic mission, and now as previously mentioned I'm back working as an educator again.

At this point, 12.5 years in, I still couldn't be happier. I make over 100k a year now, the AF has helped me get 2 master's degrees and there is even an outside shot that they will soon pay for me to go get a PhD in second language acquisition to help drive our innovation in how to train airmen that can meet our complex challenges.

My same offer from before stands, anyone interested in the career should reach out.

Of the options that were before me as a 22 year old graduate of Texas A&M, I'm incredibly blessed and lucky that I found this job as it's been a perfect match for what I wanted out of life.

Love that! I'd love to have a beer with you. I miss being in the AF and miss being at JSOC. It was hell but it was also oddly comfortable.