Hi, I am a current student in high school that is interested in joining the military. My intentions are to join the airforce.

My ASVAB score overall was a 74, which I have been told is good by recruiters. I also got a 24 overall ACT score.

This year I will be a senior, which gives me a couple of months to prepare for the military. I'm in excellent shape since I am on the cross country and track team and run 7-8 miles a day. My GPA is a 3.5. So I think I am qualified to join, and hopefully get a job I would prefer.

My question to you is if you know if it's possible to use the military to specialize in an area concerning a language. I would like to become bilingual. I saw a thread by someone who was interested in learning Japanese, but my interest is French. What kind of professions in the military require learning a foreign language? My main goal is to become proficient in a second language. I also want to get a good life experience out of the military, along with serving my country.

Another question I ask is if I joined an academy, would the military pay for my education while I go through the ROTC program for four years?

I am very confused, and details seem hazy on the websites I have looked at. I would like answers from someone who has experience in the military, so your help would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to know "how to get out of the military" or any of that junk that one guy in the recruiting area keeps talking about.

Also, I want to know anything straight up. My recruiter in my area likes to bullshit around a lot about the branches of the military, and overhype the air force. That is his job of course, so I understand why he does it. But I am not a fool, and I am not going to join something unless I get a good idea of what I am getting myself into.

You have to ask yourself if you want to enlist or become an officer, that is the first and formost question.

If you want to become an officer,

1. AFROTC is done while going to a normal college, you can also get a scholarship to do this.

2. The AF academy, you would have to get your ACT scores up or take the SAT instead, the academy doesnt care about ASVAB scores, you will also have to get a congressional nomination, but that is not to hard, I got 2 of them.

The recruiter is not hyping anything, the AF has the best quality of life and the least hazing by leaps and bounds.

You should ask if you can shadow an enlisted member before you join (if you choose to go enlisted), because you have never been in so you only know what you hear and once you are in its hard to get out, that is why I have the how to get out portion in this forum for thoes that think im full of it until they get in (usually army) and see what the real deal is all about and its not pretty.

I can answer the language question, at least....
The easiest, most common way to gain a language seat is to go into Signals Intelligence. All branches of the service have this MOS and it is an entry level job. Not sure if the AF has a minimum ASVAB score to enter this MOS, but most services have one. Not sure, but I think USMC was 90 or somewhre near there. Don't know about other services. You'll also have to test (and pass) the DLAB- Defense Language Aptitude Battery. I know US Army had a minimum 85 as passing, USMC had 100, but again, I'm sure each service has their own criteria. If you can, take this DLAB before enlisting (I'm not sure if they offer it, they used to...). If you fail it after enlisting, well...you're kinda screwed out this job.

As far as getting French....It will depend- Needs of the service. Once you're in the training pipeline for language school you get to list three languages you'd like. You'll usually get one of those three, provided that at least one or two are "target" languages- Meaning the USAF needs those languages at that time. You can guess that Arabic, Farsi, Chinese, etc are on the top of the list. French is there as well, just lower on the list.

And, of course, you're recruiter hypes the USAF. I'm retired USMC, I'll hype the USMC....but I won't. Look at each of the services, and realize each recruiter has his own quota to fill and smack to talk so he/she can convinvce you the other services aren't right for you.

For me, it was the uniform. USMC Blues look damn good. USAF uniform looked like a bus driver.....

I can't answer any of the education program questions. But if you have the chance, go to college first, then make your decision.

Hey, current enlisted Air Force linguist here. About your questions on being a linguist, Patoloco hit the nail on the head. If you have your heart set on French, get that thought out of your mind now. The overwhelming majority of new enlistees are being sent through Arabic, Farsi, Chinese, and Korean. Do not let your recruiter convince you that there's any chance of you getting French. It will not happen.

As for the commissioning programs after you enlist. Yes, they're out there, but the problem is once you enlist, that's your committment. No one will care that you want to get a commission. Your primary duty is what you signed up for, and getting into a commissioning program once you're enlisted is highly selective. Keep in mind, it's not impossible, three of my good buddies were just accepted to AECP, but that was out of several dozen that applied...they were among the 5 or 6 that made it. Once you enlist and are trained up on your job in tech school, you're more valuable to the Air Force (or whatever branch you join) in that duty position. They will be reluctant to gamble on spending money to send you to a different program, because they've already made their investment in you.