I am thinking of joining the Air Force as a flight engineer. Is there anything you recommend me? Or more generally something about work that I should know? I just wanted to get an opinion from someone who’s been through it.
I am assuming from the way you phrased your question that you are not yet in the Air Force. If so, you cannot directly join the flight engineer career field. Air Force Manual 36-2108 (Enlisted Classification) details the requirements needed to enter any AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code …) job offered by the Air Force. Page 111, paragraph 3.5.2.2. states that, to be eligible to enter the Flight Engineer career field (1A1x0), you must possess a prior skill qualification of 5 or 7 levels in any of the in-flight refueling (Boom Operator – 1A0x0) , Aircraft Cargo Master (1A2x0), Airborne Mission Systems Career Fields (1A5x0), Manned Aerospace Maintenance (2Axxx) or Space and Missile Systems Maintenance (2M0x0), or possess a Flight Engineer Certificate from the FAA, an FAA Pilot License or a valid FAA Fuselage and Power Plant license or Aircraft Maintenance Technician License.
There has been talk of opening up the field of the Flight Engineer career to “beginners”, but no action has been taken so far that I know of. If you want to become a flight engineer, I suggest you check out the Loadmaster (1A2x0) or Boom Operator (1A0x0) career fields, and then retrain as soon as possible. Both are still crew members and fly on the plane. I started as a cargo manager and then retrained to be an engineer.
You must realize that the job of the flight engineer is to refuel planes, move cargo, etc. It is a job that focuses on TDYs. Although, since 9/11, I have deployed more than TDY and staying in a hotel is now a pleasure instead of a brown desert tent. Again, you have to weigh the benefits of a challenging job against family separation.
However, the rewards go far beyond the tangible. At the end of the day, you can see the end result of your work, you have moved your mission from point A to B. Since becoming an engineer, I have earned four air medals, two air achievement medals, and have been awarded the AF. Outstanding Unit Award eleven times, twice with courage (getting shot). My wife was not thrilled to find out about that. Both events occurred in Afghanistan. I have flown 3 different planes and logged over 8,100 flight hours.
I think it is very important to make a good career choice. Today’s demands on the military are very strenuous. You can look up the job descriptions for each job in the Air Force through the regulations I cited above. I know this is not the answer you were looking for, but now you have more information to take to your recruiter. Obviously, this is a very important career decision and will shape the future path your life takes. Make sure you make a smart and well-informed decision.