Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/switching branches of service.

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Expert: Rod Powers - 11/2/2009


Question
I am currently in the Marine Corps. i have served 4 years 10 months of my 5 year contract, so basically its time to decide what to do. I have heard many rumors on what can be done about switching to the air force side. Do you know the true rules on switching over? I'm in the aviation maintenance field if that helps.

Answer
Hi John,

You can't just "switch." In order for you to enlist in the Air Force, you would first have to complete your Marine Corps Enlistment, get out with an honorable discharge, and then see an Air Force active duty recruiter to apply as a "prior service" applicant.

I need to warn you that the Air Force accepts very, very few prior service applicants each year (less than a hand-ful), even if they are prior service Air Force. The very few I've seen approved over the last couple of years have been those who are willing to serve in (and qualify for) special operations AFSCs (jobs), such as Pararescue or Combat Controller.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my US Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
About.com US Military Guide
http://usmilitary.about.com

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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Rod Powers

Expertise

Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.

Experience

Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.

Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).

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