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How to Join the Air Force
If you’re looking for a way to serve your country, the Air Force is a great option. To join, you must be an American citizen and meet other requirements, and once you’re a member, you help protect the country via the air. Take a look at the steps for joining.
Make Sure You Meet the Standards
Before you take the steps to join the Air Force, it’s important to make sure you meet the requirements. In addition to being an American citizen, and you must be between the ages of 17 and 27. However, if you are 17, you must have your parents’ permission as well as a high school diploma. If you are applying to work in the Air Force as a doctor, nurse or other health professional, you may be able to surpass the age requirements, depending on the job you want.
Take the ASVAB
If you meet the requirements, you can sign up to take the Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). This is a test ensures you have what it takes to meet the demands of the Air Force. It can also determine what your strengths will be once you’re enlisted. It covers mathematics and reasoning, reading comprehension and work knowledge. If you pass, a recruiter may get in contact with you so you can take the next steps.
Pass Physical and Mental Screenings
You’ll then meet with a recruiter at a local Military Entrance Processing Station for your physical and mental screening. He or she has a list of standards set forth by the Air Force, the Department of Defense and federal laws that you must meet. You should be in good physical shape, so the Air Force advises starting an exercise program before you apply. You’ll also need to know that you have the mental capacity to work in the environments you may travel to. Finally, your recruiter can help you identify the Air Force jobs you’re most qualified for and the ones that interest you most.
Go into the Delayed Entry Program
Once you are officially accepted into the Air Force, you’ll go into the Delayed Entry Program. (DEP) This means you are officially a member of the U.S. military, but you are part of the inactive reserves. During this time, you may wait up to a year to be called for basic military training. The time may be used to ensure you meet security clearances, and many recruits use it to get themselves into better shape.
Leave for Basic Military Training
When DEP is over, you head for basic military training (BMT). This part of your training will challenge you mentally and physically, but once it’s over, you’ll officially be qualified to being your career serving in the United States Air Force.
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ASSIGNMENTS
Welcome to the Active Duty Assignment home page. This page will provide enlisted personnel critical information about various assignment programs, career fields, special duty assignments, and links to other resources related to enlisted assignments. For issues and questions concerning assignments, please use the button below.
Contact Your Assignment Team
Assignment management system.
The Assignment Management System (AMS) is a CAC enabled platform which maintains a portfolio of programs ensuring the right Airman goes to the right job at the right time. Requirements are advertised through the Enlisted Quarterly Assignments List (EQUAL). You may volunteer and update your preferences through the virtual Military Personnel Flight application, or contact your local military personnel office. These programs may be accessed through the AFPC Secure application.
Based on your choices and your relative priority among those in the same grade and AFSC, names are matched to the bases. The assignments flow to your local military personnel office then to your commander for official notification.
Graduates from basic military training are provided assignments on a weekly basis, as are most graduates from Technical Training. Assignments are provided to the Continental United States as well as overseas and are provided equitably among the commands. Individual preferences are considered to the fullest extent possible.
If you have questions concerning your AMS account, please send an email to [email protected] . If you are experiencing problems with the AMS application, please contact the A1 Service Desk.
The New Way of Officer Assignments
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Talent Marketplace assignment system expands to all officer specialty codes
By Kat Bailey Air Force’s Personnel Center Public Affairs
The Air Force will use this key talent management technology to publish and manage the Vulnerable-to-Move List, submit and prioritize fill actions (requisitions) and submit assignment preferences in place of Airmen Development Plans. ADPs may still be used in some special circumstances such as Squadron Command Statements of Intent.
Talent Marketplace examines officer assignment solutions by offering transparency of potential jobs available to officers, increasing visibility of officers’ assignment preferences to commanders and incorporating gaining commander input into the action. The website possesses interactive filtering capabilities, expanded billet information and enhanced officer information to facilitate this level of responsiveness and agility.
“The key to Talent Marketplace is its ability to provide officers with more realistic assignment expectations,” said Capt. William Werner, Chief, Assignment Program Development at the Air Force’s Personnel Center. “At the same time, Talent Marketplace gives all stakeholders--Airmen, commanders, billet owners, Higher Headquarters Management Levels and AFPC--a greater voice in the process.”
AFPC expanded the use of the Talent Marketplace assignment system platform in the last summer cycle to all rated, cyberspace operations, force support, air liaison, space operations, operations research and health services administrator officers, more than 4,000 in all.
In the future, AFPC intends to increase inputs from even more stakeholders in Talent Marketplace, to include professional development and higher headquarters requisition priorities. By continuously developing the software, AFPC can improve its ability to provide agile and artful talent management.
“This system will not magically fix our various officer shortages nor dramatically increase retention,” Werner said. But it is designed to provide increased transparency and interaction that should lead to greater awareness and satisfaction with the assignment process.
“We are also confident that there’s quite a bit left to develop, so we continue to incorporate feedback and make modifications as we go in order to meet the Air Force’s ever-changing needs,” he said.
AFPC is also investigating Talent Marketplace as a potential way to manage enlisted assignments and 365-day deployments.
All officers should ensure they have an updated myVECTOR account no later than Feb. 8 and enter Talent Marketplace to update their profile information. A playlist with Talent Marketplace tutorials is available on AFPC’s YouTube channel .
*Talent Marketplace is best viewed using Google Chrome.
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Here’s how the Air Force could change its job assignment process
Air Force leaders are sifting through a list of proposed changes to how airmen are assigned new jobs, and may announce some updates by the end of September.
After about a year at work, a panel of airmen from across the service has floated more than 90 suggestions for assignment reform. Now it’s up to the Air Force’s personnel branch, the Air Force’s top enlisted leader and other officials to bring some of them to fruition.
The recommendations are part of an overarching effort to improve quality of life and career opportunities across the force.
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How airmen are assigned jobs gets a fresh look from new Air Force panel
A new air force panel will rethink how the service assigns troops to new jobs, chief master sergeant of the air force joanne bass said monday..
“We’ve got to start to change some of our assignment policies to mirror what today’s military family looks like,” said Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass in an exclusive Sept. 6 interview.
Their ideas fall into three broad categories: policy changes that cost nothing; changes that require funding, possibly software and other resources; and wider-ranging updates that will take more time to flesh out.
For instance, while the Air Force tries to station two active duty spouses in the same place, it never created a similar policy on how to assign jobs to couples with one active duty airman and one Reservist or Guardsman.
That’s “kind of crazy,” Bass said. “That’s an easy fix.”
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Air Force to end preferred basing for enlisted as it changes how airmen find new jobs
The "base of preference" program's last day is may 31..
The Air Force could also change how it considers airmen for emergency transfer to another base, such as sexual assault victims trying to get away from their abuser.
“There shouldn’t be any calculus,” Bass said. “I don’t care how long somebody’s been ‘time on station.’ We’ve got to expedite people and allow them to be able to transfer out of their duty station.”
Among the more complicated proposals is a suggestion to rethink how long airmen should live at each base.
“Are short tours and long tours and standard tours appropriate for today’s force?” Bass said. “What might have been considered a hardship tour 15 or 20 years ago may not be a hardship tour [now], and it doesn’t need to be a short tour.”
Short overseas postings such as at Morón Air Base, Spain, or Pápa AB, Hungary, can last one to two years. Long postings can last three or four years in places like the United Kingdom or Japan.
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Air Force extends first-term, unaccompanied tours at some overseas duty stations to 36 months
The change is designed to give the service member additional time to train with the unit, along with greater “stability," the air force said..
In February, then-Air Force personnel boss Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly told House lawmakers that enlisted airmen spend just over four years at installations in the continental United States on average, while officers spend about three years at each base.
Bass argues it’s time to reconsider how long airmen remain at stateside bases. She’s open to the idea of standardizing the length of those postings, and offering extensions to people who request them — as happens for assignments abroad.
“Perhaps if it’s a win to the airman and it’s a win to the Air Force to keep that member there for another year or two years, allow our command teams to … take a look at that,” she said.
Airmen don’t necessarily have to stay in the same job if they want to remain at a particular base. If a slot is open and they meet the requirements, the Air Force can move someone into a new unit at their current base or one nearby to maintain some stability.
The service is also trying to make job opportunities more transparent and accessible so airmen can better explore their options. At the same time, it wants more flexibility to move people around — or not — as needed.
A bearish manpower outlook means the Air Force has to plan ahead to avoid stretching the force even thinner.
“We really have to be thoughtful [about], how do we keep talent on the table five years from now, 10 years from now, 15 years from now?” Bass said. “Assignments matter to people.”
Rachel Cohen joined Air Force Times as senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in Air Force Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), the Washington Post, and others.
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Air Force Assignment System
There are many factors that go into deciding assignments.
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Rod Powers was a retired Air Force First Sergeant with 22 years of active duty service.
- Air Force NCO Academy
Air Force assignments are governed by Air Force Instruction 36-2110. Qualified people with the needed skills must be in the right job at the right time to meet the Air Force mission.
At the same time, the Air Force has a responsibility to keep attuned to the demands placed on its members resulting from personnel tempo, a quality-of-life metric that measures the amount of time an individual spends away from their home station for operational and training purposes, such as temporary duty or designated dependent-restricted assignments.
Consequently, the Air Force classifies and assigns people worldwide as equitably as possible to ensure a high state of readiness. While the primary consideration in selecting personnel for reassignment is the member’s qualifications to accomplish the mission, the Air Force also considers additional factors.
How the Air Force Determines Assignments
The Air Force assigns members without regard to color, race, religious preference (except chaplains ), national origin, ethnic background, age, marital status (except military couples), spouse’s employment, education or volunteer service activities of spouse, or gender (except as provided for by statute or other policies).
The Special Experience Identifier (SEI) system complements the assignment process and is used when specific experience or training is critical to the job and no other means is appropriate or available. The SEI system is also used to rapidly identify personnel to meet unique circumstances, contingency requirements, or other critical needs.
Manpower positions are coded with an SEI to identify positions that require or provide unique experiences or qualifications. While some assignments require special experience, the vast majority of Air Force enlisted assignment slots do not.
Positions often require members assigned to have access to a specified level of classified information. Selection for these jobs may be necessary from among members who currently have access or can be granted access immediately.
Volunteers Selected First
Within a group of qualified members who meet the minimum eligibility criteria for PCS selection, volunteers are selected first.
Non-volunteers qualified to fill a requirement who meet the minimum PCS eligibility criteria are selected ahead of qualified volunteers who do not. For example, time on station (TOS) is a PCS eligibility requirement. A qualified volunteer who meets the minimum TOS requirement is considered first in order of longest on the station.
Next, the qualified non-volunteer who meets the TOS requirement in the order of longest on station and finally the qualified volunteer who does not meet the TOS requirement may be considered.
First-term Airmen serving an initial enlistment of four or more years may not be given more than two assignments in different locations following initial basic and skill training during their first four years of service, regardless of tour length.
First-term Airmen who make two PCS moves are permitted an additional PCS in conjunction with an approved humanitarian reassignment, a join-spouse assignment, as a volunteer, or when the PCS is a mandatory move (such as returning from a tour at the end of the prescribed tour length).
Availability and Deferment
A member is considered available for reassignment on the first day of the month in which they're available.
Deferments may be authorized when possible in most grades and jobs to maintain an equitable assignment system and also support the need for stability in certain organizations or functions.
Deferments are normally approved to preclude a member’s PCS while they're being evaluated for suitability or during a period of observation or rehabilitation. Deferments also exist for such things as completion of an educational program or degree, to serve as a witness for a court-martial, when accused in a court-martial, to control the roster, Article 15 punishment, base of preference (BOP) program, retraining or humanitarian reasons.
Humanitarian Assignment Policy
The humanitarian policy provides reassignment or deferment for Air Force members to assist them in resolving severe short-term problems involving a family member. The problem must be resolvable within a reasonable period of time and the member's presence must be considered absolutely essential to resolve the problem.
Family members under the humanitarian program are limited to a spouse, children, parents, parents-in-law, and those persons who have served in loco parentis (one who has exercised parental rights and responsibilities in place of a natural parent).
While brothers and sisters are not included in the definition of a family member for humanitarian consideration, a request involving a brother's or sister's terminal illness often is considered as an exception to the policy.
Exceptional Family Member Policy
The Exceptional Family Member Policy (EFMP) is a separate and distinct program from the humanitarian policy. This program is based on a member's need for special medical or educational care for a spouse or child that is required long-term, possibly permanently. It is not a base-of-choice program as assignment decisions are based on manning needs of the Air Force at locations where a member's special medical or educational needs for a spouse or child can be met.
Under the EFMP, a member may receive a reassignment if a need arises for specialized care that cannot be met where they are currently assigned. A deferment from an assignment may be provided for a newly identified condition if the member's presence is considered essential. The purpose of such a deferment is to allow the member time to establish a special medical treatment program or educational program for the exceptional family member.
When granted, the initial period of deferment is usually 12 months, after which a member may be reconsidered for PCS if otherwise eligible.
Military Couples Assignments
Each member of a military couple serves in their own right. This means military couples must fulfill the obligations inherent to all Air Force members they are considered for assignments to fill valid manning requirements and must perform duties that require the skills in which they are trained. Provided these criteria are met, military couples may be considered for assignment where they can maintain a joint residence.
In very limited circumstances a member may ask for a voluntary PCS and agree to pay all expenses involved. Also, travel time is charged as ordinary leave. Members must meet all PCS eligibility criteria for the type of move requested. Permissive PCS may not be granted based solely on the willingness of a member to move at their own expense.
The voluntary stabilized base assignment program provides airmen a stabilized tour in exchange for volunteering for an assignment to a historically hard-to-fill location.
CONUS-Isolated Station Assignments
Normal personnel support facilities (military or civilian) aren’t available at certain continental U.S. (CONUS) stations or within a reasonable distance. This creates a degree of hardship for personnel assigned to these stations.
To prevent involuntary assignment at these locations for long periods, the Air Force established a minimum 15-month tour for single and unaccompanied personnel and a minimum 24-month tour for accompanied personnel. Individuals assigned to a CONUS-isolated station may request reassignment upon completion of the tour.
Extended Long On Station Tour Length
The Extended Long On Station Tour Length (ELT) volunteer program applies to airmen who volunteer for PCS OS to a long-tour location (one where the accompanied tour length is 24 months or more and the unaccompanied tour length is more than 15 months). Airmen who volunteer for an ELT agree to serve the standard tour length plus an additional 12 months.
Educational Deferment
Airmen who have not yet been selected for a PCS may request a deferment from assignment selection when they have nearly completed high school, a vocational program, or college degree requirements.
Requests for deferment are processed through the education office (which will confirm eligibility). Airmen may be deferred up to 9 months to complete high school or up to 12 months to complete a college degree.
Dependent Care and Adoption
All military members ensure arrangements are made for the care of their dependents when they must be separated due to TDY or PCS. Military couples with dependents and single-member sponsors are expected to fulfill their military obligations on the same basis as other members. They are eligible for worldwide duty and all assignments for which they qualify.
To ensure all members remain available for worldwide duty, they must have workable plans to provide parent-like care for their dependents as outlined in AFI 36-2908. Members who cannot or will not meet military commitments due to family needs will be considered for discharge. Members adopting children are given a limited time to complete the official adoption process. Individuals may be authorized for deferment during the four-month period following the date a child is officially placed in the member’s home.
Family members (parents, spouse, brothers, sisters, and children) will not be assigned to the same unit or function where one member may hold a command or supervisory position over the other.
PCS Cancellation
Once a member is selected for PCS and orders are published, cancellation of the assignment could impose a hardship on the member. A PCS should not normally be canceled within 60 days of the projected departure date unless the member cannot be effectively used at the projected location.
Cancellation may be authorized by the assignment OPR (Office of Primary Responsibility). If the member indicates a hardship will exist as a result of the cancellation, then the MPF will direct the member to prepare a written statement containing the details of the hardship. The statement should be coordinated through the unit commander to the MPF.
Cancellation Requested by Member
Airmen who are selected for PCS, TDY, or training and who do not want to participate in an event may elect to request retirement under the seven-day option provision (assuming they have more than 20 years of service and are retirement eligible ).
Airmen who elect to retire are ineligible for promotion consideration and are ineligible for an extension of enlistment or reenlistment, except as authorized in conjunction with a request for retirement.
Aside from the seven-day option provision, airmen who do not have the minimum required retainability for the event may be eligible to decline the assignment.
Declining an overseas assignment by refusing to obtain the required retainability usually results in immediate re-enlistment ineligibility, which usually results in becoming ineligible for promotion.
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The U.S. Air Force is allotted 24% of WHCA's personnel slots. Air Force personnel can be found in almost all areas of WHCA from satellite communications to photo processing, from computer programming to the personnel arena.
Download Application
The application process consists of two steps:
- Volunteer within AMS (Assignment Management System) via the AF Portal for your specific AFSC, then email the AF recruiter immediately after pushing the volunteer button. Or, email the AF recruiter directly if you’re interested in applying.
- Completely fill out application and submit to [email protected] with the following documents in PDF format:
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- WHCA job vacancies will be posted on the Equal Plus system 12-18 months from the date of the projected vacancy. If none appear, there are no vacancies. WHCA is a five year tour, and turn around is constant.
Applications missing the above documents will not be processed.
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- Now that you have an account, you can upload files by going to drive.max.gov . Applicant will select a file to upload, a number of days the file will be available, and you can (but don’t have to) also identify a password for pickup. It will be easiest to scan all documents into one file for one PDF to upload onto the website.
- After one PDF file including all paperwork is uploaded, a unique website link will be generated. Applicants will send WHCA Recruiting Team [email protected] or [email protected] the link (and password if applicable) and our team can go in to pick up the document.
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Air Force says PCS moves continue after concerns of pause mount among airmen

Passengers board the Patriot Express at RAF Mildenhall, England, Dec. 20, 2022. The Air Force is still processing new military assignments, and moves scheduled this year haven’t been canceled, the service said, following concerns and posts by airmen on unofficial social media channels. (Viviam Chiu/U.S. Air Force)
The Air Force is processing new assignments and scheduled permanent-change-of-station moves are still going according to plan, the service said, following numerous social media posts referring to a pause in processing the movements of airmen.
“The Air Force Personnel Center is not pausing processing military assignment actions nor canceling assignments for those scheduled” to move in fiscal year 2023, Tech. Sgt. Deana Heitzman, an Air Force spokeswoman at the Pentagon, said in a statement to Stars and Stripes on Wednesday.
Numerous comments and screenshots of what appear to be Air Force documents and unit messages were posted to unofficial military social media channels earlier this week, informing airmen that assignments and moves had been temporarily paused due to a significant shortfall in the service’s PCS budget.
“We are Air Force wide 7-day assignment pause,” said an anonymous post Tuesday on Air Force Reddit, noting that someone had posted about the issue earlier but had since deleted the post.
The PCS budget is projected to be expended for enlisted members by Aug. 1 and sooner for officers, the post continued. “They are pausing to ensure that the math is correct and come up with a solution.”
Added to the comments below the post was a screenshot of a message directed to unit leaders, stating that the loading of new assignments into the system was on hold. Heitzman said she could not confirm the authenticity of the note.
Others said they received a similar message.
“Got the same from my Commander today,” said another Reddit post Tuesday. “He briefed us as soon as he heard so we weren’t caught by surprise. Lots of badly needed career progression about to be put on pause in my work center.”
Similar posts appeared on the popular Air Force amn/nco/scno Facebook page .
But Air Force officials said Wednesday that no changes had been decided.
An email sent to airmen from the Air Force Personnel Center on Wednesday backed up that statement, adding that earlier communication on the subject may have been premature or erroneous.
“To be crystal clear — we are continuing to process military assignment actions,” it said. “We apologize for the confusion from a previous message on this topic.”
The back-and-forth left some airmen skeptical regarding the service’s fiscal standing.
“I’m not trying to stoke fires, but nowhere in the statement did it address the current state of the budget,” said one Air Force Reddit commenter. “Just that assignments will still be processed and assignments won’t be canceled.”
Heitzman did not say whether there is a shortfall in the PCS budget, following an emailed question from Stars and Stripes.
A Government Accountability Office study published in 2015 determined that PCS move costs across the Defense Department increased 28% from 2001 to 2014, to $4.3 billion, after accounting for inflation.
The report found that the Air Force spent the highest per move, at an average of $8,548.
The service asked for $1.1 billion for 2023 PCS moves, according to Air Force budget documents.
Moving costs in general are on the rise because of inflation, higher shipping rates and gas price spikes, fueled in part by a supply crunch during the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
The military services also are now obligated to pay for more temporary lodging expenses. Last fall, the Defense Department mandated an increase in temporary lodging coverage from 10 to 14 days for stateside moves and up to 60 days for service members moving to an area with a housing shortage.
related stories
- Defense secretary issues orders aimed at putting more money into troops’ pockets
- Army hasn’t paid reservists housing money a year after a board said it broke the law
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Air Force leaders are sifting through a list of proposed changes to ... and maintenance on F-16 canopies and egress systems to ensure the
The voluntary stabilized base assignment program provides airmen a stabilized tour in exchange for volunteering for an assignment to a
(AF/A1) develops personnel policy for military assignments. ... Attachment 9—(RegAF Only) AIR FORCE OFFICER ASSIGNMENT SYSTEM.
Application; Last three EPRs; PT history; SURF; BIO; Joint Assignment Leadership Evaluation. WHCA job vacancies will be posted on the Equal Plus system 12
The Air Force is processing new assignments and scheduled ... stating that the loading of new assignments into the system was on hold.