I initially wanted to join the air force but the recruiter I spoke to was very standoffish. (avoided eye contact, gave one word answers, etc.) Don't know what his problem was. (shy? racist?) He has my contact info but never contacted me. I knew a girl I went to high school with who tried to join the air force with a stem degree, and the recruiter she talked to was similarly standoffish. So I figured this was a normal thing. *Watching various videos of the air force it seems like they're full of scawny nerds who watch anime. So most certainly I don't see myself being comfortable in that culture.
With my air force aspirations dead I went home, reset, and done as much research as I can on the army. If I'm to join the army I'd want to join a specialized unit (i.e.: 82nd airborne, 75th rangers, 160th soar) as opposed to the conventional army. **Looking to be an intel analyst in the ranger regiment. (so 35F w/ option 40)
Many people have fantasized about SF/SOF and have failed spectacularly. I've given myself 6 months to physically prepare myself before I even talk to an army recruiter as I'm most certainly not ready now. ***Been doing intermittent fasting, HIIT, yoga, calisthenics.
From what I can gather it appears that white supremacy is pervasive in the SOF community. ****There's this black former Navy Seal who got kicked out for punching a guy for calling him the N word. Hopefully I don't find myself in a similar situation.
Didn't watch the videos but a couple of things:
1) This fear folks have of racism in the service is really no different than it is outside the military. If you punched a dude at Walmart or Goldman Sachs or a lot of places for calling you an "N", you'd prolly get bounced from that job too.
Let's also keep in mind that unless we know every detail from every perspective, it's hard to say what's what. Did SEAL breh punch a superior (NCO/CO) or somebody in the same tier? Was dude squared away or was this the final straw? Not trying to play devil's advocate for cacs, but there's always two sides to every story.
Racism is everywhere but the fear of not doing something because you may encounter it stupid.
And without more brehs in SOF roles to stay and become SOF leadership, the mindset/culture prolly won't change.
2) Army has skinny nerds that watch anime too. Whenever we played other services in flag football, we stomped them. Any non-SOF dudes from the Army prolly aren't any bigger than non-SOF AF dudes. Hell, even in the AF a lot of dudes you wouldn't think based on where they work are beasting in every unit. Former D1 athletes, SOF washouts, Crossfitters, marathoners, bodybuilders, and powerlifters are everywhere.
When I lifted at a USA gym this summer, I was one of the biggest dudes there off rip and was surprised the Army cats weren't more brolic.
The fact that we were the "Chair Force" usually meant we had more time to go to the gym and spent less time doing bullshyt (unit PT, cleaning stuff for no reason, inspections, rucking, etc.) all while getting the same basic pay.
Let that last sentence sink in a bit.
3) Realize that the recruiters for all services are hit or miss. I had the exact same experience when I was about to go Army. Dude was running around with more heads than he could prolly count and didn't really seem like he wanted me. Went to an AF recruiter and it was closed, so I drove to another one maybe 10 miles away and struck gold: nice, cool breh who didn't give me any bullshyt and ran a tight ship. Was much better prepared than a lot of other cats at basic; some of them didn't even know how to give a reporting statement.
I wouldn't let an anecdote of one or two recruiters make me switch services but to each his own.
4) USA deals with way more bullshyt than USAF. Most USAF bases are nicer, are usually in better locations, and the culture is vastly different so it's usually more chill.
5) I get the whole special unit desire but I wouldn't sleep on the AF. A lot of those same types of jobs are specific billets (i.e. green door assignments) that can be yours with the right attitude. Know a dude that just left for one last year and is loving. I know Ravens and DAGRE dudes that like their jobs. Know some medics that tag along with Tier 2 units.
Unless you actually wanna be a Ranger, SF, or paratroop, I'd reconsider bushing the AF. Also, make sure you're cool with not being in one of those units. It's my understanding that you can be reassigned as an enabler and get moved back to the "conventional army".
Best of luck either way.
Only the dudes that can endure and embrace the suck will make it anyways.
