Space & Missiles

[Guest madeus]

I'm putting down Space and Missiles as my first choice on my 53. I know most of the stuff on this site is flying related, but if someone has some insight in to the Space & Missiles field, I'd appreciate a little guidance. Things like what to expect for my first assignment, bases (good ones, not so good), training, lifestyle and such.

Thanks a lot

[Gas Man]

Good chance you will get Great Falls MT. Malmstrom AFB. All new housing, very nice. Hope you like the outdoors, as there isn't a whole lot else to do there. Don't know about FE, or Minot.

[PapaJu]

Well I'd suggest you check out the Space and Missile forum on airforceots.com. They have some good topics answering your questions. Other than that though, I've read that Minot, despite being in the middle of nowhere, itself is a very nice base.

[Guest aaron.morris]

Madeus, the space and missile career field is a very "up in the air" game to try and play in. As a non-vol into it I have found that it can be very rewarding depending on what you want to do. Right now I am a space officer at Thule AB in Greenland and as my first assignment I have been introduced to many people that will be my close friends throughout my career. With that said I'll be very frank about your chances of getting a space slot. I am assuming you are in ROTC. If that's right then after graduation you will report into Vandenberg for OSPT. This course is challenging but nothing to get to worked up about as long as you know how to study exactly what information they hand out to you. About four weeks into training you will fill out a dream sheet which consists of what type of job you want or where you want to be stationed. There are many different space jobs including: lift, satellite command and control, missile warning, etc... These are the jobs that are few and far between and roughly about 25% get picked up for those particular jobs. The other 75% get missile jobs. Now if sitting in a hole for 24 hours a day 8-12 times per month sounds fun by all means volunteer for space and missiles. What I am trying to say is that unless you are single with no dependents and willing to go to the arctic circle for a year, but still not want to do a missile job then pick a different career field. I have seen to many friends of mine come into training wishing they could do some kind of space job and get stuck with missiles for the next four years. With all of that aside, if you eventually want to get a pilot or nav slot, and assuming you get picked up for a space slot, then chances are if you have the scores, OPRs, and your CC's recommendation, then you have a good chance of getting what you want. I know this thread is a little long-winded but you now have what I went through. I hope it helps. Good luck!

[BONE Co-driver]

Madeus,

I was in Space and Missiles for almost 4 years before going to pilot training. If you have any specific questions, PM me.

[Guest waxgoblin]

can you ask and answer questions in this thread so everybody can learn a thing or two? thanks

i'll start it off:

Why do they make people do 24 hour shifts? Thats not only unhealthy but wouldn't people become innefficient after 18 hours? I'd be sleeeeping.

Also, what do they do for 24 hours? sit there and play sony PSP, or are they doing practice drills?

[ 01. April 2005, 04:02: Message edited by: waxgoblin ]

[Guest Pogo]

Haven't you seen the movie WarGames?

[Guest waxgoblin]

can't say i have, but if its 3 hours of a guy sitting in a cave playing his sony PSP I don't know if I should :D

[Guest madeus]

From what I've seen on some other sites, being in the hole ain't so bad. it seems that you do a bit of mantainence, most of the time one of you is sleeping, and the chef above has about an eight page menu for you to chose from.

That's just what I've seen others say.

Anybody know if there is truth to that?

[BONE Co-driver]

You are in the silo for 24 hours, but you are not awake the entire time. You take turns with the other missileer sleeping. During the entire alert you are actually working an average of 2-3 hours depending on if there is an exercise going on. The rest of the time people study (kind of like studying in the vault), work on Master's classes, watch Direct TV, play games(I can neither confirm nor deny that there are people who bring PS2 or an XBox on alert). There is a "support" crew topside which consists of a chef (if you want to call them that! lol some are ok, however), a FM (Facilities Manager- takes care of most of the maintaince topside and much of the equipment downstairs, and 4-7 cops.

To answer your question as to why they do 24 hour shifts, to be honest, that is just the way it has always been done. I think it is partly because of the long travel times to get to the sites. Their just isn't enough manning to have shorter shifts. However, during certain "real world conditions and states of readiness" they have an A1/A2 crew which is basically another crew topside that you change out with every 12 hours because both crewmembers are required to be awake at all times...that is just about all I can say about that.

According to regs, you can only have 8 scheduled events a month meaning 8 alerts, 7 alerts and a standby, and so on. Most line crews have the full 8 events, but when you go to a shop (OGV or OSS) you only have 2 alerts a month. Other than the alerts you will have a minimum of 1 4-4 hour sim (you practice ending the world...lol) and 2 half days for other training. So, when it is all said and done I was working at most 12 or 13 days a month. The rest of the time I could do what I wanted.

I am not going to lie, it does get pretty boring at times, but as with any job, it is what you make of it. Most work on Master's degrees. That is the 1 cool thing about the job...your free time to get an education. It is very rare that someone would PCS without a Masters complete. The follow on jobs after your life as a missileer is pretty good. Some go to Vandenberg (schoolhouse or Space lift), Colorado Springs to "drive" satellites, Florida for space lift, and the few that go to ???? for an NRO job. From what I have heard, the guys who go to Colorado Springs to do the satellite thing have a good deal afterwards since the civilian contractors love to hire seperating officers to do the same job and pay them 3 times as much as the Air Force was.

If I didn't like flying so much, Space Command would have been a very good life for my family and I...decent bases (other than the missile bases) and you are non-deployable for the most part.

If you have any other questions, please let me know and I will try to answer them for you.

[scoobs]

Is sitting in a silo that bad.I know you said that its boring but how is that hard on your family?What else do you do in the missle field besides sitting alert?Also how hard is it to get space over missles?And if you go missle can you switch ovet to space later?Also what bases are available?I think it sounds like a good job.

[ 01. April 2005, 12:38: Message edited by: scoobs ]

[Guest Pogo]

https://www.ebaumsworld.com/endofworld.html

Good little movie

[BONE Co-driver]

I didn't say that it was bad on your family, unless they don't like the small town thing. I can't speak for the other 2 missile bases, but Minot is not really that bad. It is a very small town, but there is plenty to do. In about 4 hours you can be in Fargo and in about 8 you can be in the twin cities area.

The only time you are in the missile field is when you are pulling alert. Like I said earlier, you are really only "working" for about 2 to 3 hours per alert (average) and the rest of the time you are either studying EWO, working on a Masters, sleeping, watching tv, or playing a game (PS2 or Xbox).

As far as getting space over missiles, it depends. Over the last 5 years or so if you already have an interm TS clearance you will be going to missiles first due to the extremely long TS investigation process. After your tour as a missileer you can go space pretty easy unless you want to go to the schoolhouse or you were in OSS which pretty much means that the schoolhouse is a done deal since you would already be an instructor.

Here are the missile bases: Minot, ND Malmstrom, MT, Vandenberg AFB, CA and F.E. Warren, WY

Space: Colorado Springs, Vandenberg AFB, Cheyenne Mountain, Peterson, Patrick AFB, a couple of bases in Alaska, Thule, Greenland and the lucky few go to the Space Observatory in Honolulu, HI. There are quite a few other smaller locations that you could go to in addition to these, however.

It is not a bad life, but not what I wanted to do. I do know many, however, who love Space Command.

[Guest Air_chompers]

Originally posted by Future BONE driver:

. In about 4 hours you can be in Fargo and in about 8 you can be in the twin cities area.

How do you figure that? Driving? If you want to just hop on amtrac. In the Twin Cites if you have time and money goto "murphys" the greatest steak house in the whole planet.

[scoobs]

Do space and missle guys deploy?Also can space guys tell us about your day to day life?How hard is it to get into UPT?

[KennyB]

kill yourself... no, seriously...

[Guest KillYourself]

I respect the post, blankenship.

[BONE Co-driver]

Tyler,

Yes, that is driving. You can take the Amtrac, but it is still going to take 8 hours to get there and then you will have no transportation...you will have to either rent a car or take a cab. Never been to Murphys, however. Actually, I have never heard of it. We will not be able to go there since we no longer are stationed at Minot, but I will let my sister know...she lives in Plymouth.

There are deployments for space and missile guys. They will deploy to the command centers as a space advisor to the commander. You will have to be at least a captain before you can deploy and there are not many opportunities to go. In a community where most everyones OPR look exactly alike you will look for anything to make yourself stand out from the rest so the deployments are difficult to get since everyone wants them and at least in Minot we were only getting 3 or 4 per year.

As for getting to UPT, it depends on your wing. I tried 3 times before I was selected. The powers that be would not let me meet the UPT board until I had fulfilled my ADSC to Space Command first. Once I finished that it still almost took an act of congress for my application to leave base. I was very lucky to have an AWESOME SQ/CC who fought extremely hard for me. I am convinced that if it wasn't for him I would not be where I am today.

[Champ Kind]

I honestly don't mean this to be a slap in the face to the Missle guys out there.... I can definitely recognize the viability of the Space field (lift, control, early warning, etc.) But what other purpose do the missile fields serve other than as a deterrence to the North Koreans or Iranians or whoever else would want to lob a nuke our way? (Or against one of our allies/interests overseas)

With satellite/precision-guided munitions, stealth technology, Global Reach, and all that good stuff, is it not just easier to send an aircraft to bomb the hell out of the enemy than launch an ICBM from Montana?

Just curious.... I obviously don't know a whole lot about the Space & Missile field.

[BONE Co-driver]

I think giving countries that we know have nukes a second thought before using a nuke against us of any other country is a good enough reason to have the missiles, to me at least.

You are right, we can do alot with the technology we have today, however, countries like China and North Korea who have nukes need to be watched. Most if not all of their missiles are liquid fueled and take about 30-45 minutes to get lauch ready. We can't get a bomber or fighter there quick enough to stop the launch. They also know that if we did send a bomber or fighter to try to stop them there is the possibility that they could intercept it before we got to the target. Not much of a deterrence there. Now, if they know that we have the ability to vaporize anything in a 25 mile radius anywhere in their country in less than 30 minutes and they have NO possibility of stopping it definately gives them second thoughts.

Good Lord, I sound like a recruiter for the missile guys! Sorry. I am proud of what I did while I was a missileer, but I am VERY glad to by flying now...office has a much better view!

[FalconXtreme]

sorry for a lame question. but how much does a space missles guy usually get paid?

[backseatdriver]

Originally posted by FalconXtreme:

sorry for a lame question. but how much does a space missles guy usually get paid?

Same as every other officer.

[Toro]

What backseatdriver is getting at is that the AF pays you by rank, not by job. So a Capt who works in the finance office gets the same base pay as a Capt flying jets. There are a couple additions like flight pay and hazard pay for aviators/deployed dudes, but the basic pay is based off rank and years in service.

[Guest Pogo]

Ok I had to ask....when is imminent fire pay awarded? When you're sat in a silo with someone else's ICBM aimed at you? Is whether or not a silo would stand a nuke hit u/c?

[ 05. April 2005, 07:35: Message edited by: Pogo ]

[Guest madeus]

Another Question for those of you who have been a missileer: How much input do you have on which days you are on alert?