Deciding between USNA and USAFA

[CWO_change]

I concur with your brother that basing your decision over likelihood of flying fighters at this point is not a good idea.

Your brother is correct that there are too many factors in play to know what you’re going to fly in either service. Choose the academy you’d like to go to based on the overall culture of the service and which one is a better for for you.

I wanted jets and ended up in helos. It’s not a big deal. You’ll end up liking whatever you fly. Kind of a cliche answer but I never sit there and think, “Man I wish I got jets 8 years ago.” You’ll either get jets or you’ll get over it fast.

I would also suggest looking into duty stations in both services and thinking about which places you’d want to live or not live.

Especially this. Even though I think overall quality of life may be better in the Air Force (or so I'm told), I greatly prefer the standard Navy base location to the standard Air Force base location. And that matters a lot for me.

 

[Squirrel Girl]

I greatly prefer the standard Navy base location to the standard Air Force base location.

THIS right here. I would wager a guess non-military spouse employment in the Air Force fighter community is significantly lower than the Navy fighter community based on locations. Try spending 3+ years in rural Georgia trying to find a relevant job (or even decent groceries) directly after 2 years not allowed to work in Korea. The one thing we did get was a very strong sense of community and a very good work/life balance (no boats and short deployments). Real pros and cons to both branches once active duty.

 

[MGoBrew11]

THIS right here. I would wager a guess non-military spouse employment in the Air Force fighter community is significantly lower than the Navy fighter community based on locations. Try spending 3+ years in rural Georgia trying to find a relevant job (or even decent groceries) directly after 2 years not allowed to work in Korea. The one thing we did get was a very strong sense of community and a very good work/life balance (no boats and short deployments). Real pros and cons to both branches once active duty.

Ehhhhh, Navy jet locations aren’t so hot for that either. Norfolk is solid enough I suppose.

Helicopter options in the Navy are where you get the good deals: San Diego, Jax, Hawaii, Spain, Japan, Norfolk.

 

[villanelle]

Ehhhhh, Navy jet locations aren’t so hot for that either. Norfolk is solid enough I suppose.

Helicopter options in the Navy are where you get the good deals: San Diego, Jax, Hawaii, Spain, Japan, Norfolk.

ETA: ,Atsugi

Which is delightful if you enjoy frequent power and water outages. When your mom visits to attend the change of command, she gets a fun story about how she got to shower at the squadron, since it was one of the few places on the base that had hot water!

(To be fair, many, many people like Atsugi. Access to Tokyo is incredible (when you aren't trapped on base for Covid), and it seems like a great place to raise kids (IANAParent). They can go out and roam freely, perfectly safely It's like small town America in 1960 probably was. After 2 tours in Atsugi, neither of which we wanted, I don't think I'd go back. We briefly discussed geo-baching for the second, but I decided I hated Atsugi less than I hated living apart for 30 months. It's only gotten worse since most of the air wing left. People who were there pre-iwakuni move for the jest don't quite know what it's like now. Also, required base living (though I've heard this may have/be changing again. Our first tour, we lived off base. Second, it was required for everyone to be on base, and the houses are shitty.)