Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Expert Profile

James Bell

U.S.
On Vacation
returns 12/06/2009
Expertise

I am a retired MSgt (2004) with 24 years experience in the aircrew career field, both as a loadmaster (AFSC 1A2x1) and flight engineer (AFSC 1A1x1). I have been to every continent at one time or another, and regularly flew 300 to 500 hours a year. I have been involved in the operations in Grenada, Panama, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. I can answer most questions you may have about enlisted Air Force life in general, assignments, benefits, and enlisted aircrew operations. NOTE: If you have specific recruiting and/or medical questions about how to get into this career field as a civilian, they have changed since my time, so that is best answered by a recruiter or MEPS. I can answer questions about military personnel wanting to RETRAIN. If you are asking about being an Air Force pilot, please be advised my area of expertise is ENLISTED aircrew operations, NOT OFFICERS.

Experience in the area

Loadmaster (AFSC 1A2x1): 7 years - 2,000 hours - C-5A Galaxy cargo plane. Flight Engineer (AFSC 1A1x1C): 7 years - 2,500 hours - C-141B Starlifter cargo plane, 10 years - 3,800 hours - KC-10A Extender aerial tanker. Served as aircrew Flight Instructor, Flight Evaluator and Training Manager

What do you like about this subject?

I believe the Air Force is the best of the armed services, and enjoy the opportunity to provide the motivation to young folks interested in joining.

Something interesting about this subject that others may not know:

Only 3% of the Air Force's enlisted force are on flying status.

Average Ratings

Recent Reviews from Users

Read More Comments

    K = Knowledgeability    C = Clarity of Response    T = Timeliness    P = Politeness
UserDateKCTPComments
Marie10/30/0910101010 
Tiffany10/27/0910101010 
Rikky Thommas10/12/0910101010 
Alicia08/17/091010Thank you so much for you response! .....
AJ08/11/0910101010Thank you Mr. Bell, your timely response .....

Recent Answers from James Bell

2009-10-30 Join military with re 2b:

Marie - I got the following information from this website ... http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/l/blcode4.htm "Individuals with an Air Force RE Code of "2" are usually ineligible to

2009-10-27 Braces -benefits.:

Tiffany - I wouldn't get too excited. As a military member, your husband has full dental coverage provided by the military, by military dentists. If he wants braces, he still has to go to a civilian

2009-10-27 retraining:

Chris - Let me get this straight ... you are a C-130 loadmaster and you don't travel enough? Granted, I know the deployment rate is high, so I am assuming you mean you want to travel to places OTHER

2009-10-21 Air Force vs. Marine corps.:

Marishia - It all depends on what your goals are. I knew a woman that joined the Army because she liked the green uniforms over Air Force blue. That's a pretty flimsy reason for determining the direction

2009-10-10 Readjusting to Civilian Life:

Rikki - I will state right off the bat that I switched this from a "private" letter to the public forum. I don't think there is any personal information that would be a problem, but I think this topic

 

Ask A Question

All Answers

Answers by Expert:


Ask Experts

Volunteer


©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.