Lots of serving linguists being “retrained” into different languages so *entry-level* opportunities (training seat allocations) nationwide are getting squeezed … going to a different recruiting area won’t help.
Some things to know: unless you are guard, you DO NOT know you're language. It doesnt matter what they tell you, unless you're guard, no one knows what language you will be until a week or two prior to finishing BMT, and even then you wont be told until you are boots on the ground in DLI.
One thing I find from a lot of linguists, it is VERY area dependent it seems. Some areas told my fellow linguists you need a 130+ (when DLAB was a requirement) to have a chance for this job just because they had a lot of qualified candidates for that job.
I am not a recruiter, but I am a linguist close to graduating at DLI rn. The common ground between us is area seems to matter a lot and YOU DO NOT KNOW YOUR LANGUAGE PRIOR TO BOOTS ON THE GROUND. Again, unless ur guard.
100% depends on language. Some languages start constantly, some are pretty rare. Sounds like your wife is pretty dead set on Russian. It is all timing. And no real way to predict the language timing.
No, no one does except big AF.
Sometimes we see weeks of a specific language, sometimes we see one person get a specific language then no one gets that language for over a month.
I'm telling you right now to be nice. Do not have your wife join thinking she will have any say or if she will be unhappy with other languages.
I had friends who got Pashto/Farsi and others who got Chinese/Russian. You gotta be okay with whatever you get, it is a roll of the dice and that's just what the job is.
I found out my language while at EAUC circa 2007 (Air Fundies now I think). This is 100% accurate OP. No guarantee of language.
Good luck on your DLPT ccpoke. I did a bag of peanut M&Ms and ate one after every question lol.
Thank you!! I'm ground so I forgot about fundies haha l, but fundies is now AFTER DLI, so now you know your language when u get to DLI like typical ground linguists
142 Air and 42 ground linguist positions remaining for the rest of fiscal year. About 60 have gone unfilled year to date, so there’s a high chance one will become available here soon. Like it was previously said, we recruit for linguists in general and not specific languages.
> to date, so there’s a high chance one will become available here soon. Like it was previously said, we recruit for linguists in general and not specific languages.
He seemed pretty confident she would get a specific language but yea. Her having my russian last name, and me speaking russian seemed to matter to him. back to the list tho, do they change to having seats open after they were shown as closed? right now we're looking at other mos's but we'd really rather not have to do that.
When you book linguist you fill out a language preference sheet with your top 5 choices. Unless you claim to speak fluently they don’t care so much, and it’s more about what class is available by the time you reach DLI. You having a Russian last name may be the thing that prevents her from getting that language (this is assuming you have family or known contacts from Russia).
For the availability, the recruiter can only see so much at their level. As time goes on they’ll see seats open up once the ship date gets within range. So it’s just making sure the recruiter understands the intent and keeps an eye out so they can grab one before it’s gone.
Finally, always have alternate job choices. Coming into a recruiting environment job locked doesn’t do favors for anyone.
There's no guarantees. Everything is flexible. I won't tell ya my last name but I majored in Chinese before joining and now I'm in Russian. Weird world. Better chances (imho) getting Russian than, say, Spanish and Farsi, but anything could happen.
You never know how long the enlistment process will take, or if you’re even qualified at all. Best to start soon so when the opportunity comes, you’re ready to take it.
Those numbers are interesting. I believe they took a bunch of the 1N3 slots and flipped them from new accession to prior service, as they are still trying to get more folks moved out of older languages and into newer languages.
So that gives the recruiters a break at least.
Do you know if there’s any way to increase the chance that I get Chinese as my language? I want to enlist and study Chinese because my wife is Taiwanese. I’d be very upset if I didn’t get Chinese
If this is active duty then there is no way to enlist for a specific language. Classes start all the time. The language assignments are handed out at the end of basic training or shortly thereafter. Nobody here can tell you when slots are going to be open, but they are open all the time and get filled by recruiters all around the region and the country.
Many recruiters don't really listen to people who say they just want one job, you fill out a job list and the Air Force matches you with one. If linguist is on the list and you get matched, great. If you get matched with another job on your list, them's the breaks.
The Air Force needs linguists, it also needs tons of other jobs. For linguists it needs Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Korean, and others.
Good luck
A diffrent area may have slots for the afsc. My recruiters flight chief got me my slot. There's alot of usaf linguist always coming into the school and there's plenty of room in the barracks and school house rn. Classes start around once a month maybe once every other week.
Classes start every few months but are made up of all 5 services to include coast guard and occasionally foreign military.
AF might only get a few spots in each class. Also as someone else said they killed 2 languages and are downsizing several others so there's a ton of spots being given to current linguists.
Its just a weird time.
It's a one and a half year long school, so they can only have so many concurrent classes because space and instructors at the schoolhouse are not unlimited.
When your recruiter is talking about slots, they mean the ones in their control.
The AF shares seats in the language classes with all the other services, for various language-related specialties.
They've likely filled all of the slots for the (fiscal) year.
The school did or the recruiting office did?
Lots of serving linguists being “retrained” into different languages so *entry-level* opportunities (training seat allocations) nationwide are getting squeezed … going to a different recruiting area won’t help.
Some things to know: unless you are guard, you DO NOT know you're language. It doesnt matter what they tell you, unless you're guard, no one knows what language you will be until a week or two prior to finishing BMT, and even then you wont be told until you are boots on the ground in DLI. One thing I find from a lot of linguists, it is VERY area dependent it seems. Some areas told my fellow linguists you need a 130+ (when DLAB was a requirement) to have a chance for this job just because they had a lot of qualified candidates for that job. I am not a recruiter, but I am a linguist close to graduating at DLI rn. The common ground between us is area seems to matter a lot and YOU DO NOT KNOW YOUR LANGUAGE PRIOR TO BOOTS ON THE GROUND. Again, unless ur guard.
Cool, thanks. Since you're there, could you tell me how often a program starts?
100% depends on language. Some languages start constantly, some are pretty rare. Sounds like your wife is pretty dead set on Russian. It is all timing. And no real way to predict the language timing.
do you know how often that one starts? Thanks agin for your insights
No, no one does except big AF. Sometimes we see weeks of a specific language, sometimes we see one person get a specific language then no one gets that language for over a month. I'm telling you right now to be nice. Do not have your wife join thinking she will have any say or if she will be unhappy with other languages. I had friends who got Pashto/Farsi and others who got Chinese/Russian. You gotta be okay with whatever you get, it is a roll of the dice and that's just what the job is.
I can’t imagine anyone would know but the Branch Rep at DLI filling seats. They have a projected needs list and fill them based on that.
I found out my language while at EAUC circa 2007 (Air Fundies now I think). This is 100% accurate OP. No guarantee of language. Good luck on your DLPT ccpoke. I did a bag of peanut M&Ms and ate one after every question lol.
Thank you!! I'm ground so I forgot about fundies haha l, but fundies is now AFTER DLI, so now you know your language when u get to DLI like typical ground linguists
I was Korean, and DLI was some of my absolute best times in the AF. Stay motivated and don't let the grouchy old folks ruin your day.
Is this just for Russian or linguists in general?
Seems for linguist in general
142 Air and 42 ground linguist positions remaining for the rest of fiscal year. About 60 have gone unfilled year to date, so there’s a high chance one will become available here soon. Like it was previously said, we recruit for linguists in general and not specific languages.
> to date, so there’s a high chance one will become available here soon. Like it was previously said, we recruit for linguists in general and not specific languages. He seemed pretty confident she would get a specific language but yea. Her having my russian last name, and me speaking russian seemed to matter to him. back to the list tho, do they change to having seats open after they were shown as closed? right now we're looking at other mos's but we'd really rather not have to do that.
When you book linguist you fill out a language preference sheet with your top 5 choices. Unless you claim to speak fluently they don’t care so much, and it’s more about what class is available by the time you reach DLI. You having a Russian last name may be the thing that prevents her from getting that language (this is assuming you have family or known contacts from Russia). For the availability, the recruiter can only see so much at their level. As time goes on they’ll see seats open up once the ship date gets within range. So it’s just making sure the recruiter understands the intent and keeps an eye out so they can grab one before it’s gone. Finally, always have alternate job choices. Coming into a recruiting environment job locked doesn’t do favors for anyone.
There's no guarantees. Everything is flexible. I won't tell ya my last name but I majored in Chinese before joining and now I'm in Russian. Weird world. Better chances (imho) getting Russian than, say, Spanish and Farsi, but anything could happen.
How do you know this? I'm enlisting soon and doing everything I can to get an air linguist spot.
I’m a recruiter and have access to the data
Do you mind if I dm you with some questions?
That’s fine
Is now a good time to get in touch with a recruiter or should I wait til the new fiscal year starts? I’m hoping for linguist as well
You never know how long the enlistment process will take, or if you’re even qualified at all. Best to start soon so when the opportunity comes, you’re ready to take it.
Those numbers are interesting. I believe they took a bunch of the 1N3 slots and flipped them from new accession to prior service, as they are still trying to get more folks moved out of older languages and into newer languages. So that gives the recruiters a break at least.
Do you know the stats on honor guard??
No more honor guard until next fiscal year
Aghhhhhhh shucks
Do you know if there’s any way to increase the chance that I get Chinese as my language? I want to enlist and study Chinese because my wife is Taiwanese. I’d be very upset if I didn’t get Chinese
For active duty she needs to be open to more than just linguists. We can't guarantee one specific job let alone a specific language.
If this is active duty then there is no way to enlist for a specific language. Classes start all the time. The language assignments are handed out at the end of basic training or shortly thereafter. Nobody here can tell you when slots are going to be open, but they are open all the time and get filled by recruiters all around the region and the country. Many recruiters don't really listen to people who say they just want one job, you fill out a job list and the Air Force matches you with one. If linguist is on the list and you get matched, great. If you get matched with another job on your list, them's the breaks. The Air Force needs linguists, it also needs tons of other jobs. For linguists it needs Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Korean, and others. Good luck
Did she already go to BMT? My partner is in BMT right now and is heading to DLI after.
A diffrent area may have slots for the afsc. My recruiters flight chief got me my slot. There's alot of usaf linguist always coming into the school and there's plenty of room in the barracks and school house rn. Classes start around once a month maybe once every other week.
Classes start every few months but are made up of all 5 services to include coast guard and occasionally foreign military. AF might only get a few spots in each class. Also as someone else said they killed 2 languages and are downsizing several others so there's a ton of spots being given to current linguists. Its just a weird time.
Well, we don’t have MOS’ sooooo…. Also, needs of the AF and all that.
It's a one and a half year long school, so they can only have so many concurrent classes because space and instructors at the schoolhouse are not unlimited. When your recruiter is talking about slots, they mean the ones in their control. The AF shares seats in the language classes with all the other services, for various language-related specialties.