There are a gazillion exceptions to these generalizations, but this will get you started.
Military installations:
- USAF: air force base, such as Edwards Air Force Base
- USA (US Army): army post; often name preceded by "Fort" such as Ft Meade
- USN (US Navy): station, such as Charleston Naval Station
- US Marines: camps, such as Camp Pendleton
US Air Force Base: a military installation generally with one or two "missions" (such as flying, missile, intelligence)
- the US AFB is generally named after the city near where it is located, e.g. Grand Forks AFB
- the air force base itself is self contained -- operations (or the mission), support, logistics (supply), transportation, maintenance, medical, etc.
- each air force base generally has one wing -- the wing runs the base and is responsible for the mission of that base
- the wing: generally about 5,000 personnel, headed by a colonel or a brigadier (one-star) general
- the wing generally has four groups: operations (includes maintenance), support, logistics (supply), and medical
- groups: generally around 1,000 personnel, headed by a colonel
- each group has three or four squadrons, each squadron with a specific mission
- squadrons: about 250 personnel, headed by a major
- each squadron has three to four flights
- flights: about 100 personnel, headed by a captain
When you are assigned to your first operational base, your primary unit will be a squadron which is part of the group which in turn is part of the wing that runs the base.
So, if you are in the intelligence business, you will likely be assigned to an intelligence squadron, part of the operations group.
The USAF is all about flying, so often the operations commander is a pilot and the wing commander is also a pilot.
The wing commander is responsible for the entire air force base but there is also a "Base Commander."
- The "base commander" is the commander of the Support Group and is responsible for the infrastructure of the base: the roads, the buildings, the electricity, etc. The base commander is almost never a pilot or even ever on flying status.
So, lots of jargon, but quickly:
A US air force base:
- the major unit on base: the wing
- the wing commander is responsible for the whole enchilada; main focus -- operations, carrying out the mission
- the base commander reports to the wing commander and is responsible for the infrastructure of the base
- the wing (or the base, as it were) has four major groups (medical, support, logistics)
- you will likely be assigned to an engineering squadron or intel squadron, part of operations if you end at up a "normal" Air Force base, but
- more likely you will end up at a very high functioning R&D base. More on this later.
Rank and Grade
Rank: a word, like "captain"
Grade: an alphanumeric abbreviation, like O-3
Rank: military "level" of responsibility or leadership
Grade: military pay purposes; identical across all military services (USA, USN, USAF, USMC, USCG, USPH)
Officer rank in USAF:
- General officer, a general: one-star, two-star, three-star, four-star generals
- Colonel
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Major
- Captain
- First lieutenant
- Second lieutenant
Grade:
- O-7 -- O-10: General officer: a general; one-star, two-star, three-star, four-star generals
- O-6: Colonel
- O-5: Lieutenant Colone
- O-4: Major
- O-3: Captain (be really careful with this one, in the US Navy, a Captain is an O-6 and really, really, really important!)
- O-2: First lieutenant
- O-1: Second lieutenant
After graduating from college, you will be commissioned as a second lieutenant. You will progress relatively rapidly through O-1 and O-2 on your way to captain, maybe in four to six years.
The minimum time-in-grade (TIG) requirements for promotion of officers on the active-duty list (ADL) are as follows: O-1: 18 months. O-2: 2 years. O-3 through O-5: 3 years.
So, at the end of your four-year commitment, you should be looking at being a captain. With his navy background, your dad may have trouble calling you a "captain." LOL.
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For An Engineering Major
Take a look at Hanscom AFB near Boston, Massachusetts and the divisions where engineers would be needed. Link here.
Some of the divisions:
