Just posted my intro here if you're curious about me:
http://www.specialtactics.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/52793.html#Post52793


These are my questions, if they have been answered previously just tell me and I'll try to look it up, although I didn't see these on the first page. Of course I would be glad to have as thorough or broad response as you want, any answer is appreciated.
1. This question is kind of hard to phrase in a way that doesn't make me seem like kind of an *****, but I think you'll understand why I'm curious. Basically, I want to know how often PJ's, Controllers, or if you happen to know, even SEALs or Special Forces, actually do missions. It's likely that I'm just ignorant of most missions (and that's a good thing), but I don't want to work for a position on special ops just to sit around in a base doing routine work all day. Again, I know how pompous that sounds, but I hope you know where I'm coming from with that question.

2. When someone is done with Pararescue or whatever else, what are the options available? Do most people become Officers or return to a civilian job?

3. This question isn't very important, but why did you select Pararescue over any of the other special ops? Info is kind of hard to find on exactly what the various branches do (again, a good thing) so I'm curious of what you were looking for in Pararescue that you didn't see in the other branches, and if you did find it in Pararescue.

Last I just want to say thanks for the help and thanks for the job you do, I have a lot of respect for you guys and I hope to be among you someday.

You just know what you want to do

Good set of questions in my opinion. Let see if anyone answers soon.

Just to let you know im just a guy that wants it, i am currently waiting on a few things from my recruiter then i will go take the PAST test in 2-3weeks. but here are my answers

to question 1
http://www.specialtactics.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/forums/25/1/Operators_in_the_news.html
this is just the tip of the ice burg, do a search on here or Google and you will find a ton of stuff these guys are doing. Trust me they don't just sit on their *****, no SF guys do. I have a friend who is SF in the army and he has been deployed to Iraq 3 times and Afghanistan 2 times. Also he told me he has worked with PJ's he couldn't get into more then that. These special operations guys are kept busy.

question 2
Honestly from all the reading i have done and talking with a SF guy in the army talking with recruiters and reading on these forums the jobs after are endless. You will have a good understanding of the medical field so the door is at lest open there. Also you get the GI bill so you can get a basically free BA in almost anything you want. From what i hear many guys stay pj and many guys switch there job but stay in the AirForce. I think this is something that will be individual to you and what you want in life, but it is basically endless from what i have learned.

question 3 (i may of got off topic on this)
to me this is the most important. This is the one that will keep you in when the other 80% wash out. In a very simple way PJ's run CSAR missions. Just look up CSAR and you will learn there primary mission. Evan just read the description of the job on the Air Force web page for a better understanding of what they do. For me i feel like i was made for this. I have wanted this job before i knew what it was and will do everything i can to make it a reality. In the last 2 weeks i have stepped down from my fancy job to be just another body where i work, just so i could get more training hours in. I have changed my sleep patterns so i can get two work outs in a day. I read on these forums or on the internet about relevant things to PJ's every day for ruffly an hour. I have bought work out stuff ie perfect push up, a curl bar, and books on swimming.

just some of the reasons i picked it over the other branches/spec ops

Why i picked the Air Force over the other branches
they have the best standard of housing
they have the most things to do on base
they have the air force community college
they have Pararescue and SERE, these are the two jobs i want the most.

more specific why i want to be a PJ over other Air Force Spec Ops
I want to save people, this is just something in me. I want to be the guy that brings guys back. Right now i work with autistic kids that bite me, punch me, slap me and all around give me hell, and i cant respond in a negative or a way that would hurt them. I love my job, i like that im helping people that most wouldn't/couldn't and PJ just seams like a good fit for my personality.
I like being outside (i meen like hiking 15mi in the woods then camping for a week fishing/collecting berries for food)
I want to do something with medical.
I want to jump out of planes.
I want to push myself past what i think i can do.
I want to be elite.
some of these reasons can be found in all spec ops but to me PJ has them all.


Best of luck to you
Wil

Thanks for that response, always good to hear some other opinions.

I'm not really worried about what I personally will do after Pararescue... if all goes well I plan to remain a PJ for as long as possible, so I'll have plenty of time to decide. I was just wondering if there's any trends among the retirees that suggest a certain type of career is particularly attractive to a retiring PJ.

I wholly agree that the answer to question three is going to be the most important in determining the success of a wannabe such as ourselves, but I would also say that it has to come from inside each individual and cannot be found on a forum, which is why I listed it as least important. At the end of the day, you can want it for one reason and I can want it for another, but if I pretend to want it for your reason I would never make it.

Good luck to you too.

PJ's are very busy down range right now. I think it would be safe to say that if you are in the SOF community, and your down range, you will be doing missions, lots of missions. But times change. 2-3 years from now may be a different story. Don't be concerned about sitting on your butt down range. It's not going to happen.

Pararescue gives you tangible skills that carry over into the civilian world. Firefighter, paramedic, search and rescue units, etc. But the big attributes gained are intangibles. Belief in yourself, taking on challenges, pushing yourself to be the best, a knowledge that you can do anything you put your mind to doing. These are not skills you write on a resume, yet they are the most important traits of any successful person. I know PJ's that are cops, doctors, pilots, PA's and very successful business owners. It wasn't their SCUBA or medical experience that got them there. It was their fortitude and aforementioned intangibles that paved their way to success after Pararescue.

My reason for being a PJ is about saving lives. If in that mission, I must take a life then so be it. But my primary desire is to save lives not take them. I believe that is what separates the PJ career field from all other SOF fields. It is very easy to find all the SOF career descriptions via the internet. Do your research and compare. That is one PJ's opinion. I'm not stating a fact. All of us have various takes on life and our job. But that is why I'm a PJ and not another SOF.