OK, never been in the AF, so take this for what it is worth...
The military is different for everyone - anyone here that has actually done a stint in the AF is going to have stories and opinions that are not yours, that you'll never share. Even the same MOS at the same duty station with the same rank... one guy loves it, the other hates it.
Even with my time in the Infantry - I can tell you stories that will have you laughing and wanting to join tomorrow, but I also have the stories that will make you shiver and shy as far away from any service as possible.
Military life is very, very complex. It is much different than civilian life. A police officer, regardless of the city they serve in, can pretty well define what a cop does day in and day out.
But in the military, a cop (MP) does many, many different things, and all at different stations, all of which have a different chain of command, all of which require different things. Talk to one person, all they ever did was ticket speeders on the base. Talk to another, he was deployed as sentry for an Infantry company attached to the Rangers for flank support and went through the wire every single day humping it like the Infantry. Yet another spent his 4 years guarding ammunition dumps in the 'States. And even another did his entire tour as an MP attached to CID and fired a pistol exactly the 4 times he had to qualify, pushing a pencil as a secretary for 4 years.
Yet all of these would be, "This is my experience in the Army MP's." And, for anyone who has been in a while, you're going to do all of that and even more.
My advice is this: join only when you are CERTAIN you want to do so. No question can be in your mind, or you'll be miserable. You have to want to serve for something other than yourself, for concepts that most don't even have a modicum of sense about, of principles that 99% of civilians never have. And that means that you have to serve for YOU, but you have to want to serve because you want to do nothing but give the free riders the chance to carry on in their merry, little pansy ways under the name of the flag.
When you're serving, you are serving for the man next to you. Put away all selfish thought, all caring about civilians - yes, they reap the rewards. But the man next to you is the true benefactor. You do your time because if you don't, someone has to.
If knowing that you fill a role that someone else would have to in your stead brings a smile to your face, the Armed Forces are for you. If it truly makes you happy to be doing something so another doesn't have to.
Stories and experiences - sure, fun to hear! I hope some AF members post some. I want to read them.
But the only consideration you should ever have for joining is what is in your heart. Because without the full resolve, you'll be miserable regardless of your job, duty stations or chains of command.
