TESC Living Expense Loans

[dcan]

I keep reading that you are applying for retail jobs. What else have you applied for? Retail sucks right now, but everybody needs pizza. Walk around downtown with a bucket and offer to wash the windows of every single store you walk by, $2 per window or something like that. You have two hands and two feet and a brain, use it to put yourself ahead of the other guy.

Seriously here, you are wanting to go massively in debt to get a degree which will only check off the "has a degree" block on resumes. You are doing this on the HOPE that you get into a Fed program and get a stipend to pay off the loan, and the HOPE that Murphy doesn't become your permanent roommate and car passenger.

You are setting yourself up to do serious acrobatics on very thin ice, because if ANYTHING goes wrong you can instantly find yourself screwed and still at least a decade in debt.

I've got a better plan, if you are game for it. Join the Air Force. Heck, any branch, but given your goals, join the Air Force. You sound like a go-getter from the start and given your background (esp. the management part) you sound like a perfect fit. Here's what you get:

• Guaranteed promotion through E-4 (assuming you aren't a screwup, which you've already demonstrated you aren't)
  
• Free room & board (one person to a room is by far the norm, and AF chow is the envy of the world) through E-4 or so, then housing allowance + food allowance to live off base (in addition to your base pay, btw allowances are TAX FREE)
  
• 100% Tuition Assistance through a Master's degree
  
• Post-9/11 GI Bill (36 months paid college)
  
• Multiple career fields in Computers and Computer Security
  
• Unlimited free CLEPs/etc (the first time you take each test is free)
  
• Practically get an automatic Associate's Degree in your career field (Community College of the Air Force)
  

Most importantly, you get a MASSIVE support network, both on and off base. Mentoring is part of the deal, and there are TONS of opportunities for personal growth both in and out of your job in areas you never thought about before.

Plus get into one of the below fields, get your degree or two, and then slide right into a cushy contractor gig working at the same desk, or apply to be a federal civil servant in the field.

Here's some job descriptions for you with links to full descriptions of job functions, training, etc from About.com. Basically Programmers write the code, Operators implement the systems/networks hosting the code, and Cyber Surety secures the systems and network. I am a 3D0X4, PM me if you have any questions at all.

3D0X3, Cyber Surety (aka Computer/Network Security) AFSC is officially established on November 1, 2009. Cyber Surety personnel supervise or operate fixed and deployed information technology (IT) resources to monitor, evaluate and maintain systems, policy and procedures to protect clients, networks, data/voice systems and databases from unauthorized activity. They identify potential threats and manage resolution of security violations. 3D0X3 personnel enforce national, DoD and Air Force security policies and directives; employ hardware and software tools to enhance the security by installing, monitoring and directing proactive and reactive information protection and defensive measures to ensure Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA) of IT resources. They administer and manage the overall Information Assurance (IA) program to include Communications Security (COMSEC), Emissions Security (EMSEC) and Computer Security (COMPUSEC) programs.

[URL="http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforceenlistedjobs/a/3d0x2.htm"]
3D0X2, Cyber Systems Operations[/URL] (aka System/Network Administration) AFSC is officially established on November 1, 2009. Cyber Systems Operations personnel supervise and perform cyber systems operations and executes associated information systems support programs, both at home base and at deployed locations. They perform system administration on, Command, Control, Communications, Computer (C4), Intelligence, and various functional area platforms. Core competencies include: server operating systems, database administration and web technologies. Administers: server-based operating systems, distributed applications, network storage, messaging, and application monitoring, required to integrate cyber systems and applications. 3D0X2 personnel support identification, reconnaissance and exploitation of vulnerabilities while enhancing capabilities within cyber environments to achieve desired affects.

3D0X4, Computer Systems Programming AFSC is officially established on November 1, 2009. It was created by converting AFSC 3C0X2. Computer Systems Programming personnel supervise and perform as computer analyst, coder, tester and manager in the design, development, maintenance, testing, configuration management, and documentation of application software systems, client-server, and web-enabled software and relational database systems critical to warfighting capabilities.

I'm going to tell you like I would tell an Airman -- you can set yourself up for a world of hurt going down the road you are contemplating, with a LOT of unknown variables not accounted for. There are always other options. I'd hate to see you get screwed in the long term for something you HOPE will work out, without leaving yourself any pad for things to go wrong.

Like I said, if interested in the AF feel free to PM me, I work in the field you are interested in and can answer lots of questions about military and federal info assurance.