Life in the American Military, and in the Air Force can lead to its own particular stresses and challenges. This is true for those serving and their families and dependants. Social work jobs within the Air Force aim to provide workers with the necessary skills to deal with these issues and help those in need of help. Along with the obvious leadership skills that go along with a life in the service, you may need skills in health care, the sciences and administration and operations.
The skills you have now will be added to and enhanced by life in the military, supporting services around the country and beyond, and you will be working in a multi disciplinary setting, transferring all that you know and combining it with on the job learning.
The main areas that the Air Force needs social workers in are, broadly, the health and medical sectors, natural sciences, and then also in the administrative and operational functions and roles that exist in support of these and other sectors. Know that your career will begin with around five weeks of basic training. This basic training will include, but not be limited to physical training and conditioning, leadership skills and courses, and classroom learning. All this is designed to make it easier for you to assimilate into life in the armed forces, which is essential, as it goes without saying that it is different from any other form of life. The basic preparations will better help you understand the life that those you will be seeking to help live, the particular stresses and strains that they and their families live under.
The most common opportunity that exists is that of a Clinical Social Worker. In this role you will bring to bear your knowledge from the field of social work to add to the already existing systems of diagnosis initially. From there you will then move into the areas of consultation and treatment, helping those serving and, as already stated, their families and loved ones. There are also opportunities to work in research, as well as preventative methods of social work, and in this you will work with groups and individuals, as well as working outside the Air Force, reaching out to communities and affected organisations, including retired servicemen and women. Typical issues might involve post traumatic stress disorder from experiences in front line battle service to drug and alcohol dependency, and the many related issues to these.
Social Work Jobs In The Air Force
Pre entry qualifications that you might need here are usually a minimum of a social work undergraduate degree, and often a Masters that focuses on issues in the area, as well as up to two years experience in the field of social work.
In terms of your potential pay grade, a social worker will begin life as an officer, which will be at the 03 or 04 rank, and may equate to between three and four thousand dollars a month.