[eternelle1372]

My Fiance is seriously considering joining the Air Force and I have questions about what my life and our married life is going to be like. He wants to do computer-related work. He will be enlisting with a Bachelor's degree which means he'll start in officer training.

My questions are of the general variety. I am not from a military family, and neither is he, so we're not sure what to expect..
How often would we be transferred?
How many of you have spouses that have been deployed and for how long?
I am currently working towards a Masters Degree to teach high school french--is it easy to find work as a military spouse (and is it supported by the military community on/off base, or would I be expected to stay at home?)
I've heard there are schools on bases that go up to 8th grade--is this generally true of all bases?
Is on-base housing really free? Is housing equally nice on every base, or does it really vary?

I'm only 23, and he's only 22, so we're pretty young. He won't be enlisting for another year at least, so I know some info (deployment rates, for example) may change some by then. But any info anyone could give us would be great. He's not definite about joining, but it is a "strong possibility" so I'm doing all the research I can to prepare.

Thank you!

[mcmama]

I don't have the perspective of being married to an active duty air force member. I live in a community with many of them. Deployments last about 3 months, and multiple deployments are common, depending on their specialty. This does create some havoc for families, because while the deployments are not as long as for the army, they are back and forth for some.

Military spouses here find work, and on some bases there is a preference for spouses over other civilians. Depends on the qualifications, and the type of job.

When it comes to high school and middle school, at least around here, the kids are in public school. If you were a high school french teacher here (near Eglin) you would be hard pressed to find a job as many of the school districts are cutting back. There may be options for tutoring if schools are not hiring. However, employers in the community look favorably on military families. There just are not that many jobs here right now.

There are a lot of benefits for continuing education, and the connections for officers families are great. So it can be a very good deal. Can't answer your questions other than that.