I want to join the United States Air Force for a computer based career. However, I'm not sure what I need to do before I sign up or what to expect specifically from the Air Force. My father was in the Marines, National Guard, and the Army and we have friends in the Navy, however we don't have any Airmen to talk to. I really do want to serve the country though.

http://www.airforce.com/contact-us/recruiter-locator/ seems like a good place to start. I'm not sure how it is in the US, but in Australia the military brought sign up information and contact details to my high school last year.

From searching on Google, I found http://www.airforce.com/careers/#interest:computers-and-computer-science that details some of the computer-based careers in the Air Force. Here is the http://www.af.mil/, too.

It's a fairly easy process. Two of my good friends are in the Air Force. It usually takes a few months from when you first talk to a recruiter, until you get to basic.

They had to take a test called the MEPS. Pretty much just a basic "what are you good at" test. If you score well, you'll have more power over what career path you go into. Both of my buddies said MEPS is pretty easy, a ton of common sense questions. Still, don't take it too lightly.

Do you mean the ASVAB by any chance? MEPS is the place you report to for your entrance physical and other processing before getting shipped out to Basic Training.

Or at least it was when I was in the Navy, but that was 25 years ago.

(This forum really needs an old fart smiley.)

I have an overwhelming need to point out the irony between joining the armed forces and having the name 'Peace Bullet.'

OT - The Chair Force is pretty easy to get into. High ASVAB score required but the physical requirement is very low.

Well, I can say that in in 2009 it was still called the ASVAB, and that MEPS is the place you go to for your entrance physical and other stuff, a good friend of mine entered the airforce at that point in time.

Be forewarned, while it is common sense stuff, a lower score WILL prohibit you from some of the higher profile jobs in any branch. For example, any score less then...94 I think it is, in the Navy, prohibits you from being able to work on a Nuclear submarine, a buddy of mine had like either an 89 or a 91(so it was either 90, or 94 for the nuclear submarine admission), and was just mere points off, but they wouldn't budge on it. I had a 98 on mine, but was bested by a buddy who literally got a zero, which means not only did he figure out every single answer and then give the wrong one(because let's face it, sheer guessing would at least get you a 30 or so), he also spelled his name wrong on the test(you actually get a point or two for putting your name down correctly). Still one of our favorite stories to this day, even though we took the test nearly 15 years ago(Senior year, '99).