RDKirk wrote in post #19483763
What I want to know is how you got to be an Air Force photographer. When I tried (maybe within five years of you), the photojournalist field was locked up tight with people who were going to die in it. The closest I could get to photography was in intelligence, and that was either in long-roll processing or imagery analysis. I didn't want to babysit a Kodak Versamat, so I went into imagery analysis.
That loaded me with a list of security clearances as long as my arm. After the first year, when I went to Personnel to see if I could cross-train into photojournalism, the guy looked my clearances and laughed in my face. "Ain't no way you're getting out of intel."
well its a long story and it wasnt easy thats for sure...
i went to MEPS after working with Gannett and my college paper and the photo shop that did custom (wedding senior portrait business) printing for high end photographers.
i had a portfolio of stuff that had been published. nothing of my own 'because i liked it', all published works.
it was march and i told the person at assignments i wanted to leave after the summer. my girlfriend was going away to school in the fall so she said "how about 20 november?" i said sure. she asked if i had a job in mind that i wanted to do. i had scored 97 or higher in all of the ASVAB tests and my recruiter had told me i could do any job i wanted (because i had such good scores) and so we started looking for a Still Photographer billet. only she looked from November to March and not for a full calendar year. there were none available. i decided based on what my recruiter had told me (any job) i went in open general. when i got to basic training we had a day where we had to go look for a job if we didnt already have one assigned. i KNEW what the AFSC was for Photographer and Graphics and Videography etc. i had read all of the jobs in the 'general' field several times while hanging out at the recruiter's office. the young Airman passed out a sheet of paper with about 14 jobs on it. she said "these are the jobs we have available right now." Photography was NOT on it. Graphics was and being only one digit away from Photography (231x1 v 231x2) i picked Graphics. i told the Airman i had a portfolio and was there someone i could talk to about getting a Photo slot.
i was sent back to the squadron, found the TI doing a non-graded inspection and asked if he would get my portfolio out of the locked storage to which he did and wished me luck. i returned and spoke with a SSgt who was NOTHING like a TI and no reporting statements, just regular conversation. i showed him and a couple of other people who got curious, my portfolio and they wrote across the top of my 'assignment picking sheet' "volunteer for Still Photographic By-Pass Test" and then highlighted it.
when assignments came out i was going to Lowry AFB for GRAPHICS. i spent most of the 16 weeks there in a funk because i wanted Photography pretty badly. i did very well in the classes and went on to my first permanent party assignment at Beale AFB california.
Beale had just gotten a brand new beautiful facility for Graphics, Photography and Film Library a few years prior. i spoke with the photo NCOIC and the Shop Super (both MSgts) and my NCOIC in Graphics and nothing really came of it. about a year and half in maybe, we got a new NCOIC in Photo. a TSgt who took a liking to me. he asked if i had done the CDCs for Photo and while i had, nothing came of it because they werent going to just give me the job. I had been helping out in the Photo lab on some jobs and even pulling Alert Photographer on occasion. he went through and made a training folder for me then said lets go to the training office.
they told me they couldnt just give me the AFSC so TSgt Sykes (a double vietnam vet, first with the 173 Airborne and then with a Combat Camera unit) said I have an idea. we went back to the shop and we typed up a letter explaining my background, my training, the fact that SAC was getting new color print processors which i had run for about 2 years prior to enlisting and sent it to SAC HQ, and the Training office. about a week later, i got a return from a Major who assigned me a Secondary AFSC as a 3-level Still Photographer. i enquired about getting upgraded to a 5-level and this is what they said: "you can not upgrade from a 3 level to a 5 level unless youre assigned to a Photographer billet." i asked how to get assigned as a Photographer because i was in a Graphics assignment. i was told: "as soon as you get your 5 level, you will be eligible to be assigned to a Photographer billet." classic catch-22...
I PCSd to Altus AFB and during the McPeak debacle and AAVS units being disbanded (other then the 2 Combat Camera squadrons) we were reassigned to the base Communication Squadrons. my first sergeant HATED the fact that i had 2 AFSCs. we had a 'fill-in' Shop Superintendent who was a Radar Repair guy (trying to run and direct an Audio-Visual shop) who hated me for having 2 AFSCs. hes the one who brought it up to the Shirt. i had to go to the 1stSgts' office and explain why and how i had a secondary AFSC. he was a complete dink...
i have more to the story but its not important to this portion of the explanation!!!
sorry to everyone who had to endure this!!!!
-im just trying. sometimes i succeed
