Hello everyone, my name is Vlad Kalinin,
This is my first blog post, and I want to talk about my Air Force career. Which is one of the main reasons why I decided to create this blog. I will run down through my career timeline quickly. This way you get an idea of what the heck I really did and what my career was like. In later blogs, I plan to dive deeper into my career and give you an idea of what I experienced. In total, I served in the Air Force for 8 years. Those 8 years were different from everything I had ever experienced in my life before.
Going through a stressful environment of BMT*, tech school, and daily struggles of learning my job. First deployment, TDY*’s, and all the other stuff that came with it. Looking back at it now, I can say I was pretty hard learning everything new. But I got through it and learned a bunch. In the end, it was a powerful lesson that showed me what I was capable of at a young age..
My military career started when I left for BMT back on September 16, 2016, from MEPS* in Seattle, WA. Not knowing what to expect, I felt excited and of course a little bit nervous. San Antonio, TX was a place that I did not leave for the next 6 months. I completed 8 weeks of basic training, Airman’s Week, and about 3 months of Security Forces tech school. Tech school flew by, and soon I was headed to my first duty station: MacDill AFB in Tampa.. God, my excitement was through the roof. “Imma be living in the sun year-round with a beach 15 minutes away!” – I told myself. Life was very good after close to 6 months of being a trainee.
MacDill is located on a little peninsula that is 15 minutes from downtown Tampa. The base was beautiful—with its own beach, boat docks, and even a tattoo shop added years later. Security Forces squadron* offered lots of great opportunities for those who were up for a challenge. Regular SF job, Raven, Boat Patrol, and base SWAT team. At that time, I did not know eventually I would end up doing it all ha-ha.
I knew early on I wanted to be a Raven and fly missions, but it proved harder than I expected. First, I had to pass all my job qualification evaluations. Only then was leadership willing to give me a shot. After two years at the base and clearing every hurdle, it was finally time for my first deployment. And that pushed my chance for another year.
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My first deployment was in Kenya. It was a small base where I was for 7 months. Thirteen of us from MacDill deployed at the end of September 2018 and returned in late April 2019. That place was great, not a lot of people on base and it was perfect to focus on yourself. At that time, I did not know how great deployments are for personal growth, if you are motivated enough. I knocked out so many school classes that I finished my associate degree. I kept pushing myself to stay in shape since my plan was still to go Raven. During that deployment time dragged and it seemed like it would never end.
Coming back to MacDill I tried out for Raven and was picked up for it. I and 3 others did 2,5 weeks of Pre-Raven and were sent off to a schoolhouse up in McGuire, NJ. All 4 of us graduated from Raven school with success and came back to Tampa in August of 2019. At the end of September, I and 5 more Ravens were heading on to Kuwait for my second deployment. My second deployment was much different from the first. On the first one, I had to work gates, towers, and patrols making sure the base was safe. In Kuwait, our main job was to provide security for C-130s and C-17s when they went out on flyaway missions.
The original plan was for us to be there for 6 months. Unfortunately, with Covid becoming a huge concern, DoD initiated a stop troop movement, which extended us for 9 months. After eating the same food weekly and pushing ourselves to the limit, we were excited to leave after nine months. In that time, I flew nearly 80 missions across the Middle East, gaining a deeper understanding of the world’s challenges.
With every small or big conflict that was happening in that area, we were part of it. If planes fly, there we go with the planes. It was great. I returned to Tampa in May 2020 and two months later began working as a regular Security Forces member. By the fourth anniversary of my military career, I’d experienced so much that a regular job felt boring. I knew I needed a change.
In August 2020, I received orders to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in WA. I was heading back home to my family and joining the Raven section for the job I’d been aiming for. With 6 months left in sunny Tampa, I decided to try everything our SF squadron had to offer. I tried out for the base SWAT team, and did the same for boat patrol and was accepted to both. Both the boats and SWAT teams knew I’d be leaving within six months, but they gave me a chance anyway.
The last 6 months flew by quickly; I loved what I did. Riding fast boats in Tampa Bay was one of the highlights of my career. In March 2021, I officially joined the JBLM Raven section and started flying missions right away. Since then, its history. I had the opportunity to go on many incredible missions, including a 6-month deployment in Germany. During downtime, we had the freedom to travel to surrounding countries as long as there were no missions scheduled. Day by day my time in the military was coming to an end. In October of 2024, I officially separated from the Air Force.
My time in the military went by quickly. I experienced a lot, and I want to share it with you. My goal is to share my experiences as they happened, nothing more. When I was joining the military there was no information like this. I had to go and hope for the best. I share my stories so those who decided to join the military have some knowledge to take with them. If you have any questions, please reach out I will be more than happy. If you find this helpful, share it with your friends, family, and everyone you think this could be helpful for. Again, thank you for taking your time and reading this.
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Got any questions? Send me an email or schedule your one-on-one with me here “Contact me”
Next Friday, my blog will be about, “What is Raven in the Air Force?”.
Pass this information to everyone who might find it useful. Thank you for all the reads and support!
You guys rock!!!
Very respectfully,
Vlad Kalinin
BMT – Basic military training
TDY – Temporary duty away from home station. For example: training, mission, etc.
MEPS – Military Entrance Processing Station. A place where everyone going to the military does their medical exam, takes the oath, and signs the final contract.
MTI – Military Training Instructor. Military members, you see on videos yelling at new people. They also wear interesting-looking hats.
Squadron – Military unit. Each career field has its own “squadron”. Something like a department in a big company.