Alumni Tom Jarvis was certain he wanted to join the Air Force. Now, after almost ten years in service, he still knows the Air Force was the right choice, and he is enjoying his job as a recruiter in Houston, Texas.

Jarvis joined the Air force five years after he graduated high school in 2006. In high school Jarvis described himself as “Average”. For example, he made honor roll once and played basketball his junior and senior year. 

After high school Jarvis attended Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) for two semesters but decided it wasn’t for him. Instead,  Jarvis focused on his Air Force career. 

He spent his first nine years in the Air Force as a Vehicle Operator transporting personnel and cargo, driving tractor trailers, coach buses, fork lifts, wrecker recovery vehicles, and many more.

Now, Jarvis is an Air Force recruiter and working towards a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Studies. 

When Jarvis was applying for the Air Force he had to meet with an Air Force recruiter. He mentions it being simple for him because, “my father did four years in the Air Force, and my grandfather did 30 years in the Army; when I asked him what branch I should join, he answered in Air Force very quickly, so that made my choice very simple!” 

Part of Jarvis’ job now is recruiting applicants. This includes talking to juniors and seniors, finding applicants, and placing them. “Placing” means finding them a job they are qualified for and ideally something they would like to do, too.

Not all applicants are so easy to place, though..

Jarvis stated that the hardest part of his job is,”[…] getting applicants the job they want.  There are only so many positions that open up in certain career fields, so I can’t get everyone medical jobs.” 

Once you have applied for the Air Force, you have to qualify. Qualifications include being 17 or older, be a high school graduate or possess a general education development (GED), being a certain height and weight in regard to requirements. Additionally, the applicant cannot have any disqualifying factors, such as having done anything illegal.  

To see what job an applicant qualifies for, the applicants take a test. The test includes hearing, eyesight (color blindness test, depth perception, and overall vision), strength test, and overall health to make sure everything is working correctly.  

The scores on the test will qualify or disqualify an applicant for a certain job.

Getting into the Air Force has a lot of steps, but Jarvis thinks it is well worth it. Jarvis said, “They [the Air Force] really do put a lot more resources into their people and take really good care of them compared to other branches, the lifestyle is much better.”

Jarvis now plans on continuing his education until he completes his MBA (Masters of Business Association), then retiring after 30 happy years in the Air Force.

While the Air Force was the right choice, and he still enjoys the job, Jarvis encourages students to, “take high school seriously and get good grades, then go to college and get a degree.” 

This clearly seems counter to the successful path Jarvis forged. He explains that he advocates for a college degree “because I did not do that [take high school seriously] and ended up working jobs where pay wasn’t very good and eventually decided to join the Air Force and make something of myself.”

In his recollection of high school, Jarvis noted that social studies teacher Jennifer Adams stood out to him as a memorable teacher.

When I asked about Jarvis, Adams said, “I remember him! He was delightful! Jarvis was very outgoing!“ Even after ten years Adams was happy to hear about Jarvis. 

Currently, he enjoys staying active, running, working out, cooking, music, sports, and traveling.