Killswitch135R

I did 12.5 yrs of active duty as a Tanker pilot. I'm done with AD....deployments as non-flying staff, ORIs, OREs, RATs, ASEVs, 8044/SIOP, OPRs, AFSO21......it's completly out of control. The guys in my former SQ are drowning more than ever, especially with the VSP and 85% of the IP force pulling chalks this summer. I couldn't take it anymore. I've got a reserve job as a TR, so I still get to wear the bag and fly without most of the BS. I'm holding out for SWA when they start interviewing again. The AD Air Force is going to be in a bad way (worse than now) in 6 months......

Metal121

I got out one year ago.

I drive 30 mins to my flying Reserve job. I do 2-3 days a month.

I drive 45 mins to my airline job.

I can tell you that my QOL is awesome. I am ten times more relaxed, less frustrated, and HAVE COMPLETE control of my life. After 12 yrs of active duty, the feeling is awesome. Besides, ask yourself if you really want to be a Wing or Squadron Commander? I didnt.

I dont move every 2-3 years like I did on AD. And I dont deploy.

I started a business and pursued a life-long dream that I would have never been able to achieve on active duty. And I can do it because I have complete flexibility in my work life. And I only work 13-17 days a month. Its the best decision I ever made.

Just my 2cents worth.

Buzz

You guys are spot on. Life in general is chaos at best in a fighter squadron these days too. 12+ hour work days, more additional duties than you can count, and everything else listed in the quote above. Flying is an additional duty and forget about having time to sit in the vault and study the dozens of volumes of info you are required to know. If you are really lucky, off to a UAV you go!

I have never in my life heard of an organization that spends millions of dollars and several years to train you, and then treats you like total crap. It's miserable and I too am running for the door.

Find a reserve or guard unit and enjoy life again!

prozac919

I am sick and tired of the USAF making people who get out early or not going to 20 feeling like quitters. You did everything the USAF asked of you. I envy you getting out as early as you did. I did 20. No regrets but I look at my peers in the airlines now who got out early. They are all Captains. I am just a first year FO (and with age 65, looks like I will be an FO for a long time).

dragon

Trust me, it's not just the USAF that makes folks feel like quitters. I'm retiring with over 20 and the O-6 I turned my papers in to said "So, you're quitting".

I think it has to do somewhat with their wanting validation their decision to stay was the correct decision - they feel better in packs.

We all get out sometime and in some manner. To all who serve and have served I say Thank You!

ExAF

I felt much like you did when I retired, but here's my take on it. I didn't quit, I just moved on to start another career. The AF I left wasn't the same AF I started in. The AF wasn't measuring up to my standards anymore and I felt it was time to move on.

C212135

Timely Story...

Iraq Air Force Cessna Diesel Lands On Florida Road

A U.S. Air Force-owned Cessna 172 outfitted with a diesel engine and wearing Iraqi air force markings landed Thursday on a county road after suffering a power failure. Now for the explanation ... The air force published plans in October 2007 to send 12 Cessna 172s to Kirkuk where the aircraft would serve at the Iraqi Air Force flight training school. This particular aircraft had been taken to Miami to be fitted with the diesel and was then flown to a Tampa paint shop where it won its Iraqi markings, according to Tampa Bay Online. En route at about 4 p.m. from Tampa to Kendall-Tamiami -- where the Air Force would have inspected, dismantled and prepared the aircraft for shipment to Iraq -- the aircraft (and its Iraqi Air Force markings) then made its emergency landing on a rural central Florida highway ... County Road 731. The pilot, who reportedly was unharmed, works for a subcontractor of Cessna and was taken to Sebring Regional Airport, picked up by aircraft, and removed from the area. The aircraft remained to contribute to the developing local public stir as authorities pieced together the rest of the story.

CheyDogFlies

I'm not convinced you'll get hired right off the bat--I'd at least finish your current tour--more hours is going to help out, and I'd say the next 12-18 months is a relative slowdown in airline hiring.

Flounder

You gents are hitting on all cylinders! I'm over 20 and waiting in the pool; I checked my flight log from 18 years ago-- I was gone from home the same amount of time as today, but the travel locations/TDY pay/beer were much better when I was young! While my current unit is gone from home as much as when I was young, they go to the same location, have to put up with an unlimited amount of crap while deployed (is that an authorized jogging suit you're wearing to the chow hall??), and the extra (non-aviation) duties are killing us. Besides, all the experienced pilots are leaving the AF from my base--and none are replacing us. We are younger, the deployments will continue, and the airlines will be flooded with apps. Oh, and that O-6 with his head up his rectum will be calling you for a letter of rec in a few years. Now where's my Scotch?