It is hard to think about what is going to happen to our military when the real budget cuts hit. Our country has some big bills to pay and nice things like having a big military will be cut first. Countries in Europe are cutting their ranks in half ... half. Hell Canada has less people in their entire Air Force than we have in some of our Commands.

I assume by your comments that you did not make Major. If this is true, I would be looking for another line of work and fast. If you want to remain in the cockpit, then I suggest you go to the guard/reserve job, make AC (they'll probably make you play co-baby for a while), and build that PIC time as fast as you can before the budget shockwaves hit there too. Well, they already have. Also, you have to make Major (as it stands now) if you want to remain in the guard/reserve. People joke about how easy it is to make rank in the guard/reserve but that too will change as the budget cuts take hold.

You need to do your homework and find out what your RPA experience can get you in the civilian RPA industry. Do RPA operators make a living? Or are they paid like Play Station 20 year olds? I say that jokingly because that is probably the target audience for those types of jobs ... not a $1 million dollar trained military pilot with college degree, air and space basic course, squadron officer school, yada yada yada. The other servies use enlisted to fly their RPAs. I hope you get my point. What about management jobs in engineering or operations in the RPA industry? You would be a shoe-in. If I were you, I would apply to those companies, work for them as you build PIC in the guard/reserve. Then if the big hiring boom hits, you then can decide if it is worth it to change careers ... again.