I'm pretty disappointed in the whole thing, but here's what I am doing.
1. Resigned myself to either not upgrading to Capt for a good while or being very very junior for very very long time on the left seat.
2. Accepting the opportunity to continue to serve past 20 years--maybe even chase O-6 in the ANG. I enjoy what I do, think its important...and another angle is this age 60 thing WILL affect my earnings. The extra years of service in the military and (maybe) another promotion, while they won't offset the loss, will at least help make up the difference.. It will also give me a place to vector that "creative energy" since I probably won't be spending it in training anytime soon.
3. Continuing to enjoy outside interests outside of work--for fun and profit. Probably just a pipe dream, but currently doing some due dilegence on a commerical stable operation. Yeah...I'll be up to my ass in horsecrap and debt, but my girls will think I ROCK. Getting more involved in community and church leadership positions too...
I think you'll see a lot of guys at OUR company throw up their hands and try to find other ways to use their time and earn some money. Guys who were ready to walk from the Guard may stay a little longer, and I imagine we'll see more airplane dealer/mortgage broker/realtor/CPA/crashpad land baron business cards in the AOC as guys try their hands at different things. At other places.....like UAL, DAL, etc....I wouldn't be surprised to see some guys just flat out walk away and try something else. Being junior at a strong, growing company like ours is one thing, but sitting reserve on a payscale that is less than you made 8 years ago is probably just a bit more than some guys at other places are willing to take.
Been wrong before, and will be again....just my 2 cents....