My story:

Enlisted in the Army during high school and did a couple of years in the infantry in Berlin. After that I went to the University of Tennessee where I got an Air Force scholarship and a pilot training slot. After pilot training I stayed on as a T-37 IP for my first tour then I did a couple of tours in the E-3 AWACS before coming to the U-2 program in '98. I retire as a major at the end of the year having spent 18 years in the Air Force, all of it in the cockpit. I passed on the offer of a staff tour and I never got my masters degree so it was no suprise when I didn't get promoted to Lt Col. I chose to stay in the cockpit and fly which was easy being a U-2 pilot because we are always short of pilots. I've had fun and would recommend being an officer rather than enlisted and Air Force rather than Army.