Originally Posted by HuggyU2

1) Your airfield is mobile and visits cool places. Yes,... over the course of 6-9 months, you will get to stop at a couple of places. Very nice. In the mean time, I'll do my two months deployed to Cyprus,... roll through Germany for a conference for a week enroute back home,... maybe grab and airshow,... take some leave in Hawaii... all of this during your "mobile airfield tour" on the floating gray prison. At least you get to eat sliders. Yum. Don't forget about Barney Clarks
2) being stuck aboard ship means you can't blow your paycheck so easily, so when you DO hit said cool/exotic places you have a fist-full of cash to take full advantage. Really? No wonder those Navy pilots seemed so bummed to divert into Osan when I was there. They really hated getting off of the ship and having to spend their cash. I think it brought a tear to their eye. I noticed their sadness as they taxied out to depart back to the ship. Really?? Osan. Seems to me in my 3 yrs in Japan with CVW-5 Osan was nothing more than a X-country destination to go shopping until the USAF rules/curfews put the stop to that. You make Osan sound like a garden spot...I'd rather cruise for 4 months and have 5 days of luxory in Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney to name a few than sit in my Q room at OSAN AB.
3) Best chance to get actual combat experience (ie. a President's first question in a crisis is, "Where is the nearest carrier?")So, the Navy jets got most of the kills during the Gulf War? Kosovo? And they are getting how much comparative combat time in Afghanistan? Did you really just open your fly and talk about kills in combat?? I have an idea, let's total up all the ordnance expended from USAF jets vs USN/USMC jets in OIF/OEF/Kosovo/Gulf War and then we'll talk.
4) Naval/marine aviators can do anything an AF jock can do, PLUS land on a pitching deck (something an AF guy cannot do and isn't qualified to do). Well, they cannot fly the U-2. Nor can they do formation/section landings. Nor can they walk on the flightline without a cranial. Or wear an ejection seat harness that is actually comfortable to wear, unlike the Harry Houdini contraption that was designed in the 1960's that y'all wear in your ejection seat aircraft. Why can't we fly it, because we didn't buy it? I know 2 USN dudes that interviewed and flew U2s so clearly its not a training thing I reckon. Space suits are so comfy right? Last I checked the section approach to a section landing was still part of the USN F/A-18 FRS syllabus, I did them in Japan and here in CONUS.
5) Every civilian girl knows what Top Gun is...not so "Red Flag", etc.
Not "every civilian girl"... just the ones that live near Fallon. I'm sure Fallon doesn't hold a candle to Vegas... you know Vegas, right? It's where Red Flag is held. I'm not a TOPGUN bro, but I'm pretty sure Iron Eagle wasn't about Red Flag...just what I want to do is go support a Red Flag event and sit through 8 hours of debrief, when i could sit through Air Wing Fallon debrief or a TOPGUN LFE debrief and still make it to Tahoe and enjoy it.
6) There is no better looking uniform than Class A Navy whites or Marine Dress Blues. I cannot argue for the AF uniform. You win this one.
7) Location-wise, Annapolis is far better place to spend 4 years than being stuck up in the cold mountains of CO. To each their own. I'll take snow skiing, flying in open airspace, and avoiding the East Coast, personally.

...no offense to the AF guys. None taken.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I actually tried to become a Navy pilot first... but they would not waive my eyesight, and the AF did.
Some of my very favorite friends are Navy/Marine pilots,... but I wouldn't change a thing.
I have no doubt that, had I gone Navy, it would have been just as good as my AF flying career has been.