Well, when I signed the bonus, it was $25K/yr all the way through 20 yrs. I took the max up front. The last four or five years, I was effectively the highest paid guy in the entire squadron...
Money's not everything, I loved the mission. It wasn't until the last couple years that the environment really changed...culture too to a lesser degree. I don't know that I'd make the same decision today with 11yrs in front of me....
My rambling point - it's circumstantial. We weren't yet fighting The War Against Terror, there was a ton of good flying, plenty of good deals still, and it was fun. There wasn't anything on the outside that interested me. I can tell you for a fact, my calculus would've been radically different if I had to make that call anytime in the last five years or so...I'm extremely happy I didn't take it all the way to 25 yrs (which was an option for me)