Originally Posted by
Tom a Hawk
I'll add my experience, since I faced a similar decision and made the civilian choice.
I graduated from college in 07 and at the time guys were getting picked up by regionals with 500 hours or so. I decided not to pursue military even though it was something I wanted. 10 years seemed like a long time to me when I was 20. It's not.
It could easily take 10 years of instructing/regional slogging to get your "dream job". Average age hired at a major is 34. I don't think you'll look back and say "I wish I had flown a turboprop/rj to little towns for pennies in my twenties". You might look back and think "why didn't I give military a shot when I could have."
A great post from the other (civilian) road travelled.
From a purely rational outlook, I can't justify AD except as a means to leave no stone unturned in looking for a military job. However, I think AD gives you a big picture appreciation of the airline life you might not get if you never see anything outside of the regionals/ANG. Yes, I know it's a little crazy to say the best thing about AD is it leaves you a little jaded about the world and a little more appreciative of airline life.