Chandler,
I grew up in Brentwood, went to high school in Nashville, joined the Army and served a couple of years as a grunt, got out and went to UT Knoxville. I got my Air Force commission through ROTC at UT, went to pilot training, graduated then stayed on as a T-37 instructor. After that it was a couple of tours in the E-3 AWACS (a B-707 with a big radar on its back) and for the last 7 years I've flown the U-2 and the T-38. I retire next year and will be looking for an airline job. I've flown big crew airplanes and single-seaters and enjoy them both. We've got several prior Navy and former Marines in my unit, as well as lots of furloughed airline guys back on active duty. This is a tough business to be in with lots of changes. The USAF isn't perfect by any means but I think it's a great career. I think if you want to fly and have a very rewarding, interesting career then you should consider the USAF. Each time I had to make the decision to either stay in or get out and go to the airlines I felt like there was still more I wanted to do while in the Air Force and that the airline job would still be there waiting for me. If I left then I could never do the USAF job again but if I stayed then I could do the airlines later, albeit with less seniority. I'm happy with the way things have worked out for me and would do it the same way again. I don't have PM permissions yet but drop me an email at
[email protected] if you want to chat further. Good Luck