Originally Posted by
at1024
I have many friends both at the regionals and in the military, and I've heard horror stories on both ends.
I will say this for the military though...they take care of their own. My gf is enlisted and if she gets moved to California she gets a nice housing allowance to help pay the bills. The regionals simply don't care about the cost of living at their bases nor do they care how you will put food on the table.
Oh and if they don't need you they will throw you out in the street in a moments notice. I've seen it happen many times.
Have no illusions about the military… we definitely have loyalty and take care of each other on our own, but to the "machine" we are just numbers as well. They play a lot of lip service to it, but the military does not care about you or your family or what is in your best interests. Had a Major ask a 3 Star in a Commander's Call about pilot retention with a possible looming airline hiring boom and the boss told him to go ahead and leave because he will be easily replaced. I'm not sure how he will "easily replace" a 14 yr Evaluator pilot with over 1000 combat hours, but it shows the mentality of our senior "managers". If I feel like I'm being treated like crap at an airline I can quit tomorrow, not an option in the military… not for your first 10 yrs as a pilot anyways.