Long story short: I was an F/A-18 pilot and I didn't achieve my section lead qual. I did my full 3 year JO tour and flew OEF missions so flying abilities were never a question. I was taking longer than normal to get through the section lead syllabus, was put on the bench (from continuing with the syllabus), and just ran out of time. I didn't have any options for flying billets after my JO tour so I've been enjoying (not) a desk for my shore tour. I have no desires to switch over to PAO, Intel, etc.

I have two options for getting out of the military. There is a good chance I will not make O4 (2016) so that means I will get the friendly boot with a nice little thanks-for-the-10-years paycheck. I could also choose to just leave the military when my commitment ends. Both my commitment and second look at O4 are around the same time.

So my question is will one of these ways out of the military look worse in a future airline interview? Failure to select O4 and getting the boot sounds a lot worse than me choosing to leave the military. The separation pay though would really help for that regional airline transition...

If you are wondering, I would never try to hide anything and I am fully prepared to explain the situation that led to my low military time.

Thanks.