Gilligan, I'm nearing the end of my career and would go back and start over again in a heart beat. You do not always work 12 hr days and your days are spent briefing, flying, debriefing and studying/talking tactics. There is the ground job stuff to do but it is rewarding. Not to mention taking time out of the day to hit the gym. If you love flying, then there is no better job. You do deploy a lot ( at least in the USMC), but deployments meant increased flying and seeing different places and most importantly, doing what you where trained to do. When you feel burnt out and have to rotate our for a "career enhancing" ground job, you realize pretty darn quick how good you had it.