My friend you are wrong. While the medical insurance doesn't kick in till your 7th month at CAL, the QOL is ten times better. I don't know of many pilots who'd rather be in hellhole Iraq, than on the beach drinking Daquiri's in St Maarten. Oh, I'm sure there's a few, but not many. Most of the newhires on the B737 in EWR are on reserve for all of 2-3 WEEKS. They are holding 15 day off lines in less than a month. Wow.........pretty tough, eh? Many of the military reserve pilots I fly with are fed up with this whole war shenanigin stuff, and are bailing out left and right. Get out, and join the Reseves as a CAP (Civil Air Patrol) Liaison, or AF Academy Liaison. You'll still get a pension at 60, and not worry about being deployed 90% of the time while your kids are growing up without you. There's a reason so many pilots are bailing, and QOL is something the President, Congress, nor many of our senior leaders will ever figure out is the problem. They think living in a tent without a bathroom 5000 miles from home months on end is a lot of fun and worth an extra $500 in your paycheck. They are WRONG......... JMHO