Thanks Albief for the advice and Tester for the common ground.

I'm an AD army helo warrant at 19 years. If I jump out, I'd never feel the heartache you guys have about pay because quite frankly, I'm paid 2/3rds of what you guys were making as officers. That's not a gripe, just the facts.

So say I get out, it'll be a hit to annual pay, but not nearly what it would be at the o5/6 level.

But as stated by Albief, I've never thought about getting out really. The only reason I'm looking now is because while I love what I do, the contracting jobs for my airframe (starting at $250k annually-half of which is tax free overseas) or starting a second career (at the age of 38 after I retire) are all things I consider pretty irresponsible not to consider.

I'm in that dreaded area where fiscally, I can't begin to validate staying in the service. But at the same time, being attack, I'll never get to truly do this job that I love again, even as a contractor.

I guess with all my ranting, did any of you love your military life and think you were just taking the new job to pay the bills but fell in love with it too?