Originally Posted by C-17 Driver

Everybody's experience is different so it may not necessarily "happen to you too." I still enjoy flying in the military and still try to take all the queep in stride. I flew a tac sortie last night and had a blast. Just me and a relatively new LT in the squadron tearing up the pattern and some VFR C-17 flying. My "sacrifice" was just an evening away from my family. The reward was a doing something I still love and getting paid several hundred dollars to do it.

Although the extra pay is nice, I am not in it for the money. Sounds like you just weren't happy anymore. You make the right choice by getting out of the AF cockpit. I am not ready to hang it up yet.

This was not a jab at your decision. I just wanted to provide a balance to the discussion. I'm sorry your experience was not as positive as others.

I live in base for both my Airline and AF Reserve job. Since I am at United, I can "double dip." I was on Reserve for UAL yesterday and still got some C-17 currency. I am sitting at 60% on the DCA 756 so I bid reserve by choice during the school year.

Remember, our mantra in the Reserve is "Family First, Civilian Job second, and Reserves third." Find a good battle rhythm and a good balance. Your job is to be a reservist which is current and qualified to be ready to go if and when they raise the flag. Anything beyond that is bonus to the squadron. If a squadron is demanding more than that, then I would respectfully disagree with their organizational vision/standard for their traditional reservists.

I would argue for every reservist that is p!ssed off at Big Blue, there is another that is pretty content.