Originally Posted by DollaBillz

Yes...and most of the 20 something year olds that make up the majority of the class have been flight instructing either at their college or some other joint where they're not originally from. They don't have a "hometown." Most of them are going to have to move regardless of the base they get, and most of them don't have wives, kids, mortgages, or other commitments that make moving tougher. So it's just common sense that the old guys that are more likely to have conditions that necessitate a certain base pick first and the 20somethings that are going to have to move anyway get the scraps. I would actually feel bad if a guy with three kids and a mortgage in a DFW suburb that really really needed DFW has to commute to ORD because I got randomly assigned to pick ahead of him and picked DFW when I can just pack all of my earthly possessions in a 4'x8' Uhaul trailer and am willing to move anywhere to live at base.

I get it, random is technically the "fairest" way to do it, but I think it's just good practice to go by age.