SJ - I'm in a very similiar situation to you. I'm in the ANG and commute out of RIC. Commuting absolutely, positively blows - but with that in mind, I would never give up flying a fighter for my military job nor the piece of mind of having that military job to fall back on in case of hard times. I'm currently 60% percent and change in the 737 out of EWR.

I did the crashpad act before going on full time orders for a while. EWR is a trash can, but it's much cheaper to do the crashpad deal than a hotel. More often than not, especially as a junior pup you're going to have trips that are not commutable and you'll need that crashpad. Price ranges from 150 to 350 bucks a month - give or take.

There is an age old debate about whether to live in your airline domicile or your ANG base hometown. I'd say - especially flying a fighter - the best option is living by the ANG. It's much easier to have a set schedule with the squadron and know which times you're going to fly your sorties for the AF and commute to the airline than the other way around. At least, as I said, for flying pointy jets...for fatties, I'm not sure...

My .02...good luck!!!