Moose,

I agree with you...that retirement check is nothing to sneeze at. Buds at my company always have a smile on their face when they walked to the mail box that day to get their check (for having a pulse). Of course there is a tradeoff...they will have ten years of less seniority compared to me when I am their age.
As a it has been mentioned before on this thread...you will eventually collect that check also....(but way down the road and with a much shorter life span to compound). You will hopefully have that second defined benefit pension to look forward to also (maybe this is wishful thinking...who knows). It all depends on what you want to do for the rest of your life. Sticking it out in the AF for 20 will give you options if you want to explore other careers while still having that retirement income to fall back on while you transition. Seems like once you start the airline gig you are locked in. I am having trouble imagining what it would be like to have the same airline schedule for the next 30 years of my life.

The reserves are must to keep your foot in the door while still accumulating active duty points...hopefully that window of opportunity will open up for you and AFPC will announce "we need experienced dudes back...here is the bonus". Not sure if this will ever happen again...but we've all seen mother AF make stranger decisions.