Lag,

I would have to wonder if I could walk into the squadron regularly and also be keeping all my security issues updated while living in HKG or Guangshou. It certainly is an "interesting" time.

You know this kind of chatter will invite the "hey...that's abusing mil leave" calls. At the same time...having a guy willing to hang it out for a part time job and nickels on the dollar to serve his country serves both the nation and the taxpayer pretty well. For the last 5 years, the US got a mission ready deployable F15 pilot for less than 50k a year....more like 30k most years....with no expenses of retirement pensions, medical benefits, etc. So the guys that do serve, while they may not help the bottom line of a particular company certainly do help the nation. In the Air Force or Guard, however, it is hard to always give enought--especially if you are associated with an active duty unit. My experience the last few years trying to do both was that you basically end up ****ing off two organizations at times--but you have to accept that is part of the job. Sure was fun while it lasted...

Funny thing is I made the choice to quit wearing two hats about eight months ago. I had the chance to do some non-flying stuff, but thougth I'd finally concentrate on my airline gig for a while. My back said F-15 flying was probably out, and the latest groundings of the F15 fleet vindicated that decision and have meant fewer sorties and chances for the guys who stay in...so it was the right thing to do. However, when I clicked "yes" on my online retirement app, it sure felt wierd. When I got my flight records in the mail two weeks ago, even though I had flown my last F15 flight almost a year earlier, it was still an very emotional moment. Only those guys who have walked away can understand that finality.

Point to all this? Anyone who is hired into an FDA and does some Guard or Reserve work will probably take some heat from the company at times. You'll also probably have more a$$ pain than you can imagine at your unit when you are updating security issues and trying to schedule your work around commuting across the oceans. You'll make a lot of folks irritated...

But as for me...I salute you. I did it....for six years...and had it easier than most but some days it was still DAMN hard. I'll buy you beer and say "thanks for your service". Thanks for taking the heat from your unit. Thanks for rolling with the punches from the company. It won't be easy. But you can wake up, look in the mirror, and say "I'm still on the home team" when the world goes to crap...and for me that was still the absolute best part of staying in the ANG these last six years. I won't miss the early a.m. briefs, the gradesheets, the ORIs, or the painful ancillary training squares, or having to get admin help to log on to a computer every time I can back to the squadron because the passwords nazis were out in force. But I'll miss knowing that I was an officer and warrior, and that now I am just another retired schmuck cluttering up the commissary.