Originally Posted by TBoneF15

You seem to be focusing a lot on the fact that fighter pilots have to do staff jobs, etc. at some point...so do heavy dudes, so that should be irrelevant to you if you are trying to compare communities. Generally, when you make major, you'll have to a staff job and maybe PME in residence. Some dudes skate out of that, but not many. Also, not sure who told you you'd never get more than 1000 hours in a fighter in 20 years, but they are feeding you a line of BS propaganda. It is true that you won't get as many hours as you might have "back in the day," though. If you pick up a UPT IP gig somewhere in your first 3 assignments you'll generally get a ton of hours there. I got out at the 12 year point with 1100 fighter hours (2 tours) and 1100 UPT IP hours...way plenty to get a job. Hours will be a non-issue for you, assuming you stay in the cockpit.

Here's what I recommend:
1. you are a long way from getting out, so just put your airline goal in the back of your mind somewhere. You may or may not decide you want to do that in 2019 or whenever you finish your commitment. For all you know, they won't be hiring when you want to get out. As Slice said, definitely don't let the word "airlines" leave your cakehole at UPT. And the absolute LAST thing on your mind on assignment night should be what is best for the airlines. If it is, you're going to hate military flying.

2. you are also a long way from making this decision. Don't try to make up your mind now. Go to UPT, kick @ss, and see how you like different kinds of flying. There's some dudes who "always wanted a fighter" who end up hating going upside down and flying aggressively. There's some dudes who, once they fly formation for the first time, could give a crap if they ever fly straight and level again. No matter what you think right now, you could change your mind in the middle of T-6s.

3. don't worry about UAVs. there's a lot of dudes spreading doom and gloom on this site about UAVs and most of it is alarmist/un-informed. True, some dudes are getting that assignment and those numbers are increasing, but the VAST MAJORITY of dudes will never go. If you are scared of being one of the maybe 5% of dudes to get shacked with that, then don't bother going to UPT. Same reason you shouldn't scared off by the fact that some people get helicopters when they don't want them. Oh by the way, it's a fast changing ballgame. There's nothing to say that heavy dudes won't be getting shacked with UAVs in a couple years either. Either way, no one knows what will happen, so don't make your decision based on fear.

4. THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO is to work your @ss off in UPT, realize that every day, every grade, every maneuver counts, and make it your goal to be in position to get whatever you want on assignment night...whether that be fighters, bombers, FAIP, heavies, or helicopters. That can be more difficult than it sounds. I assure you, you'll much rather have your choice than get stuck with what's left.