Originally Posted by jaxsurf

I’d wager that not a single one of those people regrets joining the Air Force in the first place, even if they were ready to get out at the end.

If you have the chance/opportunity to fly fighters, it’s a no-brainer: do it. Flying fighters is an incomparable experience that only a fraction of the earth’s population will ever have, so don’t pass it up if given the slightest chance.

Some civilian pilots hate that airlines like hiring fighter guys, but they simply don’t know what they don’t know.

Flying transports, helos, whatever else, will also see you doing tons of cool ****, so if interested in the Reserves, don’t pass those up either. While these may not be as dynamic as flying a fighter, the flying is still like nothing in the 121 world, and the experience (ready room camaraderie, etc) will be a great one.

Mil flying of any type is likely more challenging, exciting, interesting, scary, difficult, than 99% of what you’ll probably see in the 121 world, so it’s worth experiencing, even if you’ll be happy to move on from it.

But regardless of what you fly, you are an officer first, with everything that that entails, as everyone previously mentioned.