Originally Posted by atsfdx
Sounds great! I'm a 21+ year Navy Retiree now with FedEx. Did it the hard way. Enlisted at 17, college degree at night, then AOCS. I flew H-46's, C-12's, C-9's and then Gulfstream IV, all thanks to the Navy, and now collect a check every month. I agree with quaileman about the Navy over the Corps. No disrespect. But if I had to do it over again, I would probably go USAF. I believe their airplanes are better, they're more specialized, and the Bases are well-equipped and seem to guarantee a better quality of life. I have been removed from the military only a couple of years and have few regrets. All of the pay and advancement opportunities discussed above apply to e all military services. The rise to O-4/O-5 in the USAF may require a graduate degree but the military can provide time and money for that as well. Good luck with your career.
As for ATS's comments, he's pretty much on track, although the airplanes being better is probably in regard to the type of aircraft as opposed to the quality of the maintenance, etc. Flying a C-5 or C-17 on a 12 hour leg beats out a C-130 long haul any day! (Sorry guys, but even the "4 fans of freedom" can grate on your nerves after a while!
)
I've been in for 24 years myself; 3 enlisted, 4 AF Academy Cadet and 17 as an officer/pilot. The quality of life has been better in the AF than the other services with respect to assignments and deployments although the AF is starting to do more deployments and joint service work than in the past, especially since 9/11 (Our days of air conditioned tents and cable TV are numbered
)
Getting to O-5
will require a Master's degree and at least one deployment under your belt as well. (O-4 might be attainable without it, but most of your competition will have a masters by then) Unless you go Guard / Reserve, your chances of being just a "Line swine" pilot
and getting promoted may be mutually exclusive; promotions in the AF depend also on other factors such as staff / office tours, additional duties, etc.
All in all, any military assignment will be beneficial to you as long as you ask a LOT of questions and go in with your eyes open. Some do better than others of course; ultimately it will be what
you make of it.
Good luck to you!