People compare "going the civilian route" to military flying all the time. I guess I did too. Keyword: Did. I went the civilian route for a few years before coming into active duty Air Force and I can tell you that it's apples to oranges. The Air Force is not a flying career, unless of course you stay in for 10 years and get out. Lots of aspects of Air Force life as a pilot is airframe dependent, but for the most part, after you meet your flying "gates", the harder it is to get a flying assignment. The Air Force would much rather have you in a command position for the next 10 years than in the cockpit. It is not uncommon for a 20 year Colonel to retire with only 3,500-4,000 hours in tanker/airlift airframes. As a commercial pilot, it'll take you 5-6 years to fly that much. As said above, it's not just a flying job and many times, flying takes the back burner to administration duties. It's not uncommon for our pilots to be sent to the desert for a 60+ day operations staff duty. 12 hour days/7 days a week behind a PC with a phone glued to your ear every 2 minutes. Been there, done it, not very fun. I laugh when I read the above posts about doing everyone elses' job because we're trying to do more with less, because it's so true and it's only going to get worse. I can tell you that the flying is pretty much the only part of the job that keeps me sane. Oh, and of course the pay and benefits aren't bad either when comparing it to say, a regional or even the first few years with a major, but again, this is not like an airline where you fly for 3-4 days and then spend 2-3 days home, on the golf course, on the lake, you name it. It's 24/7. You're defending a country.