Mem - several good points, but I have to disagree with a couple things.

I'm to young in the AF to match anyone's resume who has been around since the 90's. I watched 9/11 happen when I was in college. I knew I was joining the military during a time of war. I knew what I was getting in to. I can really only say that in my short stint in the C-5 I am averaging around 220+ days a year gone, and with the current trend of no one leaving the community and the war still raging with fewer pilots to do the mission, I don't see that ending anytime soon.

I didn't join so that I could spend more time with my family, in fact it almost cost me my wife when I decided to make the military my life. I've had a string of crappy commanders that have made many crappy decisions. Because of that I started to question decisions of those appointed to a "leadership" position MANY years ago.

I have flow empty across the pond and had the TACC O-6 tell me to shut up and color, only to watch a jet fly back to Europe (ONE day later) to p/u cargo that I could have done if they left me out in the system. In the C-5 community the "M" model is the new thing. With increased performance and fuel savings I naturally thought that Travis (being geographically further separated from the fight) would be the most "logical" choice to receive them. Travis flys 10 hours, on average, longer just to get to the East coast to p/u cargo than those jets from Dover. 18 AF/CC and the AMC/CC just "patted" the little Captain on the head and proceeded to blow off my question saying that Dover would be the first to recieve them.

If we take pilots out of the MAF community, shortly after making AC or even IP, then we only damage our core. A buddy of mine is in a KC-10 SQ where the chief of DOV is a KC-10 baby with only 5 years experience. That is a direct result of the shoddy assignments that the SQ recieved (UAV, AETC, Capts going to staff, etc) and has hurt them greatly. I can see this being an even larger problem in the CAF community, where I also have a friend who has done 2 Ops tours in a row, and is considered lucky not to be TAMI 21'd or sent packin to an ALO position.

UAVs will always have the luxury of being a 0/0 asset. They may be "flying" a CAF asset, but they are sitting at a place where they are in no immediate danger of taking that "golden bb" or constantly living in fear of that SA-18 poppin up out of nowhere. They don't opperate by themselves, but in teams, in that trailer.

Every warfighter has to start somewhere. We are not all built to be one, weather it be SA, reflexes, instinct, knowledge level, or whatever. The one thing they ALL have in common is that they were trained to do their job. Every grunt, soilder, seaman, and airman were grown from what you see when you pass your closest college or high school. The UAS may be the "wave of the future" but we are far from it being the backbone of our combat units.

I am just a Captain. It's not WWII, it's the 21st century. The AF doesn't number near one million, but closer to 300k. We are all streched pretty thin and I understand that I am a voulenteer and work for a dictator, not in a democracy. I'll go where they tell me, fly what they tell me, and leave when my family and I make that decision (after I have paid my "dues" and my 10 year commitment). I have been made to do some pretty stupid things and watched my family suffer.

Whenever anyone asks "are you going to make the AF a career?" I always answer them "as long as it treats me and my family well." IF the AF keeps making these dumb decisions, I'm going to join the ranks of those "rats that have fleed the ship."

I am WAFP and I approve this message!