Surprised you haven't had any responses yet, fly4unclesam. I'm in your exact situation. Could retire in April 2010 as a 20 yr O-4 current or accept a promotion to O-5 and retire at 22 or 23 YOS. Given the current hiring situation, I have elected to stay in and get the extra retirement, however, I will be going to a non-flying staff job and am very concerned about my currency. As a military aviator I have the accumulated more than the mins, so will "puttering" around in a 172, etc on the weekends qualify me as "current" for hiring purposes? Obviously, nobody knows for sure, I suppose... I'll let you know how it worked out for me in 3 yrs!