Here are a few questions for you.

How many years of service do you have now and how old are you/will be after you complete college and JSUPT/JPPT?

Are you ok with going active and are you planning to retire with a 20 year active retirement? There is nothing wrong with that track, especially with the way the airline industry is going, in fact it might be the best way in this new economic paradigm we find ourselves in.

The reason I ask this is you are going to owe the big blue machine 10 years from the time you get your wings, plus the 1 year of UPT.

As many on here have asked before, have you considered the ARC?

You will have the ability to get an airline job before you finish your commitments. If the airlines are hiring when you get the PIC time to be competitive. You will know the airframe you are going to fly when you start UPT. Seems like most units are always short maintenence folks, so you should be an easy hire. Your maintence background could get you a slot as an FE/Loadmaster which will now get you in close proximity to the people who will decide whether or not to send you to OTS/AMS and on to UPT. As long as you are not the proverbial dirtbag, it should be easy to get a UPT slot as an internal.

Something the AFRC units cannot match is the fact that most states offer completely free tuition and books to members of their National Guard at in state schools, this is on top of any G.I. Bill monies you might get whether it is post 9-11 or the Montgomery Bill. In fact, you might be able to use the old Montgomery to get some flight training beyond Private, to make your application look stronger within the unit, because you would be going to school almost for free.

Disclaimer #1--I have not checked to see if this is still a Guard benefit, it used to be and I have been away from the ANG too long, but it is worth checking on

Disclaimer #2--In today's total force integration we are seeing unprecedented things happen where the AF is taking planes from the ARC like never before and giving them non flying missions or UAV/RPAs to fly. So there is no guarantee the airplane you get selected to fly will be there for your full career at that unit or in some cases before you finish UPT. Everyone is one BRAC away from losing their iron and it seems like the Guard Bureau is powerless to stop it, and AFRC is just AD for less money so whatever the AF says to do, they do it with no protest.

Good Luck and thanks for keeping them flying!