I'd have to let one of the several ANG/AFRES guys fill in on that, as well as heavy/SOF stuff. Deuce is right on - not only will you fly forever as a SOF pilot, you'll fly a lot, be gone a lot (everybody's gone a lot these days though) and do the business a lot. That's the type of thing I signed up for - if I were a young Lt these days, I'd give that path a very good look.

In fact, a lot of fighter guys trying to either get more flying or make themselves more competitive to get back to the cockpit are volunteering for SOF (MC-12), SOF-like (T-6 Iraq, An-26, etc), and non-flying deployments.

On the fighter side, the days of someone flying all the way to 20yrs is not all that likely. It used to be that if you wanted to fly, you could, but these days it's a lot tougher.

But, it's not impossible. I've done 20+ with only a 2yr break for a pretty good deal.

The military is one of a very few places where you have the opportunity to learn the difference between the epic and the merely exotic. Looking back over two decades, I've got some true epic experiences under my belt and no real regrets.

Do some soul-searching and determine your values and priorities, consider your options, and once you chose a fight, pitch into it boldly. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.