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Was flying for the Air Force worth it?


glitchfire

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3 hours ago, Grabby said:

I didn’t mean for any of this to be an indicator of how I felt during my time in.  I wasn’t upset while I was in.  I’m not upset now.  I was honestly pretty thrilled during my 12 years on AD.  And no one ever heard me say a single bad thing about our jet, ever.  Maybe I longed internally for a very different mission, but who ing cares.  I had a chance and it didn’t happen.  Boo hoo.
 

Not loving your MWS can be kept close to your heart, or realized slowly after years pass.  I don’t love the airlines, but damned if I’m not the first to tell my fellow pilots how fortunate we are with a smile on my face, and I’m the first to suggest drinks and day trips while on the road.  Anything but a slam-clicker.

 

I merely wanted to be transparent, on an anonymous forum, about my hindsight on if flying in the AF was worth it.  It took an enormous toll on my family and marriage.  I saw my son for, at best, 1/3 of his life while often flying empty jets across the ponds and in the AOR.  The 30 yo me didn’t care nearly as much as the gray haired me.  In retrospect I still feel fortunate and am grateful for the friendships, memories and ratings, but I have come to the conclusion that the AF definitely took a lot, and I probably would have gone a different route if I had to do it over.

 

If that makes me toxic, I guess I’m toxic.  Judging oneself is never easy and rarely accurate.  I definitely felt like I was a solid bro who was always willing to push and smile while doing it.  I just felt like deep down it was not as fulfilling as I initially thought it was going to be.

 

I’ll bow out to not clog the thread anymore, just felt like engaging when reading from strangers who don’t know me that I was not an asset but rather a detriment 

Sounds very reasonable and you seem like a good dude to me. 
 

Thank you for your service and happy to hear you’re crushing it in the civ world! 

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