The mil gig kept people alive during the rough times, but it's a different ARC than it was 15-20 years ago. A lot of the dudes who had their bacon saved when they were furloughed after 9/11 were from the good old days when the Guard and Reserves were a flying club and we only went to places like Guam, Pisa, Cypress, Curacao.... you know, the real "rough" ones. Those were the times you could have fun and get a little stupid without it ending up on FaceBook a day later because one of your brown-nosing unit mates wanted to play buddyf#cker. Those were the days when straw after straw after straw breaking the camel's back didn't exist. Most of those dudes have since retired. Those are the ones, some of them at least, who managed to walk away with an AD retirement, an ART retirement AAAAAAAAAAAND walked right back into decent seniority and a $200,000 per year job. I know at least a half dozen guys like this from the lost decade who did very well for themselves while guys like me waited for a full time job at the unit. Timing is everything. I am in "ghost mode" now. I go to the unit a few times a month, get my shit done to stay off the bad boy lists, but for the most part, I try to spend very little time there. I think it's a case of senioritis, but with first year pay at $90+ an hour these days, fortunately I don't need the extra cash... just a few more good year's worth of points.