When I was a captain I despised the thought of being an exec.
When I was a major I politely declined the wing exec job when it was offered to me.
Now that I'm a lieutenant colonel I hope that I can mentor the captains in my sphere of influence well enough without the understanding that I might have gained from that exec job.
My job is no longer to be the best operator in the unit. I can damn sure hold my own but my time is better invested in developing the next set of leaders. It pains me to say this because the only thing that really matters is how you execute when the mission gets tough, but looking back on it I think spending 1 year out of 17 as the exec might have been worth it.
