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MIKE JG wrote:
Awesome! I wish you good luck. If you got a pilot slot, would you want to track fighters, heavies or UAV's.
Is that even a question!
Honestly, it's a tough choice and I've racked my brain on that one...
On one hand, yes it is AWESOME to fly fighters and and how many people can say "Yeah, I break the sound barrier on a regular basis while I'm at work". Plus, if I go career which right now is where my head is at, there's a lot more opportunity for advancement up the ranks and positions. yes this is changing, but for the near future that's just how it is.
On the other hand, heavies let you come home more often and thus it's a better family life. I have a buddy from ROTC who just finished his mission quals on the C-17 and wouldn't trade it in for anything. When in ROTC he was gung-ho F-15s.
My favorite aircraft with locations possibilities are below:
B-1B - South Dakota (No) ; Texas (No)
F-22A - Virginia (Yes) ; Alaska (Yes) ; New Mexico (No)
F-15E - North Carolina (Yes) ; United Kingdom (Undecided) ; Idaho (No)
C-17 - New Jersey (Yes) ; South Carolina (Yes) ; Washington (Yes) ; California (Undecided)
F-15 - Nevada (No) ; Virginia (Yes) ; Florida (Yes) ; Alaska (Yes) ; Japan (No)
F-16 - South Carolina (Yes) ; Arizona (No) ; Nevada (No) ; Utah (No) ; Italy (Yes) ; South Korea (Undecided)
Really tough choices, but it seems to me that the C-17 is the best choice for me location wise. I'm trying to think about as much as I can as to how each decision affects my life. The upside with F-16s and F-15s is that if I ever decide to leave Active Duty I could go into the ANG and remain in once place.
I hate UAVs but let's face it, they're here to stay. If I track fighter/bomber than I can expect at least one tour on UAVs so I'm prepared for that. As it is now you do one tour of UAVs before switching back to the cockpit, so I can suck it up for 4 years or so.
All decisions I'll come to when I get to that fork in the road
Also let's no forget, getting a pilot slot is really, really hard to do so I may not get it at all. Even if I do get one there's no guarantee I'll track the way I want to JSUPT, and could get stuck anywhere. At this point in my life now, I'll fly anything the AF gives me where I actually have to sit in a cockpit though
