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Too many undefined variables to give you a very good answer. Where are you looking to be? What's your background? What kind of work do you want to do, what kinds of positions in what industries? If you don't have laser-guided answers to these questions, then you've got a hell of a lot of work still to do. In short, people are finding jobs, but it's a tough game and will take 6-9 months, on average, to find your first civilian job. Start looking well before you separate. Get a copy of "What Color is Your Parachute" and follow it to the letter. Ignore the job ads, Monster, headhunters, etc. Success rates in those lines are less than 10% and pursuing them in anything other than a cursory way will frustrate and anger you. I remember there was one "military headhunter" around when I was getting out who promised to get me a job, but I had to agree to use them exclusively, including not making any effort on my own part to find a job. I told them to take a hike. When people talk about a "jobless recovery", they're not kidding. There are jobs out there but they are hard to find, employers are being incredibly choosey, and there is lots of competition for every position open. As for MBAs, that's a very tricky subject. They're as common as high school diplomas out there now. Unless you've got one from Harvard or Kellogg, don't expect it to be a discriminator of any real value. Everybody and their brother has one, so it's not special any more. In some jobs, it's a requirement, in most, it's not that important, especially if you bring some good real-world experience to the table. Learn how to write your resume so a civilian who's never heard of the USAF can read it. Take out all the acronyms and job titles that don't make any sense on the outside world. 99% of the world has no idea what we vets are talking about so don't bother trying to educate them. Learn how to speak civilian. $100K doesn't buy you much on the outside where you don't get BHA, free medical and dental care, subsidized commissary, etc, etc, etc. Your expenses are going to shift. Things you don't pay for now may become significant outgoings for you and your family. Get advice on salary expectations (look at Glassdoor.com for this) as well as remuneration packages. Those can be very complex and you need to know all of this when you get to package negotiations. I say all of this not to scare anyone or make them change their mind about getting out, but to give you some realistic expectations of what you'll need to do to succeed. There's lots more to this and I'm happy to discuss it with anyone. For me, getting out when I did was the right decision, and I value the time I spent in the USAF. It gave me the grounding, responsibility, and skills that have been the basis of some real success on the outside. But it is hard work and not to be taken lightly. I hope that helps in some way. Anyone can feel free to PM me on any of the above. Cheers!

Old guy advice forthcoming--take it or leave it: Where do you want to live? Why? What kind of life do you want to have? Why? What makes you happy? I retired so I could have the opportunity to take my now 14yr old son to school everyday. Guess what....it's a 3 minute drive from my house....I wouldn't trade those 3 minutes times each day of a full school year times 7 years for any "6" figure salary....next year he will start driving himself and we'll still have each and everyone of those 3 minutes ..... And the workshop out back where I make sawdust every chance I get is my choice on the above questions. Gentlemen: It's not about the money, it never was or should it be! Just a thought from a closet philosophizer...OL Patch.

Close the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy. Have one United States Military Academy where graduates compete for whatever service/job they would like to enter. Expand ROTC programs and OTS. Have more folks entering the service without the "I've been brainwashed since I was 18 that if life isn't miserable then something is wrong" mentality. Have combined USAFA/USN/USMA football team kick Notre Dame's ass over and over again.

Taking AWC now -- correspondence of course. It's awful. Read a bunch of articles, write an essay, dump the info, never to be used again. It's a repeat of SOS, ACSC --- Sun Tzu, Warden's cocentric circles, all over again. But more. Much more. Pages and pages. Not going to learn anything, but I will get to check that block. Which is the purpose of AWC. Check the block. I vote we close it.

I've done PME inres every level (except ASBC not around for an old fart like me). SOS was a waste, but that is because I was from an Ops background. I think the non-ops folks actually learned something about the Air Force, most did not know the types of airplanes we flew. IDE was unfun...there were parts that had promise and I took a little time to understand the bigger picture in relation to political theories such as realism and liberalism. Beyond that, it was mostly a waste, but again because I came from an ops background. ASG was simply the best academic experience I've ever had. Very small student body, world class instructors, heavy academic load (read 273 books in one year). We spend five days walking the beaches at Normandy with PhDs who had written their thesis about the landing and eventual breakout. We walked Belleau Wood with a young Frenchman who has adopted the battlefield and truly loves Americans and the fact that they came to save France...twice. We walked the beaches of the southern landings with another PhD who wrote THE book about that operation. We traveled to Vietnam and walked the battlefield of Khe Sahn, stood behind the wall in Hue City where LtGen Christmas won the Navy Cross...with LtGen Christmas, and I stood on the Paul Doumer Bridge...looked up and took a minute to wonder what it was like when my old man rolled in on the bridge in an F-4 with iron bombs, winning one of his won one of five DFCs. SDE (not AWC), was a scratch because the leadership was so so...tough to revert to student mode and present a note for a doctors appt when your last assignment was as a Sq/CC. That being said, the access was unreal. We met personally with every service chief and got the chance to pick their brain. We spent time with SECDEF, a Supreme Court Justice, CJCS, Gen Pace, Gen Patraeus, Gen Zinni, and former President Bush (43). Tom Ricks is an idiot, but beyond that he does not realize what INRES PME offers that you would never get at a civilian institution, the opportunity to work with the other services and pick their brains. My SDE calls had several graduated Battalion CC's that were just coming out (sts), of AFG and Iraq, their insights were invaluable. The curriculum is dry at times, but it does focus on aspects of the DIME that you would never get at a civilian institution. Harvard, Yale, and Stanford all have outstanding programs and yes some military officers would benefit, but we do need a cadre of officers that understands the military system. I am not saying the current system is perfect, but there is value.

In almost any degree program, in my opinion, you get out what you put in. Granted reputation matters, but if you put in the work to be able to speak intelligently and credibly about what you learned and can connect that with the job you're trying to get then you're doing it right. The stigma of "online" versus "brick and mortar/real" is slowing going away and honestly there aren't a lot of other options for frequent deployers/TDYers. Like some people have said on here, if the AF were truly committed to having its officers getting good educations, there would be many more slots for full-time study from high-quality institutions. The system now gives the illusion of the AF caring about human capital and education, but instead just gives them one more data point to rack-and-stack people and puts money in the pockets of "military-friendly" online schools.

Make your own $100K job as an entrepreneur.

Take it one step further...since we're the youngest service, and care nothing for heritage,, let's abolish all the departments and create a true joint US Defense Forces. One academy, one PME track, one acquisitions process, one doctrine, one uniform, one HQ.

So instead of giving up "prestigious", if useless, institutions, we'll instead cut the number of F-22s, RIF officers, and mothball aircraft. It's fine, I'm sure the next war will be fought with harshly worded academic papers.

Who said anything about PME schools producing good leaders? The only school that produces good leaders is Weapons School...just ask any Weapons Officer.

Also, if we're talking saving money, how much money would we save if we shut down the academies? Increase the number of ROTC/OTS students per year to make up the numbers. This would be what, one maybe two students per ROTC det? Paying a full ride scholarship at most colleges would be way cheaper than running the Academy! What do we really gain from the academies...especially with the students that punch at the end of their commitment?

I think you actually see all 180+ flares coming out of the BUFF in that video On a related note, here's a picture of the ol' girl with bomb bay open and punching out chaff at a VERY low altitude while being "shot" at by Smokey SAMs: Happy Birthday

I number of years ago while a student in the ASG program I had the unfortunate and very unsatisfying opportunity to sit down and debate the pompous egomaniac that is Tom Ricks. His is single-minded in his belief that everything is done wrong, no matter who does it, it is how he makes his living. His hatred of the Air Force was BLATANTLY obvious as we discussed and debated ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. His myopic view of the world is limited to a boots on the ground approach and after two hours trying to engage it was readily apparent he does not have a strategic bone in his body. I am not a graduate of Air War College, but I dare say this idiot could most certainly benefit from completing the curriculum...if nothing else the PT program would help him shed the 80 pounds of girth that seems to be impairing his thought process.

Get ######ed, the Air Force needs its University, just to say it has one. Cut the fat from elsewhere. Yea i went to the zoo, but my opinion still stands

If you didn't go to the zoo, then you won't get it. I fail to see how an academy grad separating at 5 years is any different than a ROTC dude punching at the same time.