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Honestly, I would be more pissed about having to spend 21 days in New Jersey!

She didn't handle it very well? She is a U.S. citizen who is NOT sick, has NOT committed a crime and was forced to live in a tent in New Jersey. I would think a few of you might be upset given the same circumstances. The question then becomes where do we draw the line? Influenza is airborne and a far bigger threat in the U.S., on average the "flu kills 36,000 people in the U.S. each year, why are you not quarantining everyone who gets the flu?

I got the impression that there were some in his community (F-105) who disliked him because of his actions over the gun camera footage. I never got to the bottom of that, but it was certainly there. Read both of his books and thought they were excellent. .

Ah yes, the standard AFSOC banter, it's like watching shit-talking at the special olympics. But that's just my opinion...

I got it figured out:

Those are exactly the type missions I was referring to being likely to make up the bulk over the next 20 years, and the reason that the Talon hasn't been the first mobility asset in to every 'combat' zone over the last decade...not even a majority. It's too conspicuous, obviously affiliated with the U.S. military, and has too large a footprint. Although flying the Talon is viable as a route to the aircraft that actually have been the first in over the last decade. And I don't disagree. For a pilot the MC is, in general, a more exciting profile (there are brief periods of exception to this). Preference between missions depends on whether you get more enjoyment from periodically flying a large aircraft on the margins of safety, or from having an operator come through the door of the squadron unannounced in his dress uniform to track down the crew that he credits with saving his life. Different strokes. They're both worth being proud of. I have a hard time defending the AC without caveat as performance in the community has taken a real hit since Cannon came into the picture, but I do have to mention this based on your last post: The value added by the AC-130 to the mission does not lie solely in its ability as a fires platform...not even close. It has capabilities apart from actually employing firepower that no other asset in the world has. If you removed its guns, it would still be in high demand. That's something that I've seen forgotten increasingly over the last decade by everyone involved...including the user, and sadly even within the community that operates it. Ratio of missions flown to shoots is immaterial (for the gunners it can understandably be rough, but that's another subject). Some of the most memorable missions I've ever been a part of didn't involve any weapons employment and I know for a fact that had a Gunship not been there, no matter how many other type assets you had to replace it, friendlies would have died. Instead they didn't, and a round never left the aircraft.

How else are you going to get your sports talk radio while hot-gassing?

Because they totally can't just search your medical history on e website with a quick query.

Honestly you will miss kid milestones, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc. no matter what you fly. No matter what MDS, you'll deploy, do a bunch of TDYs, etc...you will not avoid it. So that said, do what CH suggested and go for the dream; do the job you think you would enjoy most, then being gone doesn't seem as bad. Tell your wife in all honesty your aircraft on assignment night does not make your life together better or worse. She should not put a lot of stock in the words of those who are bitter and attempt to make something sound like a bad deal when its not.