pitts2112

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!

How old was she? If she's legal you may get away with it.

First time poster here, but I was a non-rated guy from '91 to '98 and can give a bit of history on the 95% promotion rate. In essence, not having to compete for promotion to captain since 2002 has been a direct result of the botched RIF in the 90s, it just took another few years for the low number of remaining officers to undercut the number of required slots at senior ranks. So many CGOs got out that there weren't enough to fill all the Maj slots at normal promotion rates, so the rates went up (and so on for each higher rank). And it wasn't just the RIF that caused it. Life in USAF in general in the 90s was such that guys were getting out in record numbers just to escape the bullshit and ever-reducing budgets. And that was before the wars! I'm sure there's a formula for manning which means that, in order to sustain that promotion rate to major, you have to promote all your Lts to Capt. When I was in, promotion rates were (IIRC): Lt to Capt - 95% Capt to Maj - 85% Maj to Lt Col - 75% Lt Col to Col - 65% and PRFs had to be done for each board. Meeting passed-over Lt Cols was not uncommon. So, really, your experience of automatic promotion to Capt has been an anomaly used to solve a medium-term manning problem, it's just that you young guys have never known any different. You are now returning to normal mode. Yes, there is, and in normal times always was, a PRF for the Capt board, but I don't remember it being any more a pain in the ass than an OPR. What IS a pain in the ass is the politics of who gets DPs (not that important for Capt, but I do know guys who have been screwed over at senior levels), but that's got nothing to do with writing the PRF. Now, to add some perspective on this, in my 7 years and 4 bases, I never heard of, never mind knew, an LT not making Captain; meaning it happens but the numbers are so small that, for all intents and purposes, the promotion is automatic. Just keep breathing long enough, don't get a DUI, and don't get caught banging the WG/CC's daughter in the back of his own staff car, and you'll be there. How this "new" requirement fits into what, from the outside, seems like an increasing amount of bullshit, I can't say, but I'm sure it's no picnic for you guys today. It probably just seems like one more item designed to increase the suck factor but, really, it's just reverting to a previous level of suck.