Regret leaving

[XC-]

Maybe there’s already a thread on here that someone can point me to, but those who left for the airlines/other jobs…do you regret leaving?

[Prozac]

Not for a second. I do miss the camaraderie, & the flying in the airlines is decidedly boring (that’s a good thing in the 121 world), but the amount of control you get to have over your own life combined with a pay increase means it’s no contest. 

[HossHarris]

1 hour ago, XC- said:

Maybe there’s already a thread on here that someone can point me to, but those who left for the airlines/other jobs…do you regret leaving?

I miss the flying. 
I miss the camaraderie (but it’s easy to keep in touch with the bros).

I don’t miss the AF  

[nunya]

Stayed ARC for the benefits and I’m happy I did that, but regret leaving AD? Not even a little bit. 

[BashiChuni]

Absolutely not

[guineapigfury]

I left for a contractor job, so I see the Air Force every day.  I do not miss it in the slightest.

[Sua Sponte]

51 minutes ago, guineapigfury said:

I left for a contractor job, so I see the Air Force every day.  I do not miss it in the slightest.

+1

[FLEA]

Nope.

[HossHarris]

You can always go back if you don’t like your taste of freedom and independence. 

[tac airlifter]

I had an awesome career that I’m very thankful for: met tons of great people, flew several aircraft, and got to hurt the enemy. 
 

Unfortunately it’s a broken organization led predominantly by petty losers and mini-tyrants.  Having looked behind the curtain, it is as bad as the line flying captains think. 
 

ETA: I’m retiring in a few months after 21 years.  Glad I stayed as long as I did, no regrets about leaving now.

Edited November 30, 2022 by tac airlifter

[DirkDiggler]

13 hours ago, XC- said:

Maybe there’s already a thread on here that someone can point me to, but those who left for the airlines/other jobs…do you regret leaving?

I'm glad I stayed in.  Almost punched at 14 years when I got a staff gig I really despised (extremely poor leadership at the beginning).  Decided punching for one bad assignment was a little reactionary and ended up staying.  I truly think I would've regretted it had I punched but since that's a hypothetical no way to truly know.

  At the end of the day serving my country is still a really big part of my reason for being.  I love the flying and camaraderie.  Hit 20 next May and will probably stay another 2-3 years beyond that if I'm still positively contributing.  Different strokes.  

[herkbum]

I really enjoyed my 29 year career. But I have ZERO regrets not staying longer. Maybe I should have left sooner but I was in a good situation as an AGR.


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[TreeA10]

Did active duty then retired out of the reserves a long time ago and never missed it. I'm still in contact with the guys I shared some great flying and experiences with and It's fun swapping lies..I mean stories, with other airline pilots on long international flights about the interesting things we got to do. But definitely don't miss it. 

[gearhog]

 No F'n way. I stayed in longer than I needed to because I was afraid to let go. Once I was out, I realized how much my QOL had improved in spite of missing the camaraderie at work, and was sad that I had stayed far too long.

[Danger41]

13 hours ago, BashiChuni said:

Absolutely not

As your roommate on 5 deployments and still AD slug, this hurts. I’ll forever treasure the memories of you crapping your pants in Bagram and owning that intel SrA in Call of Duty.

[Biff_T]

20 years and 4 days active.   Like everyone else, I don't miss big blue.  I miss the flying and my bros but not all of the other bs.   The mentality of leadership really changed in a bad way from my first day to the last.  My good memories are what I like the most.  I remember getting talked to by leadership for drawing a donger in the dust on one of the TVs in the alert facility. (It wasn't even me lol)   This was what the "inspection" team found during the great morale cleansing of 2011.  Also, the non vol 365 for my 19th year.  Luckily, somebody volunteered for it.  They were trying to fxck me but one of my bros actually wanted to go and volunteered for it.   The funny thing is he was asking for a deployment the whole time.  Not getting promoted when someone with a dui did also pissed me off a little.   I never got into any trouble but I spoke my mind when things were dumb.  I was the CCV chief the first time I was passed over.  I took flying seriously and didnt do the queep.  Oh yeah, they finally promoted me 3 months after retirement.  That was awesome as well.   

Good times.  

[tac airlifter]

2 hours ago, Danger41 said:

I’ll forever treasure the memories of you crapping your pants in Bagram…..

Is this the origin of the mysterious framed poopy underwear in the Bagram TOC?  
 

I left a sticky note requesting the Taliban  reach out with answers if they figure it out; nothing heard yet.

[Biff_T]

3 minutes ago, tac airlifter said:

Is this the origin of the mysterious framed poopy underwear in the Bagram TOC?  
 

I left a sticky note requesting the Taliban  reach out with answers if they figure it out; nothing heard yet.

This the funniest thing I've read in a while!!!!   Pure American Aircrew shenanigans at it's finest!!!   EQ!

[Danger41]

27 minutes ago, tac airlifter said:

Is this the origin of the mysterious framed poopy underwear in the Bagram TOC?  
 

I left a sticky note requesting the Taliban  reach out with answers if they figure it out; nothing heard yet.

Nah, he just left those on the floor for me to high step over like Barry Sanders. 

[SocialD]

Slightly different spin on this.  Been in 22 years, almost all of that time has been as a part timer (I only take orders for deployments generally), and i've been an airline guy for the last 10+ years.  I love going down range and doing the mission, but I absolutely regret going on orders nearly every time I do so.  I just started a 5 month activation order and I've worked more in the last two weeks, then I worked in the last 2 months (combined) at Delta.  I really don't know how guys do this shit for an entire career...painful!

 

Very few of the "improvements" the AF has made in my career, has made life easier.  DTS, AROWS, MyEval, JMPS (long live CFPS/Falcon view lol), AFFORGEN...DUBYA TEE EFF!!!  It seems like nearly every time we try to do things, it's one self-imposed (big AF) road block after another.  It's like the AF just sits around and dreams up shit to make life harder for the individual.  I'm retiring this summer and I can't wait.  I'll miss the flying but not much else.  I'll maintain most of the camaraderie because nearly my entire squadron lives within a 4 sq mile area...my 2-3x weekly coffee/bourbon stops at bros houses will continue.   

 

Now get off my lawn!  

 

[Pancake]

Do not miss AD at all. Love the Guard. Been mostly AGR and now DSG. New to international airline flying and really liking it.

Best job combo in the world has got to be DSG Guard pilot and widebody FO.

[FourFans]

On 11/29/2022 at 5:40 PM, XC- said:

Maybe there’s already a thread on here that someone can point me to, but those who left for the airlines/other jobs…do you regret leaving?

It's all perspective.  What's your situation?  Do you live in Valdosta GA flying UPT lines every day, have a wife from there who's got family in the area?  IF you had that gig and could hold it until retirement, of COURSE you'd regret departing to an unknown airline with unknown basing and future instead of staying until retirement or beyond.

Contrast that to another situation where you live in Florida, are working a desk job with burned out GS-13's who are basically just waiting to die, you're not flying, and you've been told you have to move to west texas and deploy for one of your last 3 years in the AF.  Yeah, you wouldn't regret leaving that.

It's all perspective.  You get to choose if you're positive or negative about ANYTHING that happens in your life.  If you choose to regret leaving, guess what, you'll regret leaving.  If you choose to see the bright side of your new job after leaving, you'll see the bright side of your new job after leaving.

Edited December 1, 2022 by FourFans130

[BashiChuni]

On 11/30/2022 at 1:47 PM, Danger41 said:

Nah, he just left those on the floor for me to high step over like Barry Sanders. 

I sharted putting on my body armor stepping and had to tell my CSO sq/cc the nebulous “I’ll meet you at the crew bus”, crab walk my way back to our dorm, furiously strip my boots, pants, and shit filled underwear off, use a dirty undershirt to wipe, find new pants, and then run to the crew bus. 
 

so yes I had to leave that surprise for y’all to find 😂 
 

Good times. 

[Day Man]

[BFM this]

On 11/29/2022 at 5:53 PM, Prozac said:

& the flying in the airlines is decidedly boring (that’s a good thing in the 121 world)

PF into LGA yesterday

Figure I checked the NOT decidedly boring square for the next year at least.