EBM and mappleby, thank you both so much for the post. I appreciate both of your insights and perspectives.
It was not my intention to paint a picture that I did not want to be in the military at all. Being a naturalized citizen, I am grateful to have been given the chance to live and grow up in this country with opportunities that would not have been available to me before. For that, I wanted to say thank you to the country that has given me so much by serving in it's military, even for just a few years. Be assured that I will do the best I can in any job that I am assigned in and quoting a wise officer, "bloom where you are planted." I suppose I started planning my "exit strategy" before I even got in due to my perfectionist/obsessive personality. I like to "plan" out my life in the future, even though I know it could totally end up in a different trajectory; but just knowing where I am going is very important to me.
I guess I was just disillusioned by the pilot-driven culture of the AF and at this point, I still am. I wanted to do something exciting during my service and be proud to say to my grandchildren that I was a pilot in the World's Greatest Air Force. That is not to say that there aren't any "thrilling" career fields in the AF, which I know there are, but to each his own.
I apologize for the long post but I just wanted to say thank you both. I still have to do a bit more soul searching, since it will be ultimately up to me to get the most out of my time in the Air Force, be it 10+ years or 4 years.
It was not my intention to paint a picture that I did not want to be in the military at all. Being a naturalized citizen, I am grateful to have been given the chance to live and grow up in this country with opportunities that would not have been available to me before. For that, I wanted to say thank you to the country that has given me so much by serving in it's military, even for just a few years. Be assured that I will do the best I can in any job that I am assigned in and quoting a wise officer, "bloom where you are planted." I suppose I started planning my "exit strategy" before I even got in due to my perfectionist/obsessive personality. I like to "plan" out my life in the future, even though I know it could totally end up in a different trajectory; but just knowing where I am going is very important to me.
I guess I was just disillusioned by the pilot-driven culture of the AF and at this point, I still am. I wanted to do something exciting during my service and be proud to say to my grandchildren that I was a pilot in the World's Greatest Air Force. That is not to say that there aren't any "thrilling" career fields in the AF, which I know there are, but to each his own.
I apologize for the long post but I just wanted to say thank you both. I still have to do a bit more soul searching, since it will be ultimately up to me to get the most out of my time in the Air Force, be it 10+ years or 4 years.