<p>As I stated it also can be a situation that for some it can hurt them. However, it should never be seen as a “my flying career is over if I do this” before the career ever started.</p>
<p>For example, I think if a cadet said my ultimate goal is to fly Thunderbirds, than I would 100% agree with him, because they would not be able to get competitive enough credentials at the point needed to join the Thunderbirds. However, if the cadet said I want to be a Wing King/Queen. Than I think that if you look at many of the fighter commanders currently many of them have that in common.</p>
<p>I look at it this way, people will give you all of their “War stories”, (negative connotation —not actual war), but you should take it with a grain of salt, because for every war story out there, there is a success story. It is your option to listen to both sides and make your decision that is good for your life.</p>
<p>Bullet decided to jump out of perfectly good airplanes with the 82nd. People told him his flying career was over, his career was over, because they knew someone that did it and yadda yadda yadda. Had he not stepped out he would have been like the other F111 fliers, spending the rest of their flying career at Canon NM or coming into the strike much later on. Because he didn’t listen to them, he got into the Strike Eagle @5 yrs earlier, because he was an ALO with the 82nd for Haiti he also became USAF ALO of the yr. That award was on his PRF, which also helped get PME. Had he not gone to the 82nd it is highly doubtful that he would have been selected for sister school with the Army. That sister school got him a plum job at the Pentagon working Jt Requirements for Fighters, which he was able to use to get him back into the cockpit as a LTC after 4 yrs. That is a rarity in the AF to return that late in life to fighters, especially for someone who had made their gates, but had yet to do a remote. He was so well respected in that job, he was personally recruited by the #3 defense contractor before he was eligible to retire. When he hit the retirement button (you hit it 1 yr before you actually separate) he already had a job, while others had yet to start interviewing.</p>
<p>That jump ALO which everyone said he was crazy and ruin his career not only gave him a better career, but because of that he had altered his timing. The AF never had the chance to send him REMOTE. In today’s AF that is unheard of. Today officer’s know they will be hit with a remote and now plan it into their career.</p>
<p>Like I said, for every war story of you need to rethink what you are doing there is a success story out there.</p>