<p>i would like to go back and address that conversation with my AOC, as i feel it’s given the wrong impression.</p>
<p>my AOC was not pressuring me one way or another. he wanted to make sure i fully understood the “consequences” of going directly to grad school since i told him that most people i had talked to regarding the situation were teachers who felt strongly i should take the slot. I basically invited him to play devil’s advocate because i felt i needed to see strong views from both sides. he actually did bring up specifically the thunderbird idea. as a caveat to everything he said, he did also mention that going to grad school by no means eliminated me from anything, it just could make some situations more difficult.</p>
<p>when i told him that i had accepted my AFIT slot, he was more than supportive. the fact that i would have a Master’s in residence and not have to worry about balancing work, a family, and school later down the road would help. While it may or may not have been the choice he’d make if he were me, he told me he thinks i went about my decision making the right way and that i therefore made the right choice.</p>
<p>and as a sidenote to all of this, my start date for training would not have been until march 2011. so i am now graduating AFIT the same week i would have graduated ENJJPT, which puts me at just over a year behind where i would have been. i have classmates you will still be in UPT after i graduate AFIT, and they’re going straight to UPT.</p>
<p>bottom line, i made the choice that was right for me after talking with teachers, flyers, recent grads, family, and prayer. i honestly believe if i have the talent to get fighters and TPS and the such, it will still happen. if not, it wouldn’t have happened anyway. i can’t predict or try to imagine what’s going to happen because things change every day. all i can do is stick behind my decision and do the best i can at AFIT and then the best i can at ENJJPT</p>