I just finished twenty-seven glorious years on 30Aug09. Was it worth it? That of course depends on what you want out of it. I did ten years active duty and seventeen years of ANG. If I had stayed on active duty it would have driven me insane, it was petty and wasted a ton of time that could have been spent on life in general and my family life was in trouble so I had to choose and I chose to transfer to the ANG.
I can see a few posts on how guys from back in the 80's and 90's did not serve in the deployments they have today so they cannot accurately convey the problems with a career. That is basically a silly statement. While deployments might be a bit longer it is the same misery for most folks. I was TDY more than 100 times for nearly four years of time, including three war deployments and also had one twelve month tour to the ROK in 89-90. At one point my shop was 90% divorced and working 60 hours a week. I survived upsizing and downsizing and at least 10 revisions of the PT standard and three of the rating system, reorganizations from SAC to TAC to ACC then a transfer to AMC for the same unit.
I went thru the ranks to E7 and supervised a large shop, I ran the largest USAF operated power plant in the AOR with a crew of nearly all ANG troops to 99.9% realibility only to have the AF give it to KBR on the next rotation. My squadron commander and chief were the CE deployed management and felt it was a meaningless accomplishment because they felt "to get electricity all you gotta do is go find a power pole". So working for idiots can be a way of life.
On the cool as hell side, I started on B52G/H and worked three Bomp Comps in the late 1980's, As an Electronic Warfare specialist we won the Bartsch Throphy, the Academy Award of EW for SAC. I worked U-2R overseas, transfered to crew chief then left for the ANG and worked Combat Comm for several years before becoming a CE puke in Power Production for the last decade.
I ran a unit shooting team for 13 years, shot on the national team for five, competed in a dozen nationals in three disciplines and over 140 competitive shooting matches of all sorts over 20 years. My rich Uncle Sam paid for most of it including over 100,000 rounds of ammo. I qualified as an Expert with a pistol or rifle in EVERY branch of service including the USCG. Instructed hundreds of folks who went into harms way on the joys of marksmanship. I'm sure more than a few came home alive because they could actually hit something they shot at.
Sadly the military has become very anti-gun. The AF has some bitter lesbo general from Security Forces working full time to deny weapons to anyone other than SF pukes. They have been working for the last decade to destroy the ANG shooting program, the almost have the Army Guard finished off, the Army Reserve is going as well. The USAF big teams are all but unsupported and the near constant claim is that competitive shooting, especially pistol has no place in combat.
I shot pistol for the most part, the first time I picked up a rifle at a long range rifle school, I bested 225 of 230 folks for the 5th highest scores overall. I have NEVER seen a rifle shooter do that at a pistol match of any kind. In twenty-seven years, one SF guy ever beat me at a match of any kind and I trained him for four years before he could do that. To this day, I think over all the most dangerous combat unit in the USAF is a CE unit. They are generally all rednecks who hunt and fish and do not have problems working with weapons. hahaha
I happen to think competitve shooting does wonders for marksmanship in any unit. If even a few folks are comfortable and knowledgeable with weapons and their operation they can spend time making everyone more effective and in most cases safer with weapons. Silly shit like playing "Do you trust me?" games and shooting each other in the head would be avoided. I also think team contact sports and unit shooting teams can add a combat skill and unit spirit to an outfit for very little money. They are far more useful that bowling, volleyball or golf in combat.
I retired when I was totally sick of the asshole command staff running my unit. They were the lyingest bunch of pricks in the ANG. They were petty, underhanded and treated the weekenders like total crap. I had to sit through supervisors meetings listening to them plot shitting on folks and treating them as cattle. When I fought them over some of the shady things they pulled, they hated me even worse to usual. I am always amazed at how many folks forget the care and feeding of their troops when they get to the top. I never did and my guys worked hard knowing they would never starve or freeze to death while I sat on my ass in a heated or A/C'd truck and called them names. My decision to retire was based on my dislike for the socialist President and the pricks from my unit. Also, I did not have an interest in rotting for 6-7 months in Afghanistan for a guy who will apologize for me going in the first place. Of course I won't get to complete my set of medals from the war, that kinda sucks. I only had one to go.
It is what you make of it. There are tons of cool jobs doing anything you ever dreamed of, all you have to do is find them. You can be deployed forever if you like, to all sorts of exotic places, not just the war zone. You can live in any cool part of the world and see stuff most folks only dream of in places most people will never go. You will meet and serve with some of the best people on earth and occasionally some of the worst oxygen thieves to have ever lived. hahaha
Overall, I enjoyed it tons. Having a life and family and all the hard work that entales will make it tougher by far. The only thing I'd say is marry well. There are an endless supply of miserable sluts( both male and female) to make you miserable if you pick poorly. Family drama can make life in the military totally miserable. I've seen more folks leave because of family than any other reason. I was single for eighteen years of my career and spent seven as a single Dad raising my daughter. That was tough, but a lot nicer than having a hoochie wife who was off humping the 1st Sgt when I was deployed.
Was it worth it? That is something you have to decide for yourself. Plenty of guys are happy to give it a try and go to college a better person. As Paul Airey once said at a school I went to. "If you dislike the military, serve your time honorably and get out." "Your swore an oath and signed on the dotted line, keep you word and earn the right to bitch about it." He was long retired when he said that, I am not that old by the way.