Actually, that's kind of what happened to me. I was just an EE with thick glasses and bad hair, but through an unlikely series of events, I ended up as a test subject to see if people with laser vision correction could effectively fly military aircraft. 10 years later, it turns out they can.

Unfortunately, it's not like it was back in the 90s. Because the job market has been so bad for so long, they no longer have to worry about retention even with the ops tempo like it is. (My MDS has been rotating 6 months in Afghanistan followed by 6 months in garrison) As such they have started to lay people off, since in any business it is cheaper to have 1 person work 75 hours per week that to have 2 people work 40 hours per week for the same salary. My wife and I have both been tagged for involuntary separation, and while it is disappointing that we will not be able to count on having 2 retirement checks, it is probably for the best. Last year I worked 362 days. That's 3 days of weekend over 1 year. I love flying and I love the Air Force, but this is no way for me to treat my family.

You would be surprised how ineffective that last suggestion is.

I like the github idea. Thanks!

I don't think most people realize how scary it is for career soldiers, sailors and airmen to leave the military. Being shot at we can deal with. Writing a decent resume, now that's traumatic. Seriously though, it is a separate culture with unique customs, language and expectations. We join young, often come from military families and marry other military members. To separate before retirement is similar to leaving ones native country knowing that you will never come back. The little things that civilians have been dealing with since they applied for their first job are often mysterious and opaque.

In the U.S. military standards and FAA standards overlap. The Air Force has their own comprehensive set of regulations dictated in the 11-2xx AFIs that are usually more stringent than their civilian equivalents bit that occasionally allow us to do things that would be tough to get permission for outside. The Navy, Army, and Marines generally just start with the FAA's FAR/AIM and publish a NATOPS specifying any authorized deviations. Regardless of their service, all military pilots in the US are held to FAA and ICAO regulations, not just those of their individual services. That said, sometimes mission requirements force some regs to be disregarded. I.E. U-2s don't get ATC clearances from the countries that they are spying on. In any event even as an Air Force guy, getting my commercial single-engine/multi-engine/jet certs was as simple as showing up at the local FAA branch office and taking a written test the day after my first applicable military check-ride.