I stayed for 24 years; overall an outstanding experiance with great people at most levels of management.
Pros
Outstanind travel opportunities for most jobs. Where else can you be moved from Turkey, to Italy, to Germany, to the U.K., over to Japan - and get payed to visit and live in each one! Educational opportunities are outstanding. With Tuition Assistance, you can obtain a Bachelors or even a Masters Degree - free of charge!
Cons
Senior leadership can, and has, signifiantly changed the rules without any notice. Example: Each rank has a High Year of Tenure. For E1 through E4 HYT is 10 years of service; for E-5 and 6, HYT is 20 years; E-7 is now 24 years (previously 26); E-8 is now 26 years (previously 28). This change was made without any warning to those that would be effected. It was anonced on the day the changes took affect. This is a serious failure in leadership to not give advanced warning to individuals how had, no boubt, made serious financial plans based on having another 2 years of service remaining. Those that were forced to retire earlyier than expected lost over $6,000 per year in retirement pay alone. Be aware that most of the inner workings of the AF can and have been changed without any warning to the masses.
