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Comment by topkai22 | Hacker News Reader

Military retirement is worth like a minimum of ~$700k for an E-7, before tricare. It's worth like $1.3M for an O-5. People who seperate from service at like 12 years astound me.

Edit- People who seperate thinking they can earn more money on the outside. People who seperate for family, mental health, or similar reasons make total sense.

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I separated at 11 years from the AF as an air traffic controller; September 2023 would have been 20 for me. For the past three years I have been working for home as a senior data scientist - my life has been far better as a civilian.

RPA / Drone flying community is the exception. literally doubled income overnight trading a uniform for polo and khakis, same job, same trailer, same airframe, different airspace

And you’re out at 50, replaced by a 22-year-old.

Wait, so are you saying there's non-military people flying drones that are flying in other countries? Although I suppose that last bit is an assumption.

no, nonmilitary actions. think ferry operators, they pilot within friendly airspace in a non-military mode.

Yes I always considered reenlistment to be committing to 20 years minimum. I got out after 4 years, but some of my friends stayed in because they were lazy and institutionalized lol. Then of course they decide to get out later because they hate it. Two of the worst decisions they’ll make.

What’s the math look like if they roll those 12 years into a fed position?

It works out pretty well I've been told. But there are plenty of dead ends in Federal service, where people are underutilized and undervalued, but last it out for their pension. Some jobs just don't exist in commercial settings, and it can be really hard to re-adjust to new work.

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