Would I be a fool to get out of the military?

[CatDogMeowMeow]

I feel like I just need to vent a little, but this is a serious question of mine. This month I enter the home stretch of my 4 year enlistment in the Air Force. With 6 months to go I am scrambling each day trying to determine my options, and tossing and turning each night weighing the pros and cons. I don't see myself doing 20 years, but with over 1/3 of Americans not in the work force I need to decide what would be best for my wife and I. Luckily we don't have any children yet, so that provides a certain amount of freedom.

On one hand:
We'd love to go back to Michigan and be closer to our families, and I'd like to finish my degree at CMU.

On the other:
I love the gauranteed paycheck and the free health coverage.

It's not that I dislike my job, I'm just not a big fan of the military lifestyle. Also, I'm seeing retraining applications being canceled left and right so if I stay in I'd likely be stuck here.

I thought about Palace Fronting to Air Guard to get the best of both worlds, but that depends on if there is a job opening in Battle Creek, MI that I wouldn't mind doing. Right now there is a Finance job open that I would love! But...who knows if that will be an option in 6 months.

So the question remains: Would I be a fool to give up a guaranteed paycheck to try my chances on the outside?

Luckily my job allows a certain amount of downtime for studying, and CLEPs/DSSTs are my escape from the difficult decisions that lie ahead...

Well here you happen to be at the end of your enlistment. Honestly this is the reason why I signed for 6 years, because I know 4 years would be too short and id be at this crossroads. Doing another 4 isn't going to hurt at all, honestly you'll probably gain a lot more experience that way as well and be better off in the civilian world. I'd either reenlist and deal with the long hours required to go back to school and working full time, which will look better in the long run, or go guard. But I do not recommend getting out completely just yet. LOOK HERE 3DX GUY, I have a friend who was also in the 3DX field here, did a couple years, got discharged early for being a dirtbag when rollbacks came around, and got a job offer immediately upon his general discharge as an E-2 making $75,000 a year. Jobs are out there for you guys.