Pros
We've all heard the military taglines: Aim High, Be all you can be, Army of One, etc. After a stint in the Air Force, I agree that I am more educated, better rounded, more mature, and an overall better individual. But - could I have done better with another employer? With that question now on your mind, I would say the best part of the Air Force was the medical/dental benefits, and the travel/location allowances and education benefits. As an E-5 with a family and less than 6 years of service, I grossed just under $73k - mostly due to travel/location allowances. Not too bad. I absolutely loved the education benefits and took full advantage of obtaining my BS for free while on active duty. In addition, I now have over $36k in the GI Bill to use for a graduate degree. All in all, the work wasn't too bad - quite redundant and monotonous – but I did learn a lot. Also, I got to see the world and experience some pretty interesting things that our government does on a regular basis.
Cons
It’s the military - a large bureaucratic operation. Some may argue, but I don’t think you’ll find a more structured environment anywhere else. If you are looking for autonomy and freethinking, you are barking up the wrong tree. Even in a ‘desk job’ you still take a significant amount of ridiculous orders and have no recourse to voice your opinion/desires. If you aren’t the “Yes Sir” type, I would look elsewhere for employment – it’ll save you a lot of heartache in the long run. Don’t fool yourself either – basic training is a speck compared to your entire military commitment. For some, the drill everyday for years gets really old. Promotion is quite slow in my opinion and progression is very structured and bureaucratic at best. If you get in a career field that doesn’t have a lot of people in comparison to others, or just promotes slower, it may take a while to work up the ladder. This was a turn-off to me because I was never commended through promotion or monetary gain. Instead, they use medals and ribbons that you get to wear on your uniform to make it look all pretty. It kind of made me feel like I was in the boy scouts at times. Since I never particularly complained about my salary, it wasn’t too much of a big deal. However, seeing bimbos promoted mainly due to their longevity as opposed to actual performance was a real bummer. Simply put, far too many of the high-ranking military individuals are there because of their age – nothing else. Lastly, you won't get a lot of respect from much of anyone until you enter the 'top three' ranks. Most people realize that you didn't have to do much to get a job with the military - but you do have to sacrifice quite a bit of your life to make it a long term career. If you are looking for a place that will treat you like a true professional, I recommend going to college to become a traditional professional (ie doctor, lawyer, accountant, etc).