<story><title>Ask HN: What was the best decision you made in your career?</title></story><parent_chain><item><author>yutyut</author><text>I was a mid-level developer at a large software company making a very competitive salary and quit to join the U.S. Marine Corps and train to become a Naval Aviator.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m now a &amp;#x27;mid-level&amp;#x27; AH-1Z pilot.&lt;p&gt;I work longer hours and have generally a lower quality of life but there&amp;#x27;s something to be said for the immensely unique things I&amp;#x27;ve gotten to do and how profoundly well-rounded the entire experience has made me.&lt;p&gt;I will be re-entering the software industry in a few years unless another passion pulls me in some new direction.&lt;p&gt;The military is obviously not for everyone but picking up the phone, ducking into a side conference room across from my cube, and giving a verbal commit to my &amp;#x27;recruiter&amp;#x27; that day (after a years-long selection process) has been the best decision I&amp;#x27;ve ever made.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>sanbor</author><text>With respect I&amp;#x27;d like to ask if you don&amp;#x27;t have ethical issues. The military forces of USA has been doing pretty bad stuff in the last 50 years, so I have the feeling that you&amp;#x27;re not saving lifes but rather ruining them. War became such a common thing and nonsense in the US that at this point thatnpeople is not sure if they&amp;#x27;re at war or not.</text></comment>
<story><title>Ask HN: What was the best decision you made in your career?</title></story><parent_chain><item><author>yutyut</author><text>I was a mid-level developer at a large software company making a very competitive salary and quit to join the U.S. Marine Corps and train to become a Naval Aviator.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m now a &amp;#x27;mid-level&amp;#x27; AH-1Z pilot.&lt;p&gt;I work longer hours and have generally a lower quality of life but there&amp;#x27;s something to be said for the immensely unique things I&amp;#x27;ve gotten to do and how profoundly well-rounded the entire experience has made me.&lt;p&gt;I will be re-entering the software industry in a few years unless another passion pulls me in some new direction.&lt;p&gt;The military is obviously not for everyone but picking up the phone, ducking into a side conference room across from my cube, and giving a verbal commit to my &amp;#x27;recruiter&amp;#x27; that day (after a years-long selection process) has been the best decision I&amp;#x27;ve ever made.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>hef19898</author><text>May I ask how old you have been when you made the transition? And whether you had family or not? Because I learned that this significant change in lifestyle is a lot easier the younger you are and the less other commitments you have. Respect so for becomong an aviator, that definitely isn&amp;#x27;t the easiest career path.&lt;p&gt;And I could imagine that a former naval aviator who is also a programmer has a bright future in the defense and aerospace industry if you want.</text></comment>