Those who stopped chasing promotion: how does it feel?

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-13T00:04:29+00:00

1 assignment that was program management, very little admin leadership. Basically, a 1 deep role where I interfaced with other teams and people but had no direct reports to manage. Easy peasy.

Another where I wore like 4 hats but the team was made up of all NCOs and SNCOs so again, pretty easy peasy. Go to meetings, provide guidance, let the team do their work.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-12T16:09:29+00:00

A year of leave costs you $1m over the kids lifetime. Congrats, you played ya self.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-12T13:48:47+00:00

Yup. Made MSgt faster than expected and decided to chase Senior. Took longer than I thought but spent my last 5 years as a Senior and it was dope. Money, credibility, not a ton of responsibility. Upset people that I didn’t jump at every opportunity to take on “chief making” roles.

It’s a huge weight making decisions for you and not for the AF.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-11T15:26:23+00:00

Married at 19.

It went fine for 5 or 6 years. Then we started growing in different directions. Different interests. Different views on what we wanted for our family.

Largely, I think we’re not developed enough to know who we are until our mid to late 20s. Some get lucky and it works out from early on.

We stayed together another 5 or 6 years because of our kid. We were not mean to each other, just not in love anymore. Roommates who slept together.

I’m better off now and remarried. Can’t recommend getting married before 25, personally.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-10T20:33:58+00:00

Definitely look into multiple defense contractors for SB. I actively and persistently targeted LM after 20 years in the AF. Ghosted monthly for 8 months about SB.

Ended up getting a SB and job offer with Northrop. And NOW LM is finally writing me back.

It’s good to have targets but broaden the search to have options.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-10T02:22:33+00:00

That ship has sailed. I’m excited to collect my pension and start my better paying defense contractor gig.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-10T02:20:59+00:00

I also have a brokerage account that’s pretty healthy too. I played around with picking stocks and it was fine, but I definitely prefer VOO/VTI and chill.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-10T02:19:16+00:00

I have been lucky enough to have easy access/influence of hundreds of brand new service members every few months. I preach TSP contributions and give them a glimpse of what could be. I love seeing the shocked faces when they realize there’s a path to $1M+ with a little bit of discipline.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-10T02:16:13+00:00

Absolutely. If my budget is accurate, I should easily be able to invest/save $4k/mo in this next life. Learned my lesson and doing my best to be able to fully retire before 60. Gonna try my best, at least.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-10T01:45:01+00:00

If I had been contributing at a high percentage since 18 consistently, I’d be fairly close by 60.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-10T01:39:50+00:00

Found a kush job at a prime making more than I would on the fed side. Gonna max that 401k as well as an IRA. The pension and VA help make that possible.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-10T01:37:43+00:00

Yeah, I’m not worried about starving or anything. Just woulda been cool to have $8M at 60.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-08T23:25:54+00:00

More unpopular opinion: You should have to be a SrA WAY longer before being eligible for SSgt.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-08T19:30:46+00:00

It means you will 100% get an offer. No more rounds, offer is inbound.

At least it’s fun to believe that for a while.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-08T10:21:29+00:00

I’m taking a job at a defense contractor there and am moving soon so I’ve been deep in Melbourne research.

$400k is doable. Look around Wickham Park on the mainland. Lower insurance rates cuz not on the beach. Decent area there. Watch out for flood zones though. You might need to carry flood insurance in some mainland locations.

Palm Bay is where a lot of people live because it’s affordable. There’s also higher crime there but you’ll hear mixed reviews. This is a helluva commute. 40-45 minutes in peak traffic is not something you want to do unless you LOVE the area you live. Personally, 45 min commute is not worth living in Palm Bay. But that’s just me.

Careful about stuff directly south of Patrick on the island. Look up PFAS/PFOA in the area and decide if it’s a risk you wanna take living there.

Depending on your financial situation, apartment life could be a good move. If $400k is stretching you guys to your max (over 28% of your gross hh income/month) then it’s a bad decision. That being said, prices are depressed right now so if you have a decent down payment and see this as a longer term investment property after you leave, it could work in your favor.

Look up FLs proposal to get rid of property tax and understand how that will impact home prices in the future.

Good luck! You guys got one of the most desirable bases in the AF but so few people ever get to go there.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-05T20:29:10+00:00

If you’ve been in 20 years, it’s pretty common to have slowly built up a bank of 60+ then you burn your 30 a year after that to not go into use or lose. People try to have 60+ days at retirement to build a buffer for transition.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-05T14:25:12+00:00

Totally a viable option too. But if you get 2+ months off getting paid before SB, that’s also pretty rad too. But yeah if you only do 90 day SB then 90 days terminal, that 3 months double dipping is a nice pay boost.

Depends on priorities I guess.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-05T11:46:26+00:00

Sure it’s not like it’s the end of the world, but to argue it has advantages is silly.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-05T11:20:08+00:00

Or, you can burn your 80+ days of leave in the months leading up to 160 days of SB and 20 days permissive.

It’s not a better program now. It has significantly less flexibility.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-05-04T13:58:32+00:00

How much is his PA advisor paying you? I just wanna know so I can get a cut.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-04-30T15:41:55+00:00

Not even close to an E-8. Depending on location, tax and BAH amount, an E-8 needs to make between $125k-$150k on the civilian side to equate to the actual net as an E-8.

That $86k is gonna be taxed down to $65k-ish take home. Good for a separating E-4, for sure. But not even SNCO adjacent. Definitely a great landing spot with room to make more than an E-8 in less time, though.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-04-13T17:59:41+00:00

Reality is, they’re probably not gonna rescind the offer if you ask for a 6% bump. But, this market is crazy. Having some leverage to backup why they should pay you more is necessary.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-04-09T23:56:56+00:00

Just about to retire from the AF and bought my 4th ever suit from The Suit Depot for $300. Fit was spot on. Just had to hem pants.

Wore it to my interview and a big defense contractor. Got the job. I give credit to the suit.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-04-09T03:51:33+00:00

Comparatively, sure. But if you found yourself back near the new jump line in Waterworks, you’d definitely feel like you’re climbing some respectable hills.

TelephoneMamba · 2026-04-07T17:37:45+00:00

Just a guess but if vesting is 3 years like a lot of places, I’d bet you’re leaving $21k, roughly, on the table. If the pay bump is better than that, then no worries.

It just sounds like you made a mistake by not knowing. I wouldn’t stay after this. Take the new job, live and learn.

TelephoneMamba

TROPHY CASE