For the person who asked why an Air Force Captain would give up his $50,000/year job for a lower paying one, the answers are too many to list. As an active duty military pilot, I can tell you that many of my friends have already left or are leaving their $50,000 year salary for $18000-20000 jobs flying commuters. The main reason is the chance to earn more later, you top out around $65,000 in the military unless you are one of the 20 or 30 people who make general/admiral. Then there is the fact that you won't be forced to uproot your family and move every 2-4 years. And the fact that you aren't forced to spend 6-8 months a year deployed on a ship or in some forgotten corner of the world, usually not even able to call home more then once a month. Oh, and the fact that you don't have to worry about an Iraqi SAM site shooting at you every week, and you can't shoot back until they have locked onto you. (yes they are still shooting at our jets, averaging 2-3 launches a month). And finally, most don't realize the military has a fairly strict up or out policy. If you are passed over for promotion twice, you are seperated from the service with no retirement if you are under 20 years. Since they only select 60% of those eligible in the more senior ranks, it happens to about 40% of us.
The truth is that being a professional pilot isn't a great way to make money, even if someone else already paid for your flight training and for building your hours. Most of you business and first class passengers out there are making far more then the guys up front.