Well, got a letter today that they won't accept me for the other position... I have too much rank. I was actually willing to remove a stripe... Called the person that makes these decisions of course shes not in today, explained on voice-mail that I already knew I'd have to voluntarily be demoted, and asked her to reconsider...

The wife and I are talking about what to do now... I can't keep doing this for another 6 years until I retire, I simply won't survive mentally, my marriage won't survive that...

Nothing to do now but put a plan in place; get my records to the VA and see where things might fall...

I really don't want to leave my unit as the guy that was just to f**ked up to do it any more, but I don't see how much farther I can keep going.

(As a side note, I learned that I am the person in my squadron with the most combat flight time... More than any pilot, any other sensor, and my commanders aren't even in the same thousands of hours range... Everyone else that could be have left...)