I will throw out the lowly vote for looking into the Guard. I could be misunderstanding you, but it sounds like you are NOT looking to do a career stint as a .mil. If that is the case, the Guard will give you tons of opportunity, the ability to live where you want (all things being equal of course) and will do you very well when it comes to tuition assistance. Not sure where you live, but out here in God's country (Colorado) Guard members get a sweet deal for state schools, and here (God's country again) we have state gunsmithing schools. Do the .mil thing, get paid to get edge-u-ma-cated, and better the future prospects for yourself and that of your family. Also, the Guard (can't speak to how this works in active duty) will let you cross train and pick a diversified work experience should you want to and there is a need. This can be a huge bonus in a competitive civilian work environment. Furthermore, you'll likely get a security clearance (and one that remains active) and that can be a big asset for a number of civilian job opportunities (even for silly civilian engineers/architects <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) Just food for thought.