I don't recommend it (and I said as much in my post) by any means. I'm retired now and make more than enough to be comfortable at 40 (more than my last CO, who

I don't recommend it (and I said as much in my post) by any means. I'm retired now and make more than enough to be comfortable at 40 (more than my last CO, who was an O6), and am deciding if I even want a second career. I personally managed to balance it all and stay happily married (20 years this year), but I'm an outlier. I didn't want to get into the weeds of what my career path was here; I've alluded to it elsewhere on HN. However, due to my skillset I held a post that was normally an O-3 to O-4 my last few years in; it made for an interesting dynamic. I was offered that seat as a civ as a GS-13 but elected to retire and figure the rest of my life out as far away from the military as I could. I can say your more detailed schedule sounds much like mine was; trying to hold my position while doing any college at all was difficult due to the factors you alluded to. My branch (Navy) had much of the JO duties that the AF/Army assigns put on the Senior Enlisted (along with all of the normal stuff), especially in my area (Aviation; pilots tend to be pretty focused on their duties).