A decade ago during the economic crisis, when I was in the Air Force, there were many pilots who said that they would never work for the airlines. Many opted to stay for 20 years or beyond, and quite a few looked for government jobs or contract jobs, often times outside of flying after their stint in the Air Force. Now that market forces have changed, and the airlines look appealing, the Air Force QOL just does not match. Those same airline naysayers are at the airlines. I am not sure that the Air Force could do much apart from offer flying only tracks, more pay, more days off and QOL improvements, but they really can't compete with the QOL and money that a major airline career now offers in the US. Another economic downturn could change things overnight though.