Of course, the flying option is only open to pilots and some flight engineers. As a former nav and ops officer the world offered a different set of choices when I left.
There are virtually no civvie navs in the Western world and those that there are are ground based. Airline ops salaries are low for the areas they tend to be in - living near Gatwick/Heathrow isn't cheap. I did get offered an ops management job in the midlands - 20k, no benefits, long and antisocial hours (freight goes at night).
I went into IT sales, but was selling the right product, right time, wrong price. Very hard work in a very competitive market. I also did a load of Y2K and computer auditing work as a sub-contractor. Rates are not as good as you think when everyone takes their cut and margins are squeezed. IT project managers are, however, in demand and I know several ex-RAF types who have walked into those jobs, but they did prepare, they know some IT and they have had at least one supervisory tour.
I've had my own company - interesting what you can get as a MD that you can't get otherwise. I created the company for a short-term project and folded it afterwards. I still have my own trading names for business purposes, and I still have a varied flow of opportunities and contracts. Cashflow is king when you're on your own.
That ultimately is the bottom line out here. No-one is owed a living and you can find yourself doing almost anything if you do as I do and choose to be self-employed. I currently have 5 sources of income - pension, non-executive directorship (handy little earners if you can get them), temporary work (lots around to top up the pennies), money for some public service things I do and occasional profit from sales of products as well. I'm waiting on the results of 3 contract bids, but everyone goes on holiday at this time. I offset lots of things against tax - or rather my accountant does.
Must admit, with hindsight, that being in the military is in many respects a doddle. The package is good, as previously explained, and there are perks that if you take them (3 sailing expeds and subsidised sport in my case) do not occur so often outside. Try paying for every visit to the gym, every swim in the pool, every game of squash or tennis or even a Summer Ball/Christmas Draw where the staff are paid out of your ticket. Officers' and Sergeants' Messes are v.cheap compared to a half way decent country club.
Finally, we are probably not on the edge of a recession, but are actually in one (hence the latest cut in interest rates). This is critical for anyone making a decision to leave. In telecomms there has been a reduction of 290,000 jobs worldwide so far this year. Nearly 20% of last year's award winning websites don't even exist anymore as companies are going under. Advertising budgets are down. I was talking to a businessman last night and his concern for his sales of high value luxury goods was real. This will impact on the whole flying market by the end of the year. At the moment people are taking holidays paid for and booked several months ago and they've just splurged on the high street to get their things to take with them. I would not make a move from military to civvy until I'd seen September's sales figures and the Government growth forecasts for the last quarter.