Understandable. It has a very high burnout rate, maybe even compared to wildland firefighter. She called the other night to say her crew might get sent to the Texas/Oklahoma wildlife, and could her brother come to California (from NC) to take care of her cats. I explained about professional pet-sitting services, which would be much cheaper than a plane ticket.
I thought of ATC after deciding not to pursue my USAF PJ Indoc qualification.
I gave up my risk seeking and now do remote electrical distribution engineering.
I can work anywhere, it’s extremely stable, and no risk of death on the job.
I realized I am just stupid enough to get myself killed, so I reign in my decision making to non impulsive timelines.