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Long story and I will do my best to keep this short. I was a "Top Gun" era kid and the movie was essentially my baby sitter growing up. I remember my first airline flight at the young age of 4 on an L-1011 and from that moment on, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. In high school, I enrolled in Junior ROTC, got an Air Force scholarship to FSU (Go Noles!!), became an Air Force cadet in Senior ROTC, and in my Junior Year of College picked up one of 500 pilot slots handed out across the United States in 2006. I had a goal, a plan, tons of motivation, and I got what I worked for. One year later on January 9th 2007, sitting in a chair at Brooks Base San Antonio, I was advised by an ophthalmologists that I had a pretiy common eye condition known as an esophoria but that, unfortunately, I was "hard DQ'd" from Air Force flying. To this guy, I was just a number. I was literally 4 months from graduated college and starting Air Force Pilot training. Devastation does not describe how I felt and making matters worse, the Air Force was kind enough to send the information to the FAA (which is required and understandable) and I was forced to fight to keep my 3rd Class. At the time, I was already a private pilot with more than 150 hours so the fact that I was now facing a threat to my civilian flying, I was forced to spend thousands on lawyers and medical appointments. In the last 11 years, I have spent a ton of time fighting the FAA trying to prove that what they thought I had, was much less significant than what the Air Force told them. I was on a special issuance 3rd Class for 10 of those 11 years. I was able to continue recreational flying but was unable to fly commercially without a 2nd or 1st Class. Meanwhile, I spent 8 years in the Air Force as a Police Officer, got out, and became a project manager at a large public transportation agency in SLC making decent money. When Basic Med came out, I decided to give up hope and move on from the dream. Shortly after dropping my 3rd Class for Basic Med, however, I decided to request a Statement of Demonstrated Ability (SODA) one last time from the FAA. They approved my request and shortly after I got a 3rd Class free and clear. This was a big step considering I had been on a special issuance 3rd class for over 10 years...forcing me to submit paperwork every 2 years to the FAA proving that I was still healthy to fly. This process was especially aggravating because I had spent a lot of money on the best MD's in the US to prove that I was well within FAA tolerances for not only a 3rd Class--but for a 1st Class as well. The FAA chose to focus on what the one Air Force Flight Surgeon from 2007 had written on a piece of paper. Okay I'm winding this down. I got greedy this month and decided to press my luck for a 1st Class. I went to a new AME who was ironically, of all things, a retired Air Force Flight Surgeon. He called some friends in Oklahoma to ask what the deal was and promised to try to help me out. I received a call on Wednesday of this week from the AME, asking me to come sign my 1st Class Medical Certificate. As if my first born had just arrived, I cried when I got that stupid piece of paper. I was unceremoniously handed the paper by the office receptionist haha...she had zero idea what that piece of paper meant to me. So I'm quitting my great job that I have zero passion for this Summer and enrolling in ATP. I'm chasing the dream knowing that my fight with the FAA may and likely will come up again and again...every 12 months until I'm 40 and every 6 months thereafter. I don't care. I'm 33 years old and figure this is probably my only shot...I will regret not trying and even if this doesn't work out, then I will become a CFI and still realize the dream of flying for a living. What an office. Anybody have experience with ATP or even getting on with the regionals, working their way up to a major? Any current commercial pilots with information on current job prospects? General advice and recommendations are welcome from all.