 In the fall of 1978, Amos left the active Marine Corps to become a commercial pilot for Braniff International Airways.He was employed with Braniff for 25 months, returning to the Marine Corps in January 1981.After a three-year posting as a flight instructor in advanced jet training, attendance at the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, as a major, and a 13-month overseas staff assignment to the III Marine Amphibious Force, Okinawa, Japan, Amos was transferred to Marine Aircraft Group 24, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.