Keep my job for experience, take another for 40% higher pay

[Jimmy Suszynski]

I have 10 years in the Air Force. The first 4 were active duty, the last 6 were as a reservist. All 10 spent fixing very large planes.

I worked my way through my civil engineering degree, graduated in December of 2019, got a job as an assistant project manager in March '20 working on mostly public school renovations. It fits my personality, I want to manage projects. Long term, I could be managing my own projects instead, once I get to that point.

Right now, my take home pay is $834 per week, on salary. If I take the orders to work on planes full-time for the next year, I will bring home roughly $1,300 per week. I would miss out on the 5% match to my 401k but still contribute 5% myself. The net difference in take home pay, after 401k allocation, is ~$18,000.

I would work less hours (7-3:30 versus 7:30-5:30/6 currently). Right now my $/hr averages about $21/hour. However, the experience I am getting would qualify me for a PMP certification and a 6-figure salary in 3-4 years time. 

Long term, I want to make REI my investment. I enjoy residential construction way more than commercial. Commercial is very sterile and less personal overall. I enjoy the time I spend working on renovations and planning out the rehab process.

Faced with this dilemma, what would you do? I guess I feel like this fork in the road is the decision to choose myself and my business rather than setting myself up to be a better employee in someone else's...