Some like the power, some have a sense of duty, but more than most COs would be hard pressed to find a job they can reasonably move to and make anywhere close to the same amount of money. Add in the pension plan and the financial incentive is massive. Overtime pay can easily put some COs well into six figure salary range, ive heard one man went all out on work and OT for a whole year grossing well over 200k because he was trying to grind out his daughters college money. You dont find that much money with these benefits elsewhere easily. Where im at is actually expirencing a drastic reduction in the applicants for CO school/training so with the pool of workers shrinking the avliable overtime and compensation in general will likely only rise.