Jughead135

Well said, Albie, well said! You've succinctly put into words (as is your wont) a feeling I've been trying to pin down. My numbers are slightly different than yours--21+ years active, 0 regrets, and (say) 90% of the benefit--but the conclusion is the same. Thanks for the help with the description!!

Dragon7

20++ AD. Cannot say it was my plan all along, it just evolved as my opportunities inside the Navy exceeded my probability of getting an Airline job at critical times in my life. They also kept promoting me and i was having fun. And it was mostly a lot of fun with 80% great people and 80% great flying and i would go back and do it again, but i am not sure at all i would do it in today's environment. Flew the whole time, never went to DC or did JPME. Can't do that anymore. Watched my friends, who are all Captains now, struggle through the lost decade. Suspect this is going to be a much better decade. Fly with people younger with me all the time who all paid their dues either military and got out at end of their commitments, did Commuters, and Guard babies. Happy for them, and happy with my choices. There is no free lunch. Everybody pays their dues to get to the Majors. Because it is worth it.

Billy Pilgrim

My best and worst memories are with AD. Depends on your personality. If you are attracted to aviation because of flying AD is a must. If you are looking for a certain lifestyle than just go civilian and start working your way up that totem pole.

I will say that in a three year tour of AD flying it's easy to accumulate more "life experiences" than you may have in an entire lifetime on the outside. To each his own. The longer that you stay in one camp (civ vs mil) it becomes increasingly difficult to relate to the other.

MarktheAV8R

I've never flown military, but I'll have served 5 yrs Navy soon and am transitioning back to the real world for commercial aviation. Was stationed on an air base and always envied the F/A-18 pilots, but I'm happy that I'm getting into flying while I can, and for free for the most part. (Post 9/11)

bruhaha

I guess I'm a wierd one then, I have served in the Navy, but have no desire to fly military.

I am quite happy what I did in the military - it wasn't my first choice and I didn't get to fly, but looking back, what I did was quite satisfying and what I currently do now as an airline pilot doesn't compare to what I used to do.. I have nowhere near the autonomy nor the responsibility (nor the leach to hang myself) I had in the military but I'm paid a whole lot more (even being a 3rd year 321 captain of a low tier airline in charge of only just 235 souls, I will get paid two times more than I ever got paid in the Navy when I was responsible for 6,500 sailors and Marines and a 4-ship task force)

Which leads me to think military folk are vastly underpaid, and airline pilots are whiners... (even after spending 8 years at regional FO pay)

So I haven't flown in the military, and don't wish I had - but to be honest - if I could get back to fly in the military and reserves now, I'd want to fly a RPA. Mainly because I was always mercilessly and relentlessly bugging the 2 and the 2 shop and RPAs make the 2's job much easier I guess.

I had no desire to ever be an airline pilot - and I can't imagine why anyone would want to be one, but here I am 3 airlines later - I am one now - it pays the bills and funds retirement until I can figure out something better. It was the first job that called offering a job after leaving the Navy and I got tired of dealing with head hunters who were offering me sales/consulting positions.

One of my non-military straight from high school / flight school pilots just got hired at Delta at 25, his dream job, but now that he's achieved it - he expressed a concern that he hoped Delta doesn't suck, he's getting cynical he said (Delta being his third airline)

So I told him, that what he does (Delta airline pilot) isn't who he is. He has a separate life outside of Delta. So he should use the salary that Delta pays him to enable his life however he envisions it and that it should be easier at Delta, than where he came from - Great Lakes and Spirit - to do what he wants to do.

I have no regrets, but I wouldn't be who I am today if I hadn't been in the Navy and seen how crappy things can be for folks that have nothing.

Adlerdriver

I think you are correct. This is a weird post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruhaha

… but looking back, what I did was quite satisfying and what I currently do now as an airline pilot doesn't compare to what I used to do.

I think most of us would make the same statement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruhaha

I have nowhere near the autonomy nor the responsibility (nor the leach to hang myself) I had in the military but I'm paid a whole lot more.

Again, same comment. Although I don't know how to hang myself with a "leach".

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruhaha

Which leads me to think military folk are vastly underpaid, and airline pilots are whiners... (even after spending 8 years at regional FO pay)

Master of the obvious. However, this thread has pretty much been all about how positive, challenging and life changing our military experiences were. So, I’m not sure why you feel it necessary to inject this particular opinion into what has been a mostly military centric discussion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruhaha

So I haven't flown in the military, and don't wish I had - but to be honest - if I could get back to fly in the military and reserves now, I'd want to fly a RPA. Mainly because I was always mercilessly and relentlessly bugging the 2 and the 2 shop and RPAs make the 2's job much easier I guess.

RPAs? Really? Like I said – weird. Also, no clue who “2” is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruhaha

I had no desire to ever be an airline pilot - and I can't imagine why anyone would want to be one, but here I am 3 airlines later - I am one now - it pays the bills and funds retirement until I can figure out something better. It was the first job that called offering a job after leaving the Navy and I got tired of dealing with head hunters who were offering me sales/consulting positions.

So, because it was the first offer and to get those pesky headhunters off your back, you took a job as a regional airline FO for 8 years? I’ve got a suggestion for “something better”… how about a major airline. Oh, wait, you don’t want to be an airline pilot, my bad. Just seems like if you’re going to spin your wheels at an airline waiting for something better, you might as well bring in some real money while you wait.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruhaha

One of my non-military straight from high school / flight school pilots just got hired at Delta at 25, his dream job, but now that he's achieved it - he expressed a concern that he hoped Delta doesn't suck, he's getting cynical he said (Delta being his third airline)

Straight from high school? So, he managed to get hired there without a college degree? Interesting.

He gets his dream job with the largest US major airline at age 25, hiring record numbers of pilots with Captain upgrades under 3 years, with massive retirements over the next decade all while making unseen profits in the history of the industry and he’s worried it’s going to suck?

His “third airline” at age 25? When someone says they’re on their “third airline” it’s usually because the other two went out of business or furloughed them. Most likely he’s on his third airline (with a 2-year old ATP) because he left them voluntarily to advance in the industry. Yeah… I’d be cynical too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruhaha

So I told him, that what he does (Delta airline pilot) isn't who he is. He has a separate life outside of Delta. So he should use the salary that Delta pays him to enable his life however he envisions it

Somehow I think this is really the message (agenda) you intended to impart to us all, along with your veiled criticism of airline pilots and the career in general.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruhaha

…and that it should be easier at Delta, than where he came from - Great Lakes and Spirit - to do what he wants to do.

Most likely it will be easier – It usually is easier to do what you want to do when you have a sh!t ton more money.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruhaha

I have no regrets, but I wouldn't be who I am today if I hadn't been in the Navy and seen how crappy things can be for folks that have nothing.

Well, thank you for your service. I think most of us who served feel the same way.

bkmoore

Did military and it turned me off to flying for a while and am now trying to get back into the game - which is much easier said than done. If you go fighters, you won't get as many flight hours as the heavy types and will spend a lot of time doing a ground job, coffee mess, etc. The guys with the quals do 90% of the flying. You have to pay your dues. It gets better after a couple of years. You are not a free man. If the XO calls you into his office with, "I've got a deal for you Bub", pack your bags and say goodbye to your honey.

I lost several friends to mishaps and several more in OIF. The guy to my right in my graduation photo from Kingsville is no longer with us. A friend of mine's helicopter was shot down in OIF, you can visit him in Arlington. Some guys probably had an easier time of it than I did, but a lot of others aren't here to complain. I don't want to scare you. If you want to fly military, by all means go for it. But remember you are a soldier who's weapon happens to be an aircraft. You may get orders that could get you killed. That won't happen in the airlines.

If I did it again, I would have probably stuck to the airlines. OTOH, I learned to appreciate every single new day and every single time I get to fly, whether its a glider or something larger. I am a much more thankful person and wouldn't trade my experience for anything. Hopefully I can fly for the airlines some day, but it's going to be an uphill battle, but I believe doable.

tomgoodman

9 years AF, 24 years Delta, retired @ 55 and enjoyed it all.
Newbies will be told that "it used to be great, but now it stinks", which pilots have complained since the Wright Brothers made their second flight.

USMCFLYR

S-2, G-2, Anything-2 = Intelligence shop.

Hacker15e

There's an "Eagle guy" joke in there somewhere, hehe.

That's Army or Joint-speak for intel folks.

A little light reading if you so desire, chapter 3:
http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/new_pubs/jp3_0.pdf