I was a dangerous civilian pilot long before I joined the Guard, that's why their comments struck me as funny. Then every time there was a cloud in the sky in west Texas, they'd cancel flying!
The biggest difference is between GA training and other pilot training is;
with the Military, if you don't -get it- right away, they'll send you home.
In the Major airlines, if you fk up they'll fire you.
But in GA, if you keep showing up an an FBO with money, but you're an idiot, they'll just keep giving you flying lessons until you pass the check ride and then you'll go out and kill yourself.
I know lots of excellent GA pilots, most are, but there isn't really much of a screening process to weed out the idiots, other than natural selection.