Originally Posted by
Reggie Dunlop
You are probably right, but I am afraid of heights so they would not let me in the Air Force, so not sure how it was on the land lubber side. Just anecdotal evidence.
Come to think of it you are right though. I do remember during the recruiting boom after Top Gun came out, there were a pretty high percentage of the kids from Stanford, Santa Clara and Cal that came through the door of the Officer Selection Team at Alameda. They usually said something like "so I saw the movie and being a fighter pilot looks like a lot of fun and great way to see the world....but I am wondering if you have any way the Navy or Marine Corps would guarantee me a spot to fly a tanker." Happened all the time.
While off-the-street hires were most likely fixated on fighters, many ROTC, academy, and military brat types already had enough inside knowledge of the system that many preferred heavies or other non-fighter platforms for lifestyle reasons. I wasn't that wise at that age, but some were.