Here's a different perspective for the 121 guys out there who don't understand why mil guys should receive preferential treatment:
-Mil guys, and gals spend years in multiple levels of training, so I'd say we've been vetted on numerous occasions, from Officer Candidate School on up to Division leader check rides. There are ample steps in that process for people to fail, show their lack of integrity and poor judgement, the military thus is a great vetting platform- it creates a known entity that the majors don't have to guess on.
- The stress has been mentioned before- but there are so many other aspects of a mission besides flying that hones people into a more well rounded aviator. Yes, being able to compartmentalize a stressful situation as mil aviators have to do, WILL make you a better 121 pilot. Have civilian only pilots been in stressful situations- of course they have, probably different circumstances than mil guys, but their experiences hone who they are as well.
-Safety- we were forced into a culture of constant learning when it came to aviation and ground safety. We became students to it and have read and or discussed many aviation related mishaps. Not once in Envoy's mediocre training have we discussed anything meaningful in regards to aviation safety- in the mil, the constant learning and "being a student of the game" was part of everyday life.
-I had a Capt once mention how much he "put in his dues etc" during the bankruptcy drama and how many times he had slept on the ORD crewroom floor- LOL- I Kindly reminded him that we all put in our dues at some point before coming to Envoy, but I wasn't sympathetic to his crew room stories....
As 121 pilots, we all came from somewhere, us former mil folks were paying dues even though we weren't in the regionals, shocking I know. Military backgrounds don't make us any better pilots than the guys who were CFI's either- it's just a matter of what pathway you wanna take to the majors....