Originally Posted by
cruiseclimb
That's all true.. The skills you learn from some of the non flying duties are the same things that make successful managers and leaders in the business world. Military officers are highly sought after for that experience. I stayed in the cockpit my whole career, which is very rare. Most (in the Navy), will do a non flying tour or two which could range from a desk/staff job, to being the guy that helps run the deck of the carrier. To be honest, after a couple years of flying, they are fun breaks while you work on your MBA with the mil paying for it.
If some guy gets bored flying F-14s, how do you think he'll feel after a couple of years at FLXXX on the autopilot? I understand though.. after awhile, I got bored with lots of the flying.. but nothing like the boredom I feel now flying the jet routes. Some days I want to scream.. but it still better than a desk. I haven't found anything yet that compares with the helicopter mountain SAR I did years ago.. Something you can only learn in the military..
i don't think he was bored with they flying but the entire military lifestyle. he said his first deployment was great, then came the next one and he was gone for 6 months, then the next was a little over a year. i think that is what he was reffering too. just getting worn out by the lifestyle. he has a pretty good gig here right now. been here about 8 years and gets pretty much what he wants schedule wise so i think that helps. he also said its kinda funny because the cruise speed in the tomcat is the same as the rj, a nice slow .74! i thought they would cruise faster but he said that was about the optimal speed for fuel use. he also told me funny stories about mid air refueling and the tomcat seemed really prone to compressor stalls and that it was always a fun time.