I tend to agree. Just b/c you didn't shell out the $ for training doesn't mean you can't put the same value on it. If that were the case, guys who went to these expensive flight academies would be less likely to lose the battle with the bottle than those who trained @ 'ol Bob's FBO. I'd guess it has a good deal more to do with physiological and medical type history rather than flight training history.

No matter what your background, it's clearly something that we, as pilots, need to continue to be on the lookout for, not only with our fellow crew, but ourselves as well. I'd bet that none of us think we have a problem - but, that's exactly what all the guys who end up making this mistake would have likely said if you asked them about it right before they took that first sip that lead to them making the regretful decision to go to work when they were unfit for duty.

Is it me, or do we never really hear about a lone pilot drinking in their room, or even @ the bar, prior to their flight? It always seems to be 'the crew went out together' or 'the pilots were drinking together' or 'one pilot joined the rest of the crew'. It seems that much stranger that others tend to observe the excessive drinking, and its in a social environment, but the excess is allowed by others - usually who's safety will later be jeopardized by their own failure to curtail their crew member's behavior.

Be careful out there.