The kind of flying they do is very different (especially fighters) from civilian flying. Operating in the NAS is an afterthought...they just do that as needed to get to/from their their mission/training location. ATC understands this and probably does not treat them the same as a light prop airplane.

Airline pilots can also have problems when they jump into the GA world..even ex-CFI's with thousands of hours in bug smashers.

It's just a different kind of flying. Military guys can get a commercial ticket without ever flying a piston engine airplane...turbine power is second nature to them. They have been known to get in trouble because they cannot correct for poor planning or other problems in GA by selecting the afterburner.

But the average military guy can learn faster than the average civilian.