Originally Posted by
Lighteningspeed
Well put, although there will always be people lining up to do this job for free or worse pay to do it thanks to the false advertising by pilot factories.
These posts prove that military training is second to none but they sometimes fail to produce pilots with personalities one likes to fly with. Arrogance is actually encouraged in the military to help pilots cope with ones fear and a sense of mortality but once out of the military, it's hard for them to become well, humble, it seems.
These so called experts, including the subject of this original thread, if anyone care to remember at this point, have done their job by perpetuating the false premise that all airline pilots should come from the ranks of the military. A good pilot can come from any background. He or she can be a former cropduster, military, CFI, an artist, a musician or a school teacher. Some of the best pilots I have ever flown with came from very diverse background but they all shared a common trait, that is, a love of flying and a certain knowledge of their shortcomings.
I think you are spot on with your assessment that a love of flying and knowledge of on one's shortcomings yields some of the best pilots. It shows when people enjoy what they do and it's a privillege working with those types.
I would like to add my thoughts on arrogance. I have never seen arrogance encouraged in my fledgling career. Assertiveness & confidence... absolutely. But arrogance is very much frowned upon from my experience. If you have ever sat in on a military debrief, especially one from a fast-mover, you will often find that every minute detail of the flight is covered. It is not uncommon for a debrief to last longer than the actual sortie. Most pilots/instructors I fly with fess up and take responsibility for anything they did that wasn't perfect (it would surprise most people how trivial some things may seem that still get hammered in the debrief). These are not characteristics that I would attribute to an arrogant pilot. Unfortunately, there are some pilots out there who do have personality/arrogance problems... but as far as the military encouraging arrogance, I'd have to disagree.