It's not everyday that I agree with skyhigh, but on this particular case, I have to admit that he's right on.

If you think that the airlines aren't that far off from the military, think again. There's still quite a lot of influence from military folks that have left and now work in various roles at commercial carriers. This experience shift often results in many parallels to military flight operations. Training, crew managment, even operational structure often mirrors that of military command structures (albeit with different titles).

I'm not saying that you have to have a military mindset to survive or excel in the airline world, but if you think that some of the same disciplines don't apply, think again. This is one time when Skyhigh has some worthwhile advice.