One of the interesting points that sometimes arises in these discussions on cockpit characters is the occasional crack at ex military trained pilots bringing a perceived arrogance on board.
I have noticed this in particular in the flying instructor world as well. I wonder about this perception, because although I spent nearly 20 years as a military pilot mainly on antiquated multi-engined bombers and transports, I simply don't recall any significant "pedantics" when compared to a similar 20 plus years that I flew as captain or first officer in the airline industry.
Certainly I flew with many senior military pilots as their co-pilot and while many were definately uncurrent, none that I recall "pulled rank"in the air. Most were, in fact, quietly grateful that a lower rank copilot would offer a gentle hint without being too direct when events were getting out of the senior pilot's depth.
In contrast, I too, have experienced the airline pilot pedantic idiots so succintly referred too in HSWL original post. Perhaps there is an arrogance that surfaces with the sometimes extraordinary high status (and sometimes commensurate high salary) that comes with a command in some airlines. There is no such equivalent status in the military I served with.
Perhaps this is due to the relatively short time to a command in the military when compared to the seniority system in the airlines which can mean anything from 4 to 15 years as a first officer before a command is attained. As such the airline first officer is exposed more to the whims and eccentricities of certain types of captain and in turn the first officer can unconsciously absorb these eccentricities himself over the years - and lo and behold another pedantic captain is cloned.