camel trader,
I am afraid that you are doing much to enhance the 'nice but naive' image of Candadians here.
'they have no affilliation to the CIA or any arm of any government - other than working with people like USAID who fund them...'
Wake up and smell the Colombian ! Where do you think USAID get their money from ? You obviously didn't look too closely at the 'strange' passengers you will have flown now and then. That's your choice.
By all means express your opinion but don't try to pass off these statements as fact. It's not like they are going to walk up to your aircraft with 'CIA agent' badges on their anoraks and ask you if you wouldn't mind keeping their 9mms in the cockpit, are they ?
You really think that the US (lack of) intelligence agencies are just going to leave an American aviation company flying in Baghdad, Afghanistan and various warring African countries, just to get on with their own thing all by themselves ? Come on !
As for 'you would be a rare person to be able to "make it" as an Air Server...' you are absolutely right. From my experience, I doubt that I would ever even consider using an ex AirServ permanent pilot in our company.
Brainwashed, patronsing and technically incompetent pilots tend to upset the other guys who know what they are doing and would rather just get on with it.
(By the latter, I mean the guys working on contracts through their own companies. These pilots are different and those who can tolerate working under AirServ's particular, peculiar regime are special people indeed. Always welcome as pilots and diplomats. But those who can handle AirServ are quickly able to find themselves something better and move on so the situation perpetuates.)
AirServ's humanitarian, Christian, tree hugging image will attract naive, optimistic and well meaning people to fly for them, but anyone involved with them should not blind themselves to the rest of what is inevitably involved.