Well said ABX. Doing your time in GA is definately the best thing for a novice pilot. Learning to operate in the real world without the safety blanket of a more experienced captain holding your hand is like money in the bank.
You can always tell a cadet. Even if they have been around for a few years. Able to quote regs and certain paragraphs of the ops manual. But when it comes to flying a circling approach at the MDA in the crap at night into a ****e little strip with nothing but an NDB, forget it!!. You will here " jesus they didnt show us that at the academy".
There is nothing like flying in the middle of nowhere BY YOUR SELF to make a pilot grow up!!!
Go west young pilots!!
Cheers DM