i knew someone intent on it, was turned down twice, so used their aero degree, and now has a great job with airbus.
Would-be aircrew for all three services would do well to realise early in the application process that there is a lot more to doing the job beyond poling the aircraft. A large part of the selection and training process is involved with the un-avoidable fact that mil aircrew (except SAR) only earn truly their pay when they are on the two-way live range.