PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - The best type of military experience?
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Old 27th Mar 2008, 15:27
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Gazeem
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
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Well from an Air Force pilot the ability to fly on weekends, after 4pm on a weekday or in weather less than CAVOK would be an area of concern.

Spoken by an ex-pongo.

Airlines require a degree of flying aptitude - which courtesy of OASC and your training experience, one would expect you to have.

The other part of being a pilot is the soft skills - CRM if you will. They want to see a team player who in time will become an aircraft commander. Military types often have excellent skills in these areas especially from a multi-crew background. They don't want a single man operator or an overly dominant warrior-god. There are lots of fluffy types in Civilianstrasse and you can't run round like a bull in a china shop - unless you want to be sued for bullying.

A lot of whether you land a job or not will be down to the market when you 'come out'. In a poor recruitment period (like post September 11, 2001) it won't really matter what experience you have. In a good environment you should have a good head start on the competition. There are airlines that prefer ex-balloon corps types - A little research will identify these airlines.

CRM instructor tickets and QFI don't port across here - but the experience will of course be of benefit. There are ex-trappers in most training departments.
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