TRSS
Career F/Os? Some never get a look due to seniority (or lack of). There are plenty of experienced pilots out there in the market now who would probably be suitable for upgrade in fairly short order yet Ryanair will not take them on. Ryanair are recruiting experienced DEC's presumably to improve the average experience levels in the LHS. Why not give experienced F/Os a look too - it's more likely to be F/Os out of work at the moment.
BTW, not sure that your military pilot analagy works. As has been pointed out, they are carefully selected and trained. Aside from those creamed off for a first tour training appointment, they will also have been in the flying game for a number of years before they are sent off to CFS. You aren't comparing like with like.
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