Quote:
"I can take any idiot off the street and teach him to fly, given enough time and money, but I don't want any idiot, I want pilots that get it right the first time, every time. I'll put up with you making one mistake. Under special circumstances I'll even put up with two. But if you need more than that to succeed as a military pilot, then you are not the pilot the military is looking for."
If thats the case then he better forget about using human pilots, he might also want to read up on a copy of Bob Taits Human Performance and Limitations. Seriously, these people think they are so high and mighty and that the sun shines from there arse, i wonder what his one mistake in life was
If you haven't been part of that system it's difficult to appreciate the level of performance demanded of the pilots. Think of it this way ... these are people entrusted with defending our country. Do you want people who can think and make the right decisions under pressure, or do you want people who have REPEATEDLY shown themselves to be unable to do that? (because you DO get more than one chance to get it right)
On the advice about staying in and going ATC or ACO - these are also high-pressure, high failure rate courses, and both things I investigated before discharging into a civvie job. I made the decision that I wasn't ready to put myself under that pressure and drag my family around the country for another two or three years. As it was, I moved five times in two years. If the original poster is single and relatively debt free, I advise doing whatever it takes to get into a paid flying job sooner rather than later.
allthecoolnamesarego - Ta.