Is there a difference between a cadet who joins the RAAF (say) and learns to fly from scratch and ends up flying shiny jets and one who joins a civilian cadet scheme and learns to fly from scratch and ends up flying different shiny jets?
They start out learning "straight and level" in piddling single piston engine two seaters, move onto something more advanced, get experience with more sophisticated instruments, procedures and aircraft and eventually end up flying their respective shiny jets. They are both qualified and capable. Neither have necessarily done any GA flying by the time they graduate.
Does that mean they aren't as good a pilot as someone who has gone the GA route?
Does it matter so much who pays for the training or how much it costs?
If someone thinks that paying for a cadetship is better value than the traditional GA route is better value; so what?