Whether 't was the marsh warblers swooping into your mother's undercroft (Capt E Blackadder), or Vampires flying past the farm opposite on final approach to RAF Merryfield (me), the ambition to become a military fighter pilot (who would possibly settle for anything less?) was probably imbued at a very early age.
For me it was seeing the Herc crews at a Greenham Common air show sitting atop the wings of their grey & green party machines in deck chairs that made me want to join up. And yes, I got exactly what I wanted, despite the pathetic 'wit' of many (ex) fast jet instructors during basic training who deemed me to have an attitude problem because of my chosen path in government aviation.