Put on yer Kevlar skivvies Crab! Incoming Freight! 1179's being a general handling test is correct as is the similar ride in the Mob. And just like the Mob, in civvie street, one takes a PIC ride that surpasses the 1179 ride in depth. The Mob has a different name for the various rides as do the civvies.....and each ride requires proper Situational Awareness....and just as in Military flying....each type of mission (if you will?) requires different qualities of airmanship in both civvie and military flying. I can honestly state it is my belief that as a Civvie Streeter, I have been more challenged in my flying than ever in the military with the one exception of being involved in some serious slanging matches with armed, hostile, and rather efficient "other Teams". I can assure you that some of the high altitude...high temperature construction work I have done in Iran surpasses any sling work ever done for the Military.....some night winching trips got pretty sporty as well.....and the real proof of the pudding is that on more than a few occasions we have had "hot shot" recently out of the Mob, pilots cause our insurance rates to skyrocket due to their absolute inability to cope with the situations they were confronted with. With the rare exception of combat flying....where the rules are chucked out the door....the great majority of military flying today is so structured and supervised that pilots rarely fly solo and darn sure never get to learn from that very tough course called "Knocks College" (the school of hard knocks) that permanently imprints instant recognition of bad habits. You scare yourself bad enough and your learning habits increase geometrically for a period of time.
All that being said.....the military is a very good place to start learning.....but it doesn't end with the graduation ceremony at flight school or your release from active service. Military training is very regimented....structured for the "average" performer....and atttempts to mold pilots into very standardized routines. That works for the military however in the outside world, the environment is not standardized, standard, or under control of all the parties involved.....thus cookie cutter pilots fall short of the mark.