I doubt they had a military background also. Pilots who have not been in the military generally are not trained as well as the military trains especially the Air Force.
Class 56H Air Force.
Maybe, but how many military pilots do you personally know who have died doing less intelligent things than flying at service ceiling?
I think military pilots are also a little quick to assume incompetence with civilians. How many hours did you fly per year? Airline pilots train regularly (and in the sim, intensely) plus they fly more than the 200 hours or so a year than the military folks get. I know GA pilots that fly more than some military folks were in the early 90s, and they were buying their own gas.
I'm not arguing that civi training comes close, but I wouldn't assume that a military pilot would not have died in the same situation...or even avoided the situation.