“...good fighter pilots DO need to be pretty macho, come across as overbearing ...
I doubt the modern military would LIKE good fighter pilots. ...”
Congratulations to Mr Rogers for surviving so long in the fighter world.
I did not meet every fighter pilot personally, so I cannot state with certainty that all were unworthy.
I can, however, say that I never met one I would trust.
They are macho and overbearing, but not bold, not gutsy, not truly tough in ways that might be inspiring, useful or worthy: closer to being a pack of whiny, backstabbing mamas’ boys. Competition junkies who live up to the character attribute of “integrity” only as long as it doesn’t get in their way. They will betray their own fellow service members just as quickly as they will chop the head off an enemy. And when there’s no one left to play with, they will undercut and one-up each other. They succeed only to the extent others watch over them, support them, look out for them, and otherwise commit to their care. People better than they are.
There is another explanation for Mr R’s good relations: he got lucky. None of the fighter pilots he encountered found it expedient to stick a knife in his back.
I can, however, say that I never met one I would trust.
They are macho and overbearing, but not bold, not gutsy, not truly tough in ways that might be inspiring, useful or worthy: closer to being a pack of whiny, backstabbing mamas’ boys."
Horse Pucky! In fact, Horse Shit!
And since I knew hundreds of fighter pilots, deployed with them, was shot at with them, lived with them in tents, worked with them as ALOs and in fighter test, drank beers with them - I know what I'm talking about. You obviously do not!
"There is another explanation for Mr R’s good relations: he got lucky. None of the fighter pilots he encountered found it expedient to stick a knife in his back."
I knew my fair share of total jerks. Fighter pilots have them. As a cop told me once, about a third of cops are assholes, about a third of teachers are assholes, about a third of miners are assholes. The exception, he said, were lawyers, and he figured about 75% of them were assholes.
Some of the finest men I've ever met were fighter pilots, including my Dad - WW2, Korea & Vietnam. And some of the biggest jerks were fighter pilots - but then, I've known hundreds of fighter pilots and only a few lawyers. I knew my share of jerks, but I wouldn't trade the decades I spent in fighters and flying with fighter pilots for ANYTHING.
I was a WSO. Maybe I was born to be one. Looking at a radar scope was as intuitive to me as looking out a window is for most people. But I flew with a lot of damn good men, and everyone I flew with was a fighter pilot.