avbug said:If backgrounds are to be considered, an ag background is probably best, airline and military the worst. One company for whom I flew, although staffed in management by former military, staunchly refused to even entertain anyone with an airline or military background because of the extremely poor track record of those who had come and gone before. No slight...but not one I ever met made it very far in the tanker world. Most didn't want to get their hands dirty, couldn't make the commitment, didn't want to work, and when it came to flying slow and close to terrain under the conditions required in limited performance aircraft, felt it was too dangerous or beneath them. A few exceptions exist, but not many.
Conversely, coming from tankers to an airline environment...many employers look unfavorably on a tanker past. Unjustifiably, the image of the tanker pilot has been one of a cowboy, despite a very professional community getting the job done.
Airline pilots make good tanker pilots. Several companies have had good success with them. You can find prima donnas in virtually every facet of aviation. Yes, former ag pilots are good tanker pilots.But for some their IFR skills are poor to non-existent and many have VFR only type ratings so when you have to fly that P-2V, P-3,DC-7 ,etc., several hundred miles away in IFR conditions it'll be very helpful to have an airline or military pilot on board. They're a known quantity.
A tanker pilot without any good IFR skills wouldn't make it past the first sim session at any airline. That's why airlines shy away from them.