Okay, okay...no navy verses AF diatribe for a minute...
How about "military turbojet" verses civilian recip as a start? I think "most" of us can agree on some examples. I had a CFII and about 700 hours when I went to UPT (all SEL), so I'll give you my impressions.
1- Power now controls airspeed. Set PITCH with ADI for level flight, climb, or descent...then make POWER adjustment to control airspeed. "wait a minute...isn't that backwards?" Not anymore.
2- Right radio call, right place, right time..the first time. No personality or conversations on the radio...we don't have time. You can waste a lot of brain cells trying to make radios calls (if you don't know them cold beforehand) that can better be served moving the stick and throttle.
3. Sticks! Turbojet throttles! Speed brakes! Retractable gear!Ejection seats! More noise than you have ever heard or made in your life.
4. Gs! Now! Lots of them (4-5 in T-37, 5-7 in T-38). Sucking air out of a hose and wearing a helment. Takes a bit to get used to but by 3 or 4 flights you will forget they are there.
5. Rigid flight profiles...takeoff, stalls, acro, EP landings, etc. You are expected to know numbers, parameters, etc before the brief...no CFI giving you any "pre and post" instruction over coffee and donuts...its a more stern enviroment.
6. Fear, sarcasm, and ridicule. Handy tools for the IPs...they will impress you with their mastery of the craft of making you feel like an idiot at times.
7. Speed....you touchdown at your C172 cruising speeds. 250 knots or so cross country in a tweet, about 450 knots in the T-38. Things happen FAST!
8. Formation. 3 feet wingtip clearance at 400 knots at 85 degrees of bank. You won't learn overnight...but you will learn.
9. Smoooooth is good but being in position or on parameters is more important. You'll likely have to "horse" an airplane around a few times more than you ever did in civilian planes. I thought many of the manuevers were exceptionally abrupt at times...but with practice I learned aggressiveness is sometimes required.
Gotta be more than that...I'll defer to the experts at AF AETC bases and our Navy bros down in P'cola.
Bottom line...I thought my experience helped me. Yes...I learned lots of new stuff...and by T38s many guys who had nowhere near my experience were doing as well or better than me in some phases. However...I loved flying, and the previous experience gave me the confidence I could learn and master the new skills. There are plenty of stories about guys who were regional pilots, lear jet guys, or whatever that washed out of UPT, and they aren't old wive's tales. However...for every one of those guys there are ten success stories. You need to go in with an open mind, a hard work ethic, and a sense of adventure--and you will do just fine.
