Ok......That's a crass generalization. If they really know their stuff, and have cared enough to remain current in their civi flying (I know plenty of dudes at UPT who got up until their commercial but haven't been on a plane in 2-3 years and can't remember what FAR/AIM stands for), there is no reason a prior civi should have problems flying IFR during UPT. As a matter of fact, it is hard to even bring up the point, when said prior guy has more IMC real time than the IP in front..particularly single pilot IMC.. This was usually the case flying against FAIPs. Forget the students, the instrument instruction was lacking in my opinion, they should call it undergraduate pilot testing for all I've seen so far.
By the end of Phase II, everybody pretty much caught up with the canned routine of UPT. The real SA-builder for the non-prior time folks comes on x-countries and off-station flying, where, you guessed it, the civies feel at home. Again, it is important to recognize that for the sake of the argument, UPT is AETC, which is not operational military flying. Anybody can excel at turning rejoins independent of prior time (particularly since very few civies come to UPT with formation time) but the addtional SA built over years of flying in the NAS makes a significant difference in whether somebody gets to work a little less or a little more in keeping up with the 'firehose'...particularly during Phase II where it really counts.
In my short tenure in AETC, most folks with prior time have pretty much coasted through the program, most of those also happen to be Guard/Reserve (no surprise there). The problem arises when somebody's attitude does not allow them to flex around the massive qweepload that the UPT environment creates. To suggest civilian pilots as a whole have problems adjusting to the environment is another crass generalization.
The thing is that people miss the point of prior experience and the difference of what said time means for an active duty stud vs. a Guard/Reservist. We have already established that lack of flight time is NOT an impediment at all for anybody to excel at UPT and get his first choice and be número 1. What needs to be established is that the prior-time guy has for the most part the discretion to COAST through the program. Combine that with already knowing what you're going to fly and there's your answer.
It's not your ability to go insane trying to go out with gusto, it's being able to cruise the course that is a more palpable gage of the impact previous flight time has on success in the program. And in my experience that has been the unavoidable truth. If active dudes frown on that attitude, then go sail a boat, but that's the real impact of previous flight time. Why do you think they don't want pre-UPT AF dudes sandbagging rides, and getting stick time prior to the course? The leadership itself admits a monkey can be taught to fly given enough repetition! So come on....
2 out of 3 of these are not generally the reasons I've seen people join the military in my experience.
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