What makes a successful aviator?

Some excerpts from an interesting series of posts over on
rec.aviation.military.naval.


"...better shot for a pilot slot by getting his BS in aeronautical
engineering...."

"An engineering degree would have no bearing on selection for flight
training."

"Actually it is true. Degree does not seem to matter. Back in the 80's
when I was working on a masters, I was also a contract simulator
instructor at my old training base (Chase) and did an analysis for my
statistics class of degrees vs completions. What I found was that
there was absolutley no correlation between the type of degree and the
succsess (or failure) of the prospective naval aviator."

"As a career Naval Aviator with experience, albeit dated, in both the
Training Command and OPNAV, I've watched this thread spin out with some
interest. As the Director of Research at the National Defense University
in one of my prior incarnations, I was privy to a study substantiating your
remarks. When launched on a quest to find the "Prime Indicator of Success"
- the Holy Grail of the Nugget Watchers - the study I am most familiar with
came up with the revolutionary but counterintuitive conclusion that it was
not being an Eagle Scout or a BS in AE or the kind of a baby that quit
nursing every time an airplane flew over but whether or not the candidate -
get this - had a paper route."

I personally delivered the morning paper for four years. :-)

Bob Moore