The tighty righties are having a hissy fit on Twitter over this United Airlines announcement:

[DFW]

16. Back when I lived in the States

Most pilots I knew got their start in the Air Force, as it was the only way to learn to fly a plane and get experience for free. An F-18 doesn't prepare you for a 777 with 350 people on board, but it does give you the basics of how to pilot a plane. Learning how to fly other models comes a lot easier if you have had solid experience beforehand.

True funny story to go with this: a friend of a Dutch colleague was obsessed with speed. He made himself some money, and bought an expensive German car just so he could drive over to Germany and drive the Autobahn, where there are no speed limits. In the Netherlands, the limit usually is 120 KPH (around 75 MPH) max, and they enforce it. But even the German Autobahn wasn't enough, so he took lessons and got his pilot's license. One day, on his way over to Germany, his anticipation took over before he crossed the border, and a Dutch cop stopped him doing something like 200 KPH, usually enough to get your car and your license confiscated. The enraged cop who stopped him demanded to see his registration and his pilot's license. The guy said, "sure," and handed the cop his registration and his pilot's license. The cop stopped for a second, and studied the document handed him, as it looked nothing like a driver's license. When he saw it really WAS a pilot's license, he burst out laughing. He told the guy, "in fifteen years of using that line this is the first time anyone really DID hand me their pilot's license." In honor of the occasion, he let the guy off, but warned him that if he ever caught him AGAIN doing that speed within the Netherlands, he WOULD lose his car AND his driver's license (though, presumably, he'd be allowed to keep his pilot's license).