what b*llsh*t  

"most of the retired mil people at faa are not successful"....what b*llsh*t. the retirees from des rocket straight to the top of the nit-noi rulemaking department, that's why we got silly things like local flying areas only for haa in part 135, and also the brain-dead requirement for tac instrument flight planning (which is what the highest-obstacle-enroute silly game is, really). the des has-beens write the stuff the feds put out for rules, attempting to make far 135 for helicopters and haa specifically into ar 95-1 and turn the civil flying into the only thing they know, which is army army army. it sucks but it is real and has been going on for years. the guy who says the faa isn't lousy with ex-mil, especially ex-army, is living in another universe, not this one.