Cheburashka
Momketeer
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2020
- Messages
- 4,911
The point was, he had the opportunities. He was sent to the best schools, had a ton of support and goodwill. The fact that he wasn't bright and/or hardworking enough to make much of those opportunities is his issue.Welllll, unless you count where you went to prep school as prestigious, not so much. Harry went to Eton, true enough; it's known for imparting a good grounding in the Classics and invaluable social connections. (His A-levels were a B in Art and a D in Geography; he was a much better achiever on the athletic field than in the classroom.)
He then took a gap year, which was primarly spent doing rather basic construction tasks, such as mending fences and repairing roof tiles. He spent about 3 months each working on a cattle ranch in Australia and at an orphanage in Lesotho, and traveled mostly in the 3rd world for the rest of the time. After that he went to Sandhurst, the UK Officers' Training College, which unlike West Point, is not actually a fully-accredited university; it's not set up for everyone to come out with a minimum of a Bachelor's degree. The training course is 44 months long before commissioning as a second Lieutenant. Harry started out in the military as a Tanker, but quickly switched fields. He was a fire controller for about a year, then went back for helicopter flight training, the more advanced part of which he actually did in Southern California. He's a qualified Apache helicopter pilot, and by all accounts, that's where his natural talents lie; his instructors and COs all said he had a real gift for flying.
Unfortunately, he did not seem to have much of a gift for command. The normal time period for promotion from 2d Lieutenant to Captain in the UK Army, as in the US, is 3 years. It took Harry nearly 6 to reach that rank. (Granted, part of the reason for that may have been the reduced deployment time he had because it was thought that his presence might make his unit a target in a Middle-East war zone.) He left the Army with 10 years in, normally the point at which, having served 6 years as a Captain, you either make Major or leave. Harry left; he retired as a Captain.
Most former military pilots do one of two things with their skills; they either fly for an airline, freight service or corporation as a pilot, or they work for an aircraft manufacturer's R&D division. (Helicopter pilots also may work for private security, news, construction or firefighting companies as well.) In the US the R&D jobs go to folks who also have engineering degrees (which most US service academy graduate pilots do.)
So, would Airbus or Bell or Sikorsky hire Harry as a test pilot? On his qualifications, no. On his connections? Quite possibly, if they thought that getting him on the staff might influence a UK military aircraft contract in their direction. (FWIW, the major US R&D facilities for helicopter development happen to be in Texas, mostly near Dallas, so probably not somewhere his wife would be thrilled to live. She might go for Sikorsky, though; their shop is in Connecticut.)
Actually, one of the best things that I think Harry could do for himself and his future right now is to earn himself a US college degree, preferably in some facet of business. American universities have much more liberal admissions processes than in the UK and are more comfortable for adult learners.
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