Military Aviation expert

joy1982

New Member
Is it possible for me to become military aviation expert, with out having any military & aviation background. I have good knowledge of military aviation current affairs & analytical skill.
 
Is it possible for me to become military aviation expert, with out having any military & aviation background. I have good knowledge of military aviation current affairs & analytical skill.

While I think personal experience would be a great help here, there are folks who have made a living doing it without ever having flown in the military. Not sure how one would go about it, but I suppose getting affiliated with some sort of think-tank would likely be a start.
 
Doesn't that sort of go against the definition of "expert"?

Try this on for size, Hacker. A variation of the OPs post, modified for myself:

Is it possible for me to become a Navy submarine warfare expert, without having any military or Naval background. I have good knowledge of Navy current affairs & analytical skill.

How far do you think I'd get with that? :)
 
Potentially, there are numerous historians who are experts on subjects in which they have no actual experience in.
Try this on for size, Hacker. A variation of the OPs post, modified for myself:



How far do you think I'd get with that? :)
 
It brings up an important point -- the very loaded nature of the term "expert" and "historian".

This is something I wrote for another forum, where there is a particular topic that I have studied for about 8 years for a book I'm writing on that topic. I'm regularly referenced as both an "expert" and a "historian", both of which I flatly reject because, despite years of research on a very narrow and largely unknown topic, it's one that I have no firsthand knowledge of.

My disdain for the term is that people sometimes use it to elevate their opinions to some higher level -- as if 'being a historian' automatically makes their interpretation of facts and events better than someone else's. I prefer the term 'student of history', because it more accurately reflects my view that regardless of how much I may think I know about a subject there is ALWAYS something to learn or something to correct/improve. More importantly, it removes that presumption with the term 'historian' that one is in a position of more knowledge/authority than someone else. Often, it's that other person who has a different piece of information that you might want or need in your own quest for knowledge!

It's a little like the term 'expert', which I have similar dislike of for very similar reasons.

Only very rarely are 'experts' actually legitimately a source of accurate and relevant information. How many times are you watching the news and see their "aviation expert" come on to commentate on a crash or other incident (you know, the only time that aviation ever makes the news), and you wonder just what planet this expert can possibly have come from because of the inaccurate and idiotic things coming out of his mouth.

So, I really have little use for 'experts', especially those who desire to make themselves one, rather than being made one by their peers in that line of work.
 
It brings up an important point -- the very loaded nature of the term "expert" and "historian".

This is something I wrote for another forum, where there is a particular topic that I have studied for about 8 years for a book I'm writing on that topic. I'm regularly referenced as both an "expert" and a "historian", both of which I flatly reject because, despite years of research on a very narrow and largely unknown topic, it's one that I have no firsthand knowledge of.



Only very rarely are 'experts' actually legitimately a source of accurate and relevant information. How many times are you watching the news and see their "aviation expert" come on to commentate on a crash or other incident (you know, the only time that aviation ever makes the news), and you wonder just what planet this expert can possibly have come from because of the inaccurate and idiotic things coming out of his mouth.

So, I really have little use for 'experts', especially those who desire to make themselves one, rather than being made one by their peers in that line of work.

Just because someone is an expert doesn't mean they have stopped learning about a subject. An "expert" on quantum physics is potentially learning all the time. I would (and I feel rightly so) label you as an "expert" on F15 systems, tactics, and operations, but that doesn't mean you know everything there is to know about those subjects. That would be literally and figuratively impossible given the nature and complexities of the subject material to begin with.

Indeed, I counter with the assumption that many times, these "experts" that you have disdain for are in fact the only way we can reliably filter through the rampant BS and noisy static that our lives consist of daily. Or, to put it another way, experts simplify and classify topics for those of us who are not experts. For example, as pilots we see only a small picture of what is going on in our particular organization. Consider maintenance. As far as we pilots are concerned, you squawk a problem on the airplane, it goes to the shop and comes back fixed. Now, of course, various companies and organizations have varied levels of participation (we often times spend whole days in the shop trying to help mechanics, or more likely, getting in their way), but without mechanics to interpret or tell us what needs fixing, or without the "expert," we're fairly limited in our ability to know what needs done, other than, "this here's busted, you aught a fix it." Most of us would be helpless if we needed to do an entire hundred hour inspection by ourselves, or do an engine change. At that point, we need to call in an expert.
 
Its now clear to me that professional experience is not a mandatory requirement.
So my next question is how to proceed to become Military Aviation expert
 
Its now clear to me that professional experience is not a mandatory requirement.
So my next question is how to proceed to become Military Aviation expert

what does this mean?
To what purpose?
So you can go on tv and talk about it?

I really am curious why...

I imagine you could start with the following:


read
question
research
listen to the guys doing the job
 
Its now clear to me that professional experience is not a mandatory requirement.
So my next question is how to proceed to become Military Aviation expert

My *guess* would be to become a historian on the subject. I'd think that could possibly open some doors depending on what it was that you specialized in. Obviously your ticket (if there is one to be had) is through formal academia at a well respected school. From there, I have no idea where you would go. Nobody is going to hire someone with no personal experience on the grounds that they have self-studied on the topic.
 
Is it possible for me to become military aviation expert, with out having any military & aviation background. I have good knowledge of military aviation current affairs & analytical skill.
You mean like, Tom Clancy? I don't know you well enough to judge whether it is possible for YOU to become military aviation expert, but it has been done by others. Like Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can or can't, you're right."
 
Just a FYI to the original poster...

I know a guy who is a military expert for the NBC family of stations. One of his qualifications for the job he holds is he is a Medal of Honor Recipient.
 
Is it possible for me to become military aviation expert, with out having any military & aviation background. I have good knowledge of military aviation current affairs & analytical skill.
I think that is like having Erin Andrew's cover football. :) Just having some fun.
 
My kid is 11 and knows a whole lot of things about the airline industry that I don't have a clue about and really don't care. We were hanging out at the Beach at ft myers awhile back and I saw a plane and said "look a maddog". He said "nah, airtran livery and fat engines, B717". I thought livery was a stable. All a matter of perspective.
Anywhoo, you're in calcutta? I would say there are lots of analysts who work at Janes or as suggested "think tanks", who weren't aviators but are arguably experts. But really entry into that world with no military experience might be difficult.

If you want to do it as a passion then by all means do it. There are plane spotters who do that for their hobby. Just don't pretend to be someone your not.
 
Back
Top