Hmmm, let me see. Consider me an authority on this topic - I have 'worked with' Pilots/Aviators/etc. from many different Nations very closely.
Well, they are all equally as dead when their aircraft slams into a mountain, or the ocean, or something else...often thru no real fault of their own - while serving their Nation.
And they all tend to get equally messed up even when they do manage to eject 'safely'. If anyone wants to know what I mean by 'safely' (which means that anyone has never had to eject from an aircraft and/or has never been close to someone who just has ejected from an aircraft), well, I'm about to eat a late dinner and I'm not really in the mood to 'talk' about that right now.
And when they fail to return - often times having gone missing for no few number of days, which means their families *literally* never get to see them again - USAF, USN, USMC, USCG, LW, RAF, etc., their Husband/Wife/Children/Mom/Dad/Brother/Sister/Best Friend/etc. all miss them terribly.
And every USAF/USN/USMC/etc. Pilot/Aviator/etc. has more that one great Friend he made at some point in training or a deployment that will get killed flying sooner or later.
So in my opinion they are roughly equal.
HOWEVER,
USN are always better looking.
USAF have better rooms usually.
USMC are Marines, and thus by definiton crazier than anyone else as a group.
Go Navy!
Mike/wulfie
p.s. A great little story here - I know a guy who flew F-4s on the Oriskany's last deployment during the war in Viet Nam. He said that all the A-4, F-4, etc. aircrew worshipped the A-1 Skyraider guys. Many of the A-1 guys were Korean war veterans, and they were 'colorfully insane'...landing on the CV with the canopy open, a silk scarf flowing out of the open canopy, etc.
