which one is considered the most elite?

I think the Navy Top Gun fighter pilot would be considered the higher status

Apples and oranges.  It depends which circle you run in, but I'd say that being a pilot requires more intelligence, while being a Seal/DF requires more reactionary and evasion skills.  I don't think one could be the other and vice versa.  They're unique people and both should be admired equally.

This is like asking "Which implement is more essetial?  The hand lotion or the napkin for when yer done?"




BTW:  I say the pilot, cuz every time you fly, it's a miracle of science if you can plant both feet on the deck again.

Quoted: Apples and oranges.  It depends which circle you run in, but I'd say that being a pilot requires more intelligence, while being a Seal/DF requires more reactionary and evasion skills.  I don't think one could be the other and vice versa.  They're unique people and both should be admired equally.

Balzac-

Could I interpret your statement to mean?

Being a pilot requires you to behave like a machine.

Being a SOF dude requires you to behave like an animal (re: killer and survival instincts)

I think that question was answered on Celebrity Death Match, on MTV.

who's airsoft gun is the bestest???

I'd put them at about equal...

SF guys are the top-of-the-pile for light infantry...

A USN FWS graduate, or his AF eqiuvalent, would be the same thing in the combat aviation world...

Flying is a matter of reflexes & quick thinking.... Time flies at 600mph+...

Most of what applies to SF/Infantry applies to fighter pilots, it just happens faster 'up there'...

Yep.

A Top Gun trained pilot is the best of the best in the sky.

A SEAL is the best of the best down on the deck.

So to answer, they both are. It just depends on what environment they are operating in. Stick a SEAL in an F-18 and see how good he flies. Stick a Hornet driver in a leech infested swamp while waiting all day to ambush an enemy and see how well he does.

Apples and oranges.

A more  fair comparison would be Top Gun pilots vs. Red Flag trained pilots. Or SEAL's vs. Green Berets. But even then, the comparison is not always fair because sometimes people within these groups do different jobs.  They all do their assigned jobs well and that's really all that matters in the end.

-CH

Quoted: who's airsoft gun is the bestest???

This question is exceptionally stupid.

They are both providing invaluable service in defense of our country.  To try and quantify which ranks above the other is insulting.

Quoted:

Rigger's wings?
j/k    

Apples and oranges.

BUT..................
I just finished reading two books by former SEAL commander Dick Couch.
Book One is "The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228".  In this book Couch follows a new SEAL class through the first phase of SEAL training, including Hell Week.

In "The Finishing School" Couch follows SEALs through the training not widely known about or even discussed.
This covers what it takes to make it from Hell Week to a "deployable" SEAL ready to actually operate.

Bluntly, no mortal man can do this.
The training is NOTHING like what people think it is, and is VERY wide-ranging, from a hand-to-hand combat course most people have never heard of, to "make or break" tests SEALs MUST pass or wash out.

What's amazing is, people very near the end of this training are washed out for seemingly minor reasons.

The shooting courses are eye-opening.  
From shooting the M4 at 500 yards, to training with an M4 with a 10 inch barrel in room clearing drills.

One 50 man training unit went to the range in the California desert, and in just a couple of weeks fired up over 250,000 rounds of 5.56mm ammo ALONE, not to mention all the 50 caliber, grenades, and missiles.

According to Couch, it takes overt 36 MONTHS to "make" a deployable SEAL.

Again, mortals need not apply.

Highly recommended reading, and a real relief to know just what kind of supermen we have guarding us.

This is really a sophmoric (i.e. dumb) question.  Thats like asking "who's better; a physician or a dentist?"

Without either you're screwed in bad situations.  

Veterans rarely talk of who's better unless in fun.  There is a mutual respect of all specialities in all branches.

Somebody should go post this on www.socnetcentral.com/vb

Those guys love these discussions!

Quoted: img.photobucket.com/albums/v341/jarheadchiro/d115-m_large.jpg

SCUBA!  You are hardcore!  Outstanding.  Can you still do 2,000 flutter kicks?  

Quoted: This is really a sophmoric (i.e. dumb) question. Thats like asking "who's better; a physician or a dentist?" Without either you're screwed in bad situations.   Veterans rarely talk of who's better unless in fun.  There is a mutual respect of all specialities in all branches.

A perfect analogy.  

Quoted: which one is considered the most elite? I think the Navy Top Gun fighter pilot would be considered the higher status

Uhh......

Sure.

Silly question.  Definitely "apples and organges".  Completely different skillsets required to do each job.

"Elitism" and "status" is in the eyes of the beholder.

Having worked with both on occasion, I can say this:  The Navy Tomcat pilots had some of the biggest egos I have ever seen.  They were Sierra Hotel and they KNEW it.  This was of course reinforced every Friday night by the hotties at the NAS Oceana O-Club.  For that I was envious.  Those guys made a career of getting hot strange.

The SEALS I knew were, for the most part very bright, quiet and supremely competent individuals.  Absolutely NO BS...but you knew that they were the baddest dudes on the planet.  No brag...just pure warfare.  They were in no way knuckle dragging neanderthals...but you just knew that when stressed, they could handle just about anything at all.  They knew their warcraft...at least as well as the Turkey drivers knew how to bring that big bitch on the boat on a dark night.