On Feb 27, 9:16�pm, "Norman Perelson" wrote:
wrote in message

.. . Would like your opinions on amateur licensing someone who had nearly 20
years military experience as a radio operator (in my opinion, a
professional) ? *I have worked HF, VHF, UHF, SHF, SATCOM, AM, FM, CW, etc.
I even did some time with Mystic Star for AF One and Two.

--
Chappie

Not wishing to belittle your vast experiance and professional abilities, I
believe it is better to be an amateur because the difference, in my opinion,
is that a professional must do what they have to do while following the
rules, while an amateur has the freedom to do whatever he/she likes while
keeping within the rules.
--
Norman, ZS2RI

I think that neither is "better" than the other. Experience as
a professional may or may not transfer well to amateur,
and vice versa, for a number of reasons:

1) Professionals often do not have to pay for their equipment,
training or other expenses. When they do,
it's an expense of doing business. Amateurs almost
always have to pay for everything out of their own
pockets.That difference in resources makes a lot of difference in
practice. A lot of things that are standard
practice in, say, military radio are simply not affordable
for most amateurs.

2) There are big differences in the time, space and
other resources available to professionals vs. amateurs.

3) There is always a "command structure" in place for
professionals. It may be in the form of a company
organization chart, or a military chain of command, or
simply keeping the customer satisfied. Amateurs have
a completely different situation.

4) Professionals are paid, amateurs are volunteers, which
means they need to be managed in different ways.

5) Most of all, when it comes to something like radio, the
goals are usually completely different. To the professional, radio is
a means to an end. To the amateur, radio is an
end in itself.

IMHO, the whole thing becomes an apples-and-oranges
comparison.

73 de Jim, N2EY