Melchett01, what got me thinking about this is the time currently taken to train pilots to fly the current front line fleet.
https://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2015/...and-raf-pilot/
University graduates who join at say 22 and then spend 4, and in the case of the Typhoon, 5 years, getting trained up to operational standards, which takes them to age 26 or 27. If they are then required to do two tours as a Flt Lt, followed by two tours as a S/L, before promotion to W/C. They are going to be in their mid 40's before they achieve G/C.
I think pilots will be only able to reach the upper echelons if they have accelerated promotion at some point in their career.
Maybe one answer is (as is the case in the Police Service and Civil Service) fast track promotion for those with requisite skills and qualifications. However given the very high cost of training pilots to fly, that investment will be hard to justify without at least three flying tours, which means the acceleration will have to come at a later point in their career.