I think this may be the end of Trenchard’s establishments for “giving us the technological edge; a cadet college at Cranwell to produce the future leaders; a staff college at Andover to give those leaders the finishing touches and an apprentice scheme to train the mechanics”.
With a 10 week passing out cycle for ORs and a 24 week cycle for officers then very few parades will coincide. Personally, I think the loss of Halton for the ORs that generates Trenchard’s much wanted “Air Force Spirit” in a different way to that at Cranwell for the officers, is a mistake. Keeping the 2 seperate is a good thing for so many reasons for as long as we have a hierarchical rank structure - if we go down the civvy route where everyone is on first name terms where everyone is paid an individually negotiated rate then great; but we are not.
Having watched recruits make mistakes during recruit training amongst their peers at both places, then there should be a distinct air-gap between the two in my humble opinion. Also, the constant drive to put everyone up in a Holiday Inn and feed them in a Happy Eater further erodes the pride - look at Daedalus, roughly a tenth the age of York House and already showing it. You only need to look at what has been done at Bicester, Bentley Priory and Woolwich to see how our old infrastructure can be brought up to date but retain its character The RAF is a unique brand, a brand that people aspire to, and we should protect certain ethos, artefacts and methods as it is what makes us what we are and what others aspire to be.