'Pippa' was originally a navigator, then after a crossover course, became a Vulcan co-pilot. When the Vulcan left service, he was unsuccessful at TWU and was offered a choice of another ME pilot slot, or a FJ navigator slot - he chose the latter.
Quite why he seems to be so reluctant to mention his Vulcan co-pilot time, I don't know. But with the general cut backs at the time, I wonder quite how much retraining he was given before TWU? In my case, I'd already had the benefit of FJ training before failing my Bucc OCU and going to Vulcans in 1977, after which I was given another FJ crossover opportunity in 1980 - this consisted of a 40 hr JP refresher at Leeming, then a 50 hr Hawk pre-TWU course at Valley before my pre-Phantom Chivenor TWU. Was the same generous amount of pre-TWU training available to ex-Vulcan co-pilots when the aircraft left service? If not, then anyone who hadn't had the benefit of the old Gnat/Hunter pre-TWU course before being restreamed would undoubtedly have found TWU hard work, particularly at around 35 years old.
Nevertheless, without proper gliding opportunities, the Air Cadet organisation won't be very attractive to youngsters of today. The rubbish about 'cyber', 'drones' and 'synthetics' is a distraction - the real reason is that it is cheaper than establishing gliding schools and sending youngsters solo in a glider.