Here is a reply I PM'ed someone in a very similar position to yourself a couple of months ago.
"Sorry for taking so long to reply, thats the joy of Operational flying :-) My replies in bold below....
Thank you for messaging me. I have just been pinged out of the pilot sift due to hitting the age limit and have been offered WSOp, WSo and RPAS (P) for Jan. I just wanted to learn a bit more about WSOp and WSo
- In your opinion, is going WSo over WSOp for the commission worth it?
Yes and no - It depends on several factors.
-Your plans for civvie street - Officers tend be viewed as more favourable
-The importance of status - You want to tell people you are an officer
-Earning potential - Slightly more as an officer but not by much. I out-earned most pilots on my sqn at a similar length of service
-Pension is no longer a factor - Everyone gets the same terms and it's a career average pension i.e. The more promotions you get, the greater the pension
-Both jobs fly - I was a WSOp and now WSO and other than the extra pay it makes no difference to the job I am doing. The Sgts' Mess is definitely a better atmosphere!
- what is your day to day like?
Again, difficult to quantify as every aircraft type, sqn and deployment is different
- I work a 10-12 hour day every day
- Some days I am flying, some days I am not.
- I work shifts. That is 24/7/365 including Xmas day, weddings, funerals etc.
- Some Sqns have 'face-time'
- There are a ton of different 'isms' with each unit as well. For example, those stationed at Creech have a shorter day as they have to drive nearly 100 miles a day to work and back. Those on the current Tornado Sqn are doing 3 months deployed and 3 months at home, rinse, repeat. E3 Sqn personnel are drinking LOTS of tea and eating biscuits as they are really hurting with unserviceability of aircraft. Most rotary Sqns are on permanent 72 hours notice to move anywhere i.e. Humanitarian Relief
- You WILL end up with secondary duties such as Air Cadet Liaison, Mess secretary, Station Charities Committee etc. Without these you wont even be looked at for promotion.
- On Ops it is work, work, work! You may get days off on a 3 month deployment but don't count on it. Again it depends on your aircraft type. I did 3 months of constant nightshift with absolutely no time off.
- in terms of rank I’m only really familiar with the officer side of things, once you are operational what rank are you as a WSOp?
- Start as a Sergeant and then after about 8 yrs (at the absolute earliest) you may be eligible for promotion. WSOp promotion is probably the toughest in the entire RAF! Expect on average to wait around 12+ yrs for promotion, if at all. The board that recently published promoted 8 WSOps to Flt Sgt. That's across all specialisations and aircraft types. There have been yrs of 2 or even no people promoted.
- do you have a preference for what platform you are streamed to? (I wanted to be a rotary pilot and would prefer rotary WSOp).
You fill out a 'dream sheet' with what you prefer, it is exactly that though. It always comes down to Service need.
- That being said, Rotary Stream are always looking for newbies so it's a fairly safe bet you would go that way if you wanted it, especially if you are younger. Rotary is tougher on your body over the years so be prepared for that.
- if you’re a WSo and therefore istar, what are your missions like?
- If I have understood you correctly, then you are confused as WSOp make up the majority of ISTAR crews, its not a WSO only role.
-ISTAR is a varied and interesting job. I did Rotary and ISTAR; they are just different.
Rotary - Very cool job, very tactical, hard physical work, smaller crews, lots of time on Salisbury Plain or in the field, lots of time getting cold and wet, you are more likely to get shot at, take a greater toll on your body, can be very demanding flying if doing certain roles i.e. Special Forces flying. greater potential for short notice deployments around the world, lots of exercises, spending a lot of time with the Army
ISTAR - Cool job, more strategic/operational (in general), not a physical job, large crews, lots of time operating from airbases, air conditioned aircraft, very unlikely to be shot at, unlikely to damage your body (perhaps get fat), flying is not generally demanding in the same way as rotary, but can be more cerebral.
- do you get to travel much?
-Yes! But rarely to tourist destinations..... I have been to Iraq, Afghanistan, USA, Kenya, Germany, Norway, Kuwait, Qatar, France, Morocco, Cyprus, Belize, Guatemala, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Czech Republic, Poland, Northern Ireland, Egypt and a few places not for public consumption.
-In short you will travel but it is not always fun when you arrive. The opportunity for the nice places is a lot less due to budget cuts and the Daily Mail. That being said there is still an opportunity, albeit it takes a lot more organising.
Don't join to get stamps in your passport as you will be disappointed.
- do you find it ‘exciting’?
- Like any job, there are good days and bad days.
- Exciting things - Everything in your first few yrs, being shot at, survival courses, adventure training, some exercises, night flying on rotary, formation flying, Combined Air Operations, 140mph at 50ft, shooting and numerous other military type things!
- Not Exciting - Getting up at 0300 to brief, constantly having your life in limbo on the whim of a politician, secondary duties, tick chasing (diversity briefs, don't post to Facebook briefs don't sleep with Russian spies brief etc.), boring courses, deploying to the same place for the 5th or 6th time, family being messed around with deployments, exercises, courses, having a w@nker boss who you can tell to stick his job up his hoop
I suppose the best way to answer you is, would I join up again knowing what I know?
The answer for me, is no.
But my reasons are due to -
- Family being messed around - my son is 5 and on his 5th nursery/school, I am on my 6th house in 8 yrs.
- Wanting to move into a 2nd career
- Spend time with my family
- Put down roots and have stability for my family
- Pension has changed too much (but this won't affect you)
- Meddling in my life in silly little ways by the RAF.
- Manning is at a critical level and I am fed up doing 2 or 3 jobs.
I hope that helps and gives you some insight into the pros/cons. If you have any further questions then let me know.
HG"