The original article (if to be believed!) stated a 'Wing Commander'...would a Wing Commander really be expected to go as a C17 pilot or co etc?....I could understand maybe a Squadron Leader.
This may be a sign of the increasingly wide gap between the UK and other nations in terms of senior officers’ flying duties. It is normal for USAF squadrons to have two flying OF4s (the boss and the DO or ‘boss-in-waiting’), for USAF wing HQs to have a couple more (STANEVAL and the deputy wing boss), and for the OF5 and even 1* commanders to be in regular flying practice - maybe even role qualified (IIRC, AF1 was captained by a full-bird colonel when taking GWB to safety on 9/11). So I can well imagine a RAF wg cdr being employed in a USAF flying role, possibly overborne, but it is much less unusual to see fliers of that rank over there. The lucky so-and-so...
Coming back the other way, in the early 2000s there was a USAF lt col WSO filling a sqn ldr position on a GR4 squadron, and I remember thinking that that would be a most enjoyable way to earn a living!