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Old 19th Mar 2021, 12:04
  #17 (permalink)  
MPN11
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Often in Jersey, but mainly in the past.
Age: 79
Posts: 7,786
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When I suggested to a stn cdr a while ago that he had hardly been in post anytime at all, he told me that after a 'single cycle' (a year or so) he was liable to move on as there were so few stn cdr slots and lots of budding gp capts who needed to prove themselves.
Like it or not, there always remains the need to have a sufficiently broad career pyramid to ensure that elevation to Air Rank doesn't simply become "Buggins Turn". As the RAF got smaller, there grew a need for additional appointments at OF-5 and up to ensure that those moving on to 1* had relevant experience (and, importantly, assessments). It's simply necessary!

As a former member of the small GD(G)ATC Branch this was particularly noticeable, In 1990 the Air Force List shows we had one 1* (AOC MATO), 3 gp capt and 36 wg cdr. It didn't need a PhD to work out who was going places! And as the Branch shrank even further (airfield closures, Area Radar units amalgamating at Swanwick, HQ MATO closing and merging at HQ STC/HQ Air with our Fighter Control brethren) it inevitably became harder to find appointments to develop and evaluate those high flyers. That led to a few in-house surprises around the turn of the Century!
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