Adminblunty
Did you note the section in brackets that you quoted? The clue to my true sentiments lies there. Of course I know that non-aircrew can earn a fortune as well. If you had to work out a percentage of ex-military folks that can easily walk in to jobs with high 6-figure salaries you might find the pie chart has a large wedge made up of pilots though.
My last job in the RAF involved living on a joint compound with OF2/3 families from Army, Navy and RAF. Trust me when I say jealousy, envy, scorn and downright nastiness towards aircrew from the non-aircrew fraternity was alive and kicking. Call it what you like but I know how it made me feel. It is no accident that it became my last posting in uniform.
I’ve been quiet for a few days on this thread and have conducted a little more research. Whilst I won’t go so far as to brand people traitors I have had my view confirmed that I was right to not investigate jobs in China any further.
I still maintain that, rather than conducting a witch hunt against those that did go, we should take a long hard look at the root cause. What industry or company in the world would let expensively trained and very hard to replace personnel leave for the sake of a relative pittance? No military pilot expects to earn £250,000 after tax for a UK based job, but they are all very aware that they can make a hell of a lot more than £40-50,000 after tax. In these troubled times they may even feel like they owe it to their families future prosperity to at least see what is out there. But I do agree (as I personally decided when presented with the opportunity) that China is a step too far.
BV