Originally Posted by
TheOneWhoNeverWas
My name is Parminder, which should tell you what I look like, and I am female. I would have joined the RAF to scrub the floors. I had a Cranwell date with every hope of being able to fly, and I withdrew last year because of exactly this.
My parents came to this country in part to give me a better chance and I wanted to give something back and on that basis it feels like about the biggest betrayal possible. I was told I needed to be a reliable and trustworthy person with principles, and I did everything I could to be that person. Now it feels like the organisation which was telling me that was itself not very reliable nor trustworthy and did not have the courage to support its own principles.
I don't want to be a token minority to advance someone else's career or be in a job that I don't even know if I'm really competent to do. I don't want everyone I work with to think hmm, is she actually any good, or is she here for political reasons. I do not want any white males I happen to work with to assume I think they're "useless white males." I don't. Nobody asked me if I wanted this and I don't. I want to succeed on my own merits, I've worked for them. I am not doing it. They can find someone else.
Really sorry to hear you are pulling out of what could be an amazing career. I've been out for several years now and it's possible there has been some change within the organisation but I find it hard to believe the people have changed that much, and in all the time I was serving we had individuals on the Squadrons I worked on who were from all different backgrounds, race, religion and gender and I never saw someone getting a free pass because they were a particular colour, sex, etc, not even when I was a flying instructor, all were treated equally.
You will need to work seriously hard and be super committed and focused to get through flying training irrespective of your background; I think thats one of the amazing things about getting to wear the RAF flying badge, everyone who does get to wear one has genuinely worked their socks off and proved their ability in an incredibly arduous, long, demanding but also fair and uncorrupted (at least when I was in!) training system.
Maybe try to connect with some of the people who are currently serving, going through the training system/have come out the other end and find out what it's actually like as it would be a shame to have come this far through selection and throw in the towel because of some, admittedly abhorrent and inexcusable, racism by some senior RAF officers (who definitely should know better).