I was one of those affected by the holds of the 90's and I requested at the end of BFT I asked to go RW and was sent that way despite the fact that at the time there was no option to go Multis or RW due to long holds. I had a hold of only 4 months before going to Shawbury. After I had been at Shawbury for 6 months 2 courses worth of post BFT FJ holding officers were out of the blue sent to Shawbury. Many had already spent a year waiting for Valley!
Needless to say there were many unhappy bunnies at Shawbury at the time but most got on with it and progressed to the front line within 2 - 3 years of leaving BFT. Since then many have fared well indeed 2 of them have recently been awarded Bars to DFCs. So you can be sure of getting to where the action is in the RW.
The bottom line is consider requesting RW if the holds are a major issue to you. Don't forget as well the quicker you get to the front line, the quicker you start working up the career ladder if thats where you see yourself. Four years to RW frontline vs 8 years to front line FJ = RW 4 years ahead of your FJ contemporaries both flying quals and promotion quals.
Take the opportunity to see what the sharp end of the RW is about by visiting Benson or Odiham.
HTH
GB2