"life within the raf is all about grabbing the best opportunity as it goes past and crawl upwards when possible"
No, no, no, no, no, NO!
Life in the RAF is what you make it. Short service or PC, flying or ground Branch, fast-track to * rank or career spec aircrew (PAS) Flt Lt...it's what you do and the circumstances you find yourself in that make it what it is for you.
Yes, opportunities will present themselves, and it's a foolish man/woman who passes them up - but if it's not for you then so what? Don't be so focused on 'crawling upwards' - life in the RAF has changed but it's still a great job - you should be looking forward to the cameraderie, the banter, detachments (some good, some not), and making your way in your chosen Branch.
I'd suggest that if you want to 'crawl upwards' or have any illusions that you want to be CAS, then the FC Branch may not be for you. The RAF's executive Branch is GD(P) (mostly) and if you aspire to the heady heights of *dom then FC may not be the right choice. Not due to any lack of quality on the part of the FCs, just the hard reality of the fact!
Be warned about the chances of airborne FC though - whilst I am not on E-3s, I have good mates who are and the impression I have been given is that once trained, the E-3 FCs tend to stay put. This makes it more difficult for new guys to get in to the programme. I'm not saying that this is right or wrong - just that you have to ensure that the rose tinted specs are removed before you sign up on the promise of a flying tour!
That said, best of luck.
SBG
Last edited by Spotting Bad Guys; 11th Nov 2004 at 14:13.