Night Hawk you've hit the nail on the head! I believe most Sections are not retirement villages; although some bases have average ages over 50!
In essence what they want for a FOM is a mature chap who can handle a bunch of 'experienced' (read 50+) pilots and deal with Health Departments, megalomaniac Emergency Consultants, ambulance coordinators and angry flight nurses, oh and by the way, you should be able to fill in on the roster at the drop of a hat when required. Now that is a challenging job if ever I have seen it. And you should see the chief pilot description!! Having a pilot who can be put on the roster at a moment's notice (of course within appropriate rest periods bla bla bla) and fly the "worst case" RFDS flight requires someone who has been around the block more than once, hence the hour experience requirements.
In regards to IF time, yep, it's a funny one. I don't think that you would miss out if you had all requirments except 600IF, but you might if you only had 100hrsIF.
Also, the applicant would want have good social skills to deal with the above after a long shift- but that is hard to quantify on 'minimum requirments.' The best place for that is charter, IMHO. Sometimes ex-airline and military types are lacking in this area.
Stallie, keep those photos coming. They are great..
