Come on, is this any surprise. Lets be totally honest, one very important reason why we will always be the poor brothers of the Aviation world (even AH) has significant roots in the way that we are all managed. The only positive aspect is that we (NCOs and Officers) are in it together!
As already documented on this site a recent visit by a Cavalry Officer heading up the AAC Officer manning stated that he fond it difficult to comprehend why a young AH Flt Commander was doing the same job as a Tank park Sgt! Absolutely no concept or understanding of aviation.
The same manning branch is in the process of posting all of the AH trained officers of a Regt in the period of 3 months......so no continuity there then. But what makes it worst is that the AH programme has sweat blood and tears to provide the best training received by any AAC Sqn and yep, you've guessed it they are all (and I mean all) going to desk jobs in order for them to compete with the rest of the Army's career template (despite many of them more than happy to remain in the AH flying world).
So however absurd it sounds, the AAC is still run b y Cavalry types and sadly the Directorate is too busy fighting to save the whole Corps (see Future Lynx thread) and also in fighting with JHC to be able to stand back and see the true implications of what its antiquated, outdated and very Army manning policy is doing to the Corps and the AH capability.
Solution - hurry up and go Joint. Lets have a healthy mix of Direct Entry (DE) Officers in flying jobs to balance the SNCO and Late Entry QHI fraternity. This will result in a healthy experience level on the shop floor (as per the RN and RAF) rather than second tourists with less than 500 hours being Flt Commanders.
Whatever happens, the AAC must recognise that it is no longer the same as the Infantry or Armoured Corps and remove itself from the same career progression profile. We will lose too many officers that in their late 20s really do not want to fly a desk just yet and will leave or transfer Services.
If you look at CJOs (Torpy) and CDS (Stirrup's) career profile, how is that they manage numerous flying appointments alongside their desk jobs and still make it to the top? Why do we have a quick glimpse of flying and become desk bound - even more now as the chance of commanding a Sqn becomes less and less.
Last edited by Front Seater; 2nd Apr 2005 at 05:44.