Gents,
I am only a young pup myself, having been out of Cranwell just over a year and having just finished EFT in the past few months. However, I must say that not all ‘wet behind the ears’ young officers share the views of PUO.
Whilst I would have to agree with PUO that many young officers are in the service for:
a) The money (it might not be much but at 19 I earn more than most of my mates from school)
b) The chicks (they do dig it)
c) To be an airline pilot as quickly as possible (although no desire of mine)
I feel I must stress that this is certainly not the motivation for all of us. I personally am proud to be an officer in the Royal Air Force, I love going to work with that (very thin) braid on my shoulder, I am looking forward to the opportunities to ‘lead from the front’ (for want of a better phrase), but most of all I am looking forward to 37 years in the service.
Many of you may see this as a young and naive view, you may be right, but maybe you need to be young and naïve to not let the bad aspects of flying training tarnish your view of the future.
Maybe my views will change as I progress through the training system; I would like to think not. All I know is that I have spent the last 6 months getting paid to go flying and I am looking forward to the next 6 months holding with the UN in Tokyo. Meanwhile, my school mates are working in Pizza Hut.
The service has given a fantastic opportunity to a lucky few young people, and shattered the dreams of many, many more. I guess I appreciate I’m one of the lucky few, and I am sure, so do many others.
NFS