MaroonMan4,
Earlier in the post you stated:
"Leadership - I hope that Cranditz, Sandhurst and Dartmouth all still require, expect and develop leadership. As we all know any monkey can fly in CAVOK in peacetime. At war, transition to war, in attrocius weather conditions, in far from ideal environmental conditions, and with no hotel in sight - then this is when the officer earns his money.
A cockpit, a formation a flight will all require leadership.
I am not saying for one moment that the NCO community cannot lead, but officer selection identifies those at an earlier age that have the potential to lead (hence young officers get a platoon, flight or Division).
The NCO's rely on experience to obtain/develop their leadership potential which may take extra time, hence the LE, SD, upper yardy ex-ranker career path."
You have forgotten that NCO aircrew are also selected for their leadership potential and abilities and go through much the same training regime. It may not be as long, it may not have the pomp and circumstance, but the system works and regularly outputs SNCO's with much greater leadership abilities than those graduating with a commision.
As for the officers earning their money when the going gets tough; please dont insult me, you should hear the whinging that comes from the officer 1/2 of a certain 4jet MPA....
I don't wish to generalise but I'm afraid that in todays RAF there are too many officers who forget that having a rank on their shoulder is not enough to automatically make them a leader.
C_E
