Zedder,
It wouldn't matter if I did imply that the RAF is ageist - ageism is allowed in the armed forces - at the moment. Think about all the military Equal Opportunities questionnaires that you've filled in, and anything else on discrimination in the forces. There was never a section on age discrimination was there? That's because it doesn't apply to the military - yet!
We all know about the policy that a sqn ldr won't get selected to attend the Advanced Staff Course (ASC) once he/she is aged over 43 and you also have to have had a couple of good tours as a sqn ldr before you'll be selected. As promotion to wg cdr is pretty much dependant on being selected for the ASC, it's therefore very unlikely that you'll make it beyond sqn ldr if you haven't made that rank by the age of 36. So any offer of promotion to sqn ldr in your late 30s is condemning you to life in the Career Spine but not actually offering you a career in which you can advance. Take away the possibility of transfer to the Professional Aviator Spine and life will become pretty dull!
Just This Once...,
I think you're being a little negative, but I wouldn't disagree with you too much. I'd have said, "Promotion to sqn ldr much after age 32 is now regarded as retention negative - so beware".
Mind you, there is an easy way out of this mess. Give all Career Spine sqn ldrs automatic transfer to the Professional Aviator Spine after they reach age 44. That would be a bit like the old option to leave at age 44 if you hadn't been promoted to wg cdr by that age. Of course, that doesn't mean that they will get another flying tour (as some on the PAS have recently found out) but it would be retention positive.
Last edited by LFFC; 11th Jun 2005 at 09:14.