I am disappointed and saddened that our leaders cannot see the writing on the wall.
10 hrs of non-accredited 'air-experience' and a bit of 'mil leadership training' (that won't be as good, or as fun as that which the OTCs and URNUs get)
WILL NOT ENTICE 'THE RIGHT STUFF' TO JOIN THE UAS - nor, in turn, the RAF!
This is sad because the RAF will need to be recruiting MORE, NOT LESS, of the country's very best undergrads. In turn, this is because, for the first time for many, many years, a greater majority of our pilots will have to have single-seat FJ potential.
What about Direct Entry pilots - won't they save us?
I don't think so as, these days, nearly every 18 yo of any quality wants a degree, while DE TOS must be very unattractive to todays 'youff'. Furthermore, with today's apparent educational standards, those that want DE may be less likely to be of the right calibre. That is a sweeping statement, I know, and there will be some very good DEs, for sure. However, in IMHO it is unlikely that many 18 yo DE junior officer pilots will be as good as those of even a few years ago.
So, to turn what was an excellent recruiting tool (UASs were the best society in uni and always oversubscribed) into probably one of the worst, is totally counter-productive to our long term needs.
The people who we will need to recruit are intelligent, full of life, with a fair amount of panache, confidence and awareness but whom have not yet necessarily decided on a mil flying career. Regrettably, I do not see the proposed UAS structure as having the anything like the attraction equivalent to that of even the most recent incarnation of the UASs, let alone the pre-1995 system. It is more likely to attract military 'cabbages' who couldn't get into the OTC or URNU.
All this just to save the 'five-eighths of the square-root of f@ck-all' at a time when the competition from the Airlines to snap up air-minded graduates is really hotting up? This is pure folly!
I might be wrong but I would not mind betting that in a few years time, we will be revisiting the UAS structure......... but then it will be way too late!
RIP UAS (...... RAF?)