"Nobody wants your job." Really?
There's literally hundreds of people every year who could
not get a guernsey for a military pilots' course that would say otherwise.
"In the months post-Sept 11, mass pilot retrenchments around the globe, it was surprising how few went back into the RAAF." Pretty surprising to see how many ex-military pilots applied and got knocked back as well. I was very lucky to get back in when I did in early 2003. The door shut fairly firmly about that time (for lateral recruits, that is), and has only just started to open again now.
P.S. Pass-A-Frozo, when did you go through 2FTS?