ABIW,
"It's quite simple really Army SNCO's all fly pretty basic stuff because that's all they are capable of",
More than a little harsh in your assessment of our AAC colleagues, dont you think the Apache is a little more than basic? The army have a lot of skilled pilots, a huge proportion of whom are NCO's, and have equal if not better skills than many of our own. I cant see that flying our multi engine aircraft on route flying is any more difficult than flying an army helicopter, indeed i would imagine it is more difficult.
As i am writing this i just heard on sky of a helicopter down in Basrah, lets hope its not too bad news, and that the guys/gals are ok