Here is an insight into why Bristol Grounschool might be full of ex mil candidates (Well, my ramblings on what would make an experienced pilot, with a steady and guaranteed income, want to jump ship)
I love the RAF (yep, sad but I really am proud of everything we stand for and everything we have achieved), the flying training I have received and the job I do has been second to none and I could not wish for some of the opportunities I have been afforded. However, I have reached my option point and, although I've been offered PA and a short term extension to my current terms, will be off as soon as I can. I know that where I am going (Civvy airlines, hopefully) will not be a complete bed of roses but I also know that the RAF that I joined is not the RAF that I am currently serving.
The shop floor of the British military has an inherent ability to keep going despite whatever is thrown at it, particularly in the way of budget cuts and poor equipment. Hopefully the new blood that is currently earning it's spurs or that are joining as we speak will be happy with the state of things as they are as they will know no different and this is what will keep the services going. This is as long as budget cuts do not really hit safety - once that happens then we have a whole new ball game. I just have a fear that this will happen sooner rather than later which is one of the reasons I want to leave now.
As an SH driver, the implementation of JHC has seen nothing but negatives for the RAF. Despite our protestations and early highlighting of our concerns, the few benefits of being in the RAF have been slowly but surely eroded. I do not wish this to sound like the AAC have in any way dragged us down, they have had their terms and conditions reduced and do not appear to have seen any benefit from the amalgamation. The FAA seem to have escaped many of the drawbacks although I beleive that the CHF are starting to feel the bite a little.
Our lords and masters have done precious little to protect us from a government with a vastly over-ambitious foreign policy that a) doesn't want to pay for its military (Brown's "Pay for Gulf War 2 out of your training budget" and his announcement of a 'vote saving' Iraq/Afghan bonus that is then to be funded from the existing MoD budget) and b) is traditionally anti-military (How many current MPs have served in HM Forces?). We have a hierachy full of yes-men and they are all so bloody afraid to upset the apple cart that we have been stitched up time and time again.
We have operational deployments to particularly dodgy parts of the world cropping up with increased frequency and it seems to be made as hard as possible to actually deploy with more and more admin hoops to jump through before they will 'let you go' (as if you want to go) everytime we deploy. When we finally arrive at these godforsaken places it is never down to the skill of the Defence Transport 'Management' Agency - who seem to do everything in there power to make your trip to hell as unpleasant as possible.
We have also had to put up with the civilianisation of the military. This not only manifests iteslf with civvy companies doing half of the tasks that used to be done by the military and then not doing the SDO, Guard Commander, Gate Gurd duties that now appear on our programmes with more and more regularity, but also with all the bo11ocks management speak of 'Line Managers', "Mission Statements" and "Focus Groups". Can someone tell me when a 'Line Manager' last lead a squadron into battle? We need and want military leaders.
Finally, we are sick to death with our own terms and conditions being constantly chiselled away. MQs that are so poorly administered that it takes 6 months to have a serious fault fixed and the promise that in the near future rents will increase to match civilian rates; the lack of health and dental care (at my base station there is no Dental receptionist due to budget cuts - so appointments have to be made via answerphone and the hope that when you are called back you are not flying/deployed), the reduction in benefits snuck in the back door via JPA and the pi55 poor salary increases, assessed by the 'independant' AFPRB that every single time seem to be exactly in line with government targets despite how hard we are working or what extra duties our jobs have attracted.
I realise I have ranted for a while now and some outsiders might look on these and think 'spoilt', 'prima-donna', and 'get a life, join the real world'. The big thing is that I was sold one set of terms and conditions and, by erosions via both the back and front doors, these have now gone. This is probably the case for many that are deciding that they have had enough and is why so many are looking for work in the civvy sector.
[End 'Rant']