"So yes, put us on contracts by all means, but first make it a level playing field. No promotion to C1 until they’ve managed a variety of technologies, across all 3 services, in every stage of the acquisition cycle. And don’t get me started on beancounters!"
Very good point - its too easy for new entrants to get fast promotion using the JOB system to reasonably senior levels based solely on a job interview. There is no detailed assessment until B2, possibly too senior.
The problem I've had with forces in my office is that they are keen for a while, then lose interest as they have their next posting to sort out. They also take 6 - 12 months to build up reasonable corporate knowledge and then move on taking it with them. While getting a Central TLB post is doubtless a good thing career wise for forces personnel, only having people for 2 years does not build long term stability. I'd strongly argue for a 3 - 4 year tour to implement knowledge and reduce the time spent working up (the time taken to brief new senior folks is literally stunning).
I am concious that many see it as a well deserved break - 9-5 work is a nice change for a lot of guys. The problem is that a lot of these posts are pretty important and treating it as 'downtime' is very damaging to the MODs wider interest.