> choice of platform
I didn't think you got a choice. In fact I thought it was just as likely that you'd join up, be refused flying altogether, end up as Officer in Charge of Potato Peeling and spend the next twelve years on the Falklands overseeing the preparation of edible tubers, which is something they never seem to put in the recruiting videos.
And hang on, you don't need good A-levels to fly C-130s? I'd have thought you would.
Phil