"Also, if you're not a SQNLDR by the end of your 2nd flying tour, are you really that interested in what the RAAF has to offer long term?"
I got to the end of my 8th and still wasn't a SQNLDR
- some intricate ducking and weaving to get to that point but!
I understand the arguments about the need for progression through the system and so on, but surely there's a place for the specialist pilot to help with the retention of all those small but important bits of knowledge about why we do things in certain ways that seem to get lost so easily when experienced people rush out or get pushed out the door, as the case may be.
A bit like your US Army CW4s, the crusty old individuals who are there to know all that stuff while the young thrusters wash in and out of their lives on their way to bigger and 'better' things.