Don't think I would PVR. But that has little to do with loyalty to the MOD, more to do with not that long to go to my 16/38 and a pension for the rest of my life for simply waking up in the morning.
As has been stated on numerous occasions in numerous threads over the years, the can do attitude is being abused, the good-will tank is running on fumes, leadership has been replaced by poor management, career prospects are non-existant.So when the time comes, I will hand my 1250 in and seek pastures new. But it will be with a twinge of regret.
What really really grates is that the RAF was all I ever wanted to do since I was knee high to my parents. Imagine the disappointment that I and everyone like me in that same boat now feels. What was a once proud war winning organization that kept the hoardes at bay in 1940 against the doubts of the rest of the world, that took the fight to the Nazis under Bomber Harris, that guarded our skies during the Cold War, the organization that litters the history books with barking attempts to get across the Atlantic in a Harrier GR1, taking off from St Pancras station, has now been reduced to a near bankrupt civilianized aggressive flying club, plagued by bean counters and yes men, political interference, in-fighting and an general inability to do any of the fantastic things that we used to do. What appears in the RAF News these days as the latest fantastic achievement probably wouldn't have raised an eyelid 40-50 years ago - today we deploy a Flt of ac to some god forsaken bit of desert - how many entire Air Forces did we have in god forsaken bits of desert during WW2 and the Cold War???
So I will in all likelihood go at my 16/38 - I doubt even the offer of promotion or assimilation would keep me in. I will go with regret and more than a twinge of sadness at having been sold a pup. But when I go, I will be proud of the RAF and what I have done in my time and remain loyal to the real RAF and what it stands for. At the same time, I will have nothing but contempt for the MOD and the RAF's leadership that failed to stand up for a proud fighting force in its hour of need.
Last edited by Melchett01; 29th Dec 2007 at 23:42.