Agree that the new man in DAAvn is trying his hardest to put out fires that the previous fcukwit started. It’s a slow and uphill struggle though. It’s going to be hard to replace the experience that vanished over the past few years and cannot be done 'just like that'. As gnd suggested, the treasury can’t quantify 'experience' and just tot up the numbers. As it happens, the numbers are low and only slightly getting better. Those numbers are new blokes with limited experience. A sure fire recipe for a smoldering hole in the ground. Op experience on these chaps may be seen as a bonus but its quite a specific experience for short periods of time but the non op time gives them no rounded flying time.
We (the AAC) are feeling the results from policy set in place a few years ago. We almost exclusively recruited Direct Entry AAC officers to fill the Apache slots. Unfortunately we neglected the peripheries. Those DE AAC officers are now leaving in their droves due to lack of flying, pants jobs and a lack of command potential. Traditionally, the gaps would be filled with 'cheap labour' NCO pilots. Unfortunately, we either released a huge number of them (refusal of the previous DAAvn to sanction extension of service) or got them to fill SO3 jobs due to the lack of suitably experienced and qualified Captains. They too then banged out to 10 Regt AAC (Air Amb/Police) due to being fecked over on the career front.
I wish the new DAAvn all the luck in the world as he has his work cut out for him. Retention of experience is always going to be a tough nut to crack. Especially when you don’t have huge bags of money to throw at the issue.
For those that wish to stay, it’s a buyer’s market. I'm sure you could ask for the world and almost get it in this climate. That in itself is a scary thought.