I, too, have heard about the commissioning possibility within a targetted area of the RW ALM cadre. I understand that is not to provide a Sqn ALM Ldr but to provide an ALM in the staff officer area of the RW world, with a view to moving up the food chain and taking hands-on experience to an appropriate level. I don't suppose there will be many volunteers for this. In many respects it is a different concept to the AEOp to AEO role change.
For many years I have listened to the AEOps, quite rightly, commenting that many MAEOps (and some FS AEOps) could do as well as many AEOs on the Nimrod. That opportunity has now arrived and should be grabbed and taken forward. We should forget about the pay disparity between the MACR and the old AEOs on PAS Band Ridiculous. A MEng does exactly the same job on the jet as a PAS Sqn Ldr Eng. The same goes for the ALMs (or it did a few years ago). This has always been the case since we had commissioned rear crew sitting in the same seat as the NCOs, doing the same job in the air. A more appropriate pay comparison, today, should be between the MACR on PAS versus what a young, ex NCA, Fg Off AEO/Eng/ALM would be paid with flying pay, if we continued to commission them.
Its not my area but, from an outsider's perspective, I think that overall this is good move, warts and all.
Ed Sett