A very similar thing happened to a collegue at my unit. He was told he was going to be posted to a project job for which he has absolutely no relevant experience or interest. When asked where he would go after that job he was told that there would be no guarantees he would return to a flying job.
Once again my refusal to accept promotion beyond FLTLT has been validated!
The ASP team briefed our unit that around mid-2009 RAAF aircrew would be offered the choice to remain flying or go to a "career" stream. However their take on this is that the proportion of flying to career streams would be 20/80, i.e. they only want to accept 20% to stay on as "permanent pilots".
Absolutely flabbergasted!! They just don't bl**dy get it