DH98 makes some very valid points and MilOps' contradiction of the secondary duty scenario is probably apposite.
Going back to DH98, he's right in so much as JO's in Ops do tend to get quite a few niff-naff jobs because they haven't generally got the experience to be trusted with much else. Moreover, from the (good old ?) days of having aircrew in the chair, it's become a career path nowadays. A comparison I will try and share is of ATC officers - they all fundamentally control aircraft and it's difficult to control 'better' than the controller next to you. That often leads to an overweighted reliance on secondary duties because it's normally only 'secondaries' that make you stand out from the crowd. This leads to a lot of bitching in your average ATC !
I've already seen Ops rooms, with several JO's, start to turn this way.
That said, if you're on the ball and able to concentrate on learning the job back to front, upside down and in French, I still think you'll be able to get on - not least because many JO's prefer to concentrate on the secondary duty route. I can probably summarise by saying you need gumption, balls and effective intelligence - if you've got that, the respect is there to be had. If you play politics, have no backbone and aren't really interested in the job as more than a means to get on, you'll be spotted !
Due to the variety of Ops jobs, the FOTS course will be of little value to you - especially with your BA background - something like the TV show 'Now Get Out of That' (if you remember it) would be much better training, where you're left in a tricky spot with limited time and have to think laterally.
As MilOps says though, getting through the gate as an officer is the way ahead - quite simply because you're treated as a grown-up. How you conduct business once you're past the IOT door is up to you...
