Hi 'Airborne Aircrew',
Thank you for your reply. I totally agree with you, and I expect to be asked those types of questions. No, I was not going for commission and I did not fail at anything. I chose to leave on my accord.
When I am asked the above in an interview, I will answer similar to the following;
The first time I joined I was 17 and to be honest, lacked maturity. Whilst I may have been physically mature and acted mature for my age, mentally I had areas to grow. In these past 4 years, I have gained life experiences (whilst they can’t be compared directly to the experiences I would have faced in the military) I have grown a lot in many areas, including confidence. I was a month from turning 18 and felt that being in the RAF there may have been lots of things I couldn’t experience. I knew that once I turned 18 I would have to have completed my full service time, and this is something that made me think “do I want to be doing this”. I thought about it a lot, and decided to leave. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to see that it was the wrong decisions.
We learn by our mistakes and this is definitely the biggest regret I have, leaving the Air Force.
Now I’m 21, leaving won’t be an option for me. This is something I want to do for a very long time.
I understand that Aircrew is the Elite of the RAF. But in these past 4 years I feel I have gained many qualities that will aid me to serve successfully as Aircrew. Along with hard work and the training I will be given, I feel I would certainly be able to aspire to the high standards required.
Any advice you can give me on whether or not there are certain things I shouldn’t say, would be great. I’m not asking for “answers” or what I should say, because at the end of the day there is no point in lying, as it’ll come back to bite me in the future!