Is the military a good route to go down?
No.
It used to be, but if you want to work on civil aircraft within EASA (possibly other states as well) then for the purpose of becoming a Licenced Engineer within EASA military stuff is not recognised anymore.
I did 12 years in the RAF many years ago and when I gained my first licence in 1989 training and experience was recognised, these days it's not, so if your ultimate aim is to be a LAE in the civil world then the military is not the way to go, in my opinion.
There are apprenticeships out there, but they are few and far between, what with the economic downturn and all that. Unfortunately a lot of airlines do not look at investing in the future as the beans counters can only see this years profits and maybe next years.
When the old farts like me start retiring in a few years, there will be gaps that can not be filled due to a lack of investment, what will happen is the big players will pressure the CAA and EASA into believeing the highly qualified/experience engineer is not necessary and is a burden on their profits so will dumb down the knowledge and experience needed to work on and certify highly complex aircraft, that's until the first incident anyway.
Earnings would depend on what licence and type ratings you hold, where you are and what shifts you do, a rough ball park figure at this time for say a B1 with a couple of types with shift pay would be around £45K give or take.