hey lepsep obviously at 16 you know everything to do with ATC, jrbridge point is that NORMALLY for ATC there is a mandatory retirement at 55 due to not being able to keep up with the CASA medical requirements and the various stresses that being an ATC bring, it is a FACT that ATC have shorter life spans, if you check the FACTS it takes 3-5 years to become a full performance controller, but yes there are exceptions where people over 55 can meet those requiresments required by LAW and ASA (usually people who have been in the job 20+ years not 1 month and these are people that know their stuff), being an ATC is no ordinary job, its not like working at bunnings, if you aint got the right stuff you aint' got it, sorry for bursting into print, and i'm sure the older gentleman you refer to is not a poor bastard.