I wouldn't be too thrown off about the Officer and Gentlemen thing, Meurig. I just had the privilege of attending a mess at an RAF base where the solemn black tie was fairly quickly replaced by a tall glass of whiskey, and the sight several very senior Officers (those left standing) blasting cannon balls out of improvised guns at targets across the room.
These fellows (rumor has it it was a helicopter squadron based in Cornwall....) were the absolute life of the party, and there was not a stuffed shirt in the bunch.
Meurig, don't sell yourself short. Go for the education, become an officer, get the best flight training on the planet, fly the biggest, most expensive hardware imaginable, have adventures across the globe, and then when you are old and bald, tell the world you DID IT!
I joined the US Army at 19 years old, and have had not one regret at all, period. Reach for it all, if you think you might want something, jump to it with both feet. Too many folks work for the Gas Company, filling Out Baskets with paper. Don't be one of them. The folks who hang around this web site are pilots who fly across deserts and seas, through ice and fog, and they, to a person, got there by grabbing the ring as it passed by.