I've read through this entire thread, and I must say I can definitely see where everyone is coming from.
What I don't understand is why people are trying to talk someone out of signing up... a bit futile don't you think?
If person X heeds your advice and doesn't "sign away his life"/ruin the profession etc, person Y is just going to do it anyway.
In my case, (no I haven't applied), I have a degree in an unrelated field I can fall back on, and am recently out of the Army, so if all falls to **** I can be back on full time service within a few months. As for the cost.. meh, it's only money!
All I'm trying to say is, why shouldn't I submit a registration form? If I dont, someone else is going to anyway - surely everyone here realises that this is the case.
This is all purely hypothetical, I currently work in the aviation industry and am very interested in this whole 'issue'. I'm not seriously considering applying.
Cheers guys.