Couldn't be more correct BEagle, that is exactly what I'm seeing. The so called "accreditation" system is now so poor it is directly effecting retention, let's face it, if you have to spend £20k+ to get your licence it makes sense to get out early to make the investment worthwhile.
Add that to an erosion in the quality of service life, the (comparatively) rubbish new pension and the constant deployments to desert locations and you'll find a sizeable chunk of pilots approaching the end of their 6 year return of service have already made up their minds to hit the PVR button. And our leadership can't claim to be unaware, I've told them myself!