Vin, the rumours are true but there has been quite a visceral reaction from the RAF consultation so far. This tool is 'needed' for the army but there is a slow recognition that just the mention of it will lead to a retention hit in the RAF.
There is no point in dangling a carrot of additional service, PAS, promotion et al if there is a chance of being booted-out just before you qualify for whatever you have signed up to.
That said, we still have to overcome the inertia of some VSOs who think we will sign up for additional service based on trust or loyalty. Sadly we all know of people who were made redundant just shy of their PAS qualifying point and now receive a pension based on their original single-list flt lt/sqn ldr pay. The mere fact that we are now short of people in the very areas we made redundant also shows we have a poor track-record of getting such decisions right. Inertia in the system is good if we are to survive the next Clive Loader moment.
It is also true that there are some that compare this to civilian life and this comparison is also wide of the mark. I am struggling to think of a civilian company that would promote you and then boot you out x-years later and then give you a package based on what your terms were pre-promotion or pay-rise x-years ago. In all cases they would have access to the courts - is this something we want?
Lets hope common sense prevails as I doubt the RAF can afford the 'transaction' rates of pay that it is currently driving towards.