Genstabler,
While I agree with the majority of your post I'm not sure of your recent experience with the AAC. SNCO pilots do not (and have not for quite some time) go back to their original Corps or Regiments after a tour with the AAC. On completion of CTT on whichever aircraft type they are automatically re-badged to the AAC and therefore have a full career - that is not the reason why it is haemorrhaging SNCO aircrew.
I feel I can speak with a little authority on this subject because I have very recently left the Corps as a WO2 A2 QHI on Apache after 24 years in the Army (16 of those with the AAC) and I have seen monumental changes in the organisation, professionalism and ethos of the Corps and I have to say I do not regret one minute of my time in the Mob. Those RAF and RN who have worked alongside us will hopefully agree that the days of the Officer's Flying Club are long past.
Those that have not worked with us seem (from what I can see) to still see us a Souix pilots from the 1960s!! I went through my pilot course with RAF and RN and this theme of jointery has continued throughout my career with little room for willy waving - I respect the other two services immensely and hope that respect and affection is mutual.
The notion that the RAF and RN are the only people who understand aviation battle space (as touted by some on this forum) is a condescending nonsense - I would wager that you're average AH pilot has a thorough understanding of airspace and has spent considerably longer in the overhead supporting the troops on the ground in Afghanistan and delivered more ordnance than your average fast jet pilot. This is not "arrogance" "boasting" or "willy waving" (and is not meant as such) but a simple fact. Even on a quiet tour of Herrick most crews can expect to engage the enemy on a regular basis (sometimes even daily). This is without taking into account the "classic" warfighting role of the Apache (intergration with fast air, SH, airspace, deep strikes, EW etc etc) which is the "bread and butter" of Army Aviation not to mention the assymetric hybrid operations such as Ellamy. If you think I'm being defensive then if you saw your colleagues denigrated in the manner I see so often on PPrune then I suspect it would not sit well with you either?
The proposed flying pay clawback has completely destroyed the trust that my generation of pilots had in the system and the Corps has essentially shot itself in the foot. Those that can leave are leaving, those that are time barred will probably leave as soon as they are able. As I mentioned in my previous post this is not the only reason for people leaving but the straw that broke the camel's back for most. When you are in your 40s and have a family, mortgage, children et al to worry being hit with a huge debt when you have done no wrong and the system is so complex and flawed that they are still trying to sort it 18 months after the initial (incorrect) assumptions does not encourage people to stay.
Add to this poor promotion prospects (compared to our Groundcrew, REME and former colleagues in other Corps), extremely poor career management (for the most part - there are exceptions), changes to terms and conditions with little or no explanation or justification, a fundamental lack of respect for abilities and experience and (until very recently) constant deployment cycle it's not difficult to see why some have had enough and are happy to go elsewhere.
The majority of my peers agree that they have never seen it so bad - the problem for the Corps is that my peers ARE the experience and the enablers (QHIs, AIs, Wpns Officers etc). The younger SNCOs are seeing what is happening and many of them are leaving too - for them there is no bridging but changes to pensions and the prospect of slow promotion, non-operational old school living under a basha soldiering which quite frankly many of them are not up for anymore.
I am fiercely proud of my friends and colleagues that remain in the Corps but I am disgusted by the way they are treated and I fervently hope that things change for the better and soon. I'm also acutely aware that we are not the only Force to have these problems.
I can only speak from the experience of me and my SNCO friends - I have not even touched on the reasons for the Officer Corps leaving in droves either.....
Last edited by The Cryptkeeper; 7th Apr 2014 at 12:13.