Some really interesting views, cheers everyone for responding.
Ezy - that sounds horrendous, terrible where ever you are but to have to deal with a backwards social system / prehistoric authorities makes it even more stressful.
My mind is pretty much made up now, after much careful consideration I think a thousand or so command hours are extremely valuable as a back up plan to get out if it doesn't work out.
Thanks once again to the kind chaps who took the time to PM and post on here.
Cheers