BD, thank you for your comments regarding my post.
We all are aware of how the circumstances of one’s life change, with growing older, marriage and being a parent.
How does the job change? In my own case I applied to join in the Autumn of 1966, passed A levels in 1967, and actually ‘signed on’ in 1968. I did not want to be a fighter pilot, but to fly large aeroplanes around the empire. We still had bases around the globe, and the size of Transport Command (remember 1966) made BOAC look like an Air Taxi company. Since the Sands report, the future was large aeroplanes, and the only modern combat aeroplane we had was the Lightning. If there was a job to do it was in a Shackleton chasing Russian subs, or flying a large transport supporting the army in far away places.
By 1971 when I reached my first squadron, (a large aeroplane one!) we were, as a nation, in retreat from nearly all our overseas bases, and Harrier, Phantom, Jaguar were all coming into service. By the end of my first tour there had been a redundancy scheme for multi engine aircrew, and Air Support Command, and 18 Group were a shadow of what they had been 8 years earlier. It was CFS or OC GD at RAF Nowhere.
The retrenchment also meant a lot of base closures here in the UK. It seemed no sooner had I walked into a Station, then it was scheduled for closure and we were moved on. You would have difficulty counting the number of RAF stations that have closed over the last few decades.
Given the above, and a realisation that whilst NATO held the peace in Europe, the fact was that the Russians were not going to come, and that if they did my taking a bunch of Jet Provosts to West Freugh was not going make a great deal of difference to the result one way or the other. I ask you TacEval on training stations…?
Chuck in an offer of a Phantom course. That meant 3 months fast jet lead in course at Valley, then 6 months in Brawdy, then 6 months in Conningsby, then a posting to Scotland. Effectively 18 months away from home. The wife, holding my 6 month old son, talked it over with me and left me in no doubt about her feelings…..
Things changed and it was time to be off!