Fair point, BB. From Sergeant Pilot to Air Marshal, so it obviously worked well for him! Personally, I was a great believer in the fickle finger of fate, so whatever the job allocated, the posting received, etc, I simply took it all as it came. Turned out well enough for me, in both my military and civilian lives. I consider I was lucky with the hands fate dealt me, but that is the essence of it. I have known others who planned their careers down to the n'th degree; so many years here, then off to the Far East for the remainder, before returning for a well earned retirement; only for it all to become horribly unstuck by industrial, political, or any other reason. I was lucky, and for most of us that's what it all boils down to in the end. As I asked a friend's son just starting out as a brand new airline pilot, "Are you lucky?". He didn't understand the question, but his Dad did!
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...vor-broom.html