Is it really THAT bad??

[Ghostie31]

Hi,
Im a UAS member that browses through these pages every now and again.
Im looking at joining up after Uni (if they'll have me!) but looking at the recent threads on this forum it would seem a bad idea!
Numerous threads have been saying that the RAF is terrible, in melt down etc.
Now, I don't know the inner workings of a job in the RAF but when im finding work a real pain in the :mad: I try and step back and look at my position. Then I find that I have a pretty good deal.
All jobs have changed a lot in the last few years, especially after 9/11, money seems to have been made even more of a priority for all, so cuts are inevitable.
So im suggesting that we start a thread about the good things of being in the RAF. Even though im only a UAS member im gunna try and start.
1. I get free flying lessons!!
2. My gf loves the uniform :ok:
3. And the best bit, theres great camaraderie between forces members.
Now i'll let the real RAF guys/girls have there say...

[ranger703]

Nope it aint that bad,I've been in 20yrs and enjoyed every minute of it.Still enjoying every minute too.

You do have to be realistic though and understand you will be joining a far smaller military and expect to do your fair share of OOA,deployments,extra duties etc etc.It is certainly a lot different from when I joined but I still wouldnt change my life for anything else and I still have another 11yrs left to go.

[Tourist]

Is your girlfriand blind? or has she just never had the pleasure of meeting a professional flyer in uniform?:E

[Ghostie31]

:rolleyes: lower the tone!

[Tourist]

I consider it a duty!

[airborne_artist]

Clearly your girlfriend has never seen the black and gold of the Senior Service - then she'd know why all the girls love a sailor :E :ok:

[Ghostie31]

LOL.
ok guys, gf banter over! (knew I shouldn't have added that bit in the original post!:) )
Lets up the tone a little. Whats good about the RAF?

[akula]

You get free shoes, I like free shoes:confused: :confused:

ALWAYS assume NEVER check

[truckiebloke]

it gives you a mess room so that you gf can be turned on by you in your UAS flying suit of course....

[Brit55]

Money is excellent, flying is sometimes fantastic often fun and never boring...:ok:

Social life is the envy of all civvies who come into contact with us. :E

You'll get to see plenty of the world and dispose of some of it! :cool:

Basically, I love it. Joined up as an airman in the early nineties, visited OASC and won a ticket to IOT and never looked back.

It's true that there has been a lot of negative press on here with regards to the RAF and some of it is indeed true however, the good outweighs the bad and although morale could be much, much higher... most people I know have no intention of banging out.

[RayDarr]

Ghostie 31.
I've been doing this RAF stuff since 1968, and I bet some on here a lot longer than that.
Things to bear in mind are:
You will never be rich - unless you win the lottery
You will often have your weekends/bank hols/ private life etc buggered up.
You will spend much of each year in various sandboxes around the world.
You may well be shot at/mortared/rocketed etc...And thats just by the Yanks let alone your enemy.
You will be messed about by petty beaurocrats at every turn.
If you are married, there is a better than even chance you will be divorced.
If you do well and get promoted, you only get one flying tour as a Wg Cdr, so the flying might be all behind you by the time you are 40ish.

BUT,
You get to do things that you will remember for the rest of your life.
You will be part of things that lesser mortals read about in history books
You will make real friends that will stay with you where ever you end up in the world.
You will laugh a lot.

[Tourist]

But seriously Ghostie,
Yes the RAF is that bad.
Fly Navy. You know it makes sense

[Lafyar Cokov]

No seriously - the RAF can't be that bad, that's why there have been a good few members of the RN and the AAC transfer over to it in very recent years. Those transferring away from the RAF to our 'senior' services can be counted on the toes of one hand!!!!

[Tourist]

The AAC will go anywhere that will let them keep flying. So many have come Dark Blue that the appointers have been asked to put a stop to it.

...and we won't LET many of the RAF transfer to us.:ok:

[Ghostie31]

I may well be wrong, but isn't AAC mainly helo's?

[Tourist]

Almost entirely.
But then so is the RN until JSF

[[email protected]]

Oh, education. Isn't it a marvelous thing to behold. Yes, the AAC is mainly helis. And here the education begins. Regardless of the bashing the AAC gets from the sideways walking members of the forum, the Army operate more helis than the RAF and the RN combined.

Let the flames and bigoted snobbery commence.

[RayDarr]

Ghostie 31,
Before you make up your mind remember that the Army live under the stars, the RN navigate by the stars, but the RAF choose their hotels by the stars.

[truckiebloke]

AAC do indeed operate more helis than RAF and RN!! but we operate more aeroplanes so there!!!

The airforce is going downhill fast, being away more than ever and having more taken away from you for doing so. The only thing that really keepsit going is the attitude of some of the people who work very hard.

As for choosing hotels, i spent 3 days in one last year... the rest was Iraq and other nice sandy places....

still, as long as your gf gets excited about you in your little tutor, who cares!

[RayDarr]

Ghostie 31
Do not despair young chap. All these people are envious of your youth, and the fact that you still have a gf. Remember even truckiebloke, had to learn how to fly once long ago. He is probably too rotund these days from his extensive in flight rations to even fit in a Tutor. Enjoy it while you can.

[truckiebloke]

actually, i am a QFI on said tutor..... but close Gaydarr!!

(but still a truckie at heart!)

[Ghostie31]

Ok, guys, if you were in my position, knowing what you know about the RAF, would you join up?
N.B that it probably won't affect my choice of career.

Truckie, just learning my flight referance cards!! Tutor is a nice little aircraft, but then i've only flown that and a Tomahawk!

[RayDarr]

Ghostie,
Join up old son, and ignore these cynical old farts. You can always PVR later and join Virgin as a First Officer. The Hosties are better looking as well.


Gaydarr??? Pistols at dawn truciebloke. My seconds will be in touch!!!

[Lafyar Cokov]

Your "seconds" may be in touch with each other????? :} := :E

[sarmonkey]

Ah, the pleasures of inter-service banter. Another reason to join, if you ask me. Even those of about to leave the light blue would recommend the forces (of any brand) to someone. All of RayDarr's points are worth noting, positive and negative. But if you don't try when you could have, then you'll spend the rest of your life wondering 'what if....'

Re-engage banter mode

And as for the our bluer and browner brethren, you can always join them if you get chopped. Just make sure that you tell everyone who'll listen that you always wanted to be in the Navy actually...

[teeteringhead]

No of course it isn't that bad Ghostie. But (other than in response to posts like yours!), no-one's going to come on to this forum to say how good it is.

I can only talk for the RAF, but much of what has been said here is true: - to complete what someone posted - you'll never be rich but you'll never be poor!

Military flying is like nothing else.

Cameraderie (sp?) is like nothing else. I still meet regularly with four other guys I was on my first squadron with over 30 years ago ... and we take along our wives, who are all the first/only ... and this year the five couples total (I think) 169 years of married life!! Which I think is better than average for five random couples ...

As Dr Johnson nearly said ... "Every man thinks less of himself for not having been a military pilot!"

Go for it if you can - you'll regret it if you don't.

[scottishbeefer]

Mind you, I don't see the Virgin pilots hanging around the departure lounge when they're not flying.