Thud_and_Blunder
17th Feb 2002, 04:11
Leaving Service Life the T_&_B way.
I recently PVR'd from the Royal Air Force after nearly 28 years of (almost entirely) happy service to HM. My reasons for departure aren't really a valid point for discussion here; suffice to say that money (as may become clear later) wasn't a factor.
The departure process started while I was overseas on Loan Service. My poster was very constructive and did his best to persuade me that my interests would be best served by staying on. However, once it was clear that my decision was final he did nothing to impede or impair the process. Getting onto a resettlement course wasn't easy owing to the unique circumstances of the posting, and I had to cancel one at short notice when the return flight became unavailable for service reasons.
Once back in the UK I set about job-hunting in earnest. This process began a day after landing back in Blighty with a visit to HeliTech to learn/practice the mysteries of 'networking' - alien to dinosaurs like me, but extremely useful. Then came the CTW course at Uxbridge, which I cannot recommend highly enough - top quality. Having come away able to do rather more than correctly spell 'CV' (well, 2 times out of 3 anyway...) I set about putting the advice into practice.
It was my bad luck that my timing coincided with the unpleasantness of 11 Sept and all that followed. For 3 months all was very quiet; only 2 of the 40-odd applications I made for heli-pilot work generated replies, and they were both negative. I've kept records of everything, and will remember the Recruitment Agencies and Consultancies who couldn't be bothered to reply for those future dates when they're desperate for pilots (in my dreams...!). Fortunately, the Resettlement people had prepared me well for what could actually have been quite a depressing process, and although I lost over a stone and caught myself snapping at our perfectly-innocent 7-year old lad on occasion we came through it reasonably intact.
Just before Christmas, the replies finally started coming in. Ultimately there were 6 that could have been considered as serious, although 2 were put on hold until such time as I use my QSP status (valid for 1 year from departure, as vouched by the Chief Examiner at the CAA during my last conversation with him a fortnight ago...) to get the IR added to the ATPL(H).
This is where the CTW scored highly in my estimation. As part of the preparatory work you fill in yet another questionnaire concerning your future career requirements, which is then examined on day one of the course. It was made clear that although the scores might be close, it is the area of interest which comes out top which should be made a clear priority. In my case, although Tech/Professional came within a point or 2 of top (I do enjoy my flying...) the main thing I wanted to achieve from my post-mil 'career' was 'quality of family life'.
Domestic OC and I would sit down on a fairly frequent basis and go through various 'what if' and 'so what' thought processes. We eventually came to the conclusion that what would suit us best would be a job where I could be at home at least half the time, where we could plan ahead for holidays and other family events and where the Boss, who's the one who actually gets on with people, could be near old friends. We already had a house in her old home town (although we'd hardly ever seen it), so it seemed sensible to make that favourite for a home base even though it's not exactly at the hub of the civil aviation universe. Critically, we also worked out our budget and established what we could afford to live on without diminishing that elusive quality of life thingy.
With these considerations foremost, we then closely examined the remaining 4 offers (whilst remaining open to anything else that might have come in). Working in the Middle East, although brilliant from the climate/money point of view, would have kept us away from friends and was largely reliant upon the IR. Instructing at mil FTS as a civvy was tempting but required a move, and wasn't as well paid as overseas. Another offer required me to live on the end of an always-ringing mobile phone, available at the drop of a hat to bog off for well-paid indeterminate periods of time. Finally (although I should mention here that they were actually the first people to get in touch and offer an interview), there was an offer to join a company which Specialises in offering pilotage and other Aviation Services to constabularies and area health authorities around the UK (can you tell who they are yet..?). The pay was the worst on offer (by a fair margin - even compared to FBH/Serco!), but there's a fixed shift system, generous leave, a modern aircraft and the chance to work with professionals who often obtain (and video record..) results. Although the post they were looking to fill is over 200 miles up the M5 from our house, there's cheap accommodation available nearby which can be used for the 5 days at a time on shift. It fitted the bill both from home and work/flying points-of-view.
You'll have worked out by now that I took the lowest paid of the above options. I'm now into the 3rd week with the company, have been cleared to endanger my observers and the general public without adult supervision and can find the time when fogged-in on a night-shift to blather to my heart's content.
I've found that there is life after the 1250 is handed back (and the aircrew watch, which I hadn't seen for the last 15+ years, is paid for - sigh), and hope that the foregoing can be of some benefit to people who might be teetering on the brink.
For people who like to go straight to the conclusion, my experience of departing from the Royal Air Force can be distilled as follows:
- If in doubt about leaving, don't. You're very well off where you are.
- Once you're convinced that it's time to leave, don't faff about. Get on with resettlement and all that follows.
- If you're not actually in the RAF system as you go through the process of leaving, make sure that ALL the paperwork is completed on the appropriate RAF forms. My 5-months-to-go medical was not recorded on the correct document, and the med people are giving me grief.
- Use everything the excellent resettlement scheme offers. Again, I cannot praise the Uxbridge officers CTW course highly enough. Use their experience, follow their advice - it worked for me (my job was obtained purely through CV/interview, not networking).
- Have a minimum of 3 applications on the go at any one time. It cushions the disappointment of the inevitable(?) rejections.
- Be absolutely certain of what you want to achieve in civvy street. Don't be dissuaded from that course.
- If you have a family, keep them on-board throughout the entire process. We're actually getting on better now than we have for some time (must be 'cos I'm away for 5 days at a time - should I be suspicious!?)
- I miss many aspects of Royal Air Force (and Army, and SOAF, and Royal Brunei Air Force) life, but I've found work that gives me stability, predictability and tremendous job satisfaction. That, and a happy family, is enough for me.
I suggest you go away and make a cuppa/ have a long drink - you'll need it if you waded through that lot. While you're doing that, I'll say my thanks to everyone who stepped in with practical assistance and offers of help over the past few months - we won't forget your kindness and generosity.
Now to get in touch with Brian Dixon over on the Chinook thread and see if there's anything useful I can do now that I'm a civvy...
I recently PVR'd from the Royal Air Force after nearly 28 years of (almost entirely) happy service to HM. My reasons for departure aren't really a valid point for discussion here; suffice to say that money (as may become clear later) wasn't a factor.
The departure process started while I was overseas on Loan Service. My poster was very constructive and did his best to persuade me that my interests would be best served by staying on. However, once it was clear that my decision was final he did nothing to impede or impair the process. Getting onto a resettlement course wasn't easy owing to the unique circumstances of the posting, and I had to cancel one at short notice when the return flight became unavailable for service reasons.
Once back in the UK I set about job-hunting in earnest. This process began a day after landing back in Blighty with a visit to HeliTech to learn/practice the mysteries of 'networking' - alien to dinosaurs like me, but extremely useful. Then came the CTW course at Uxbridge, which I cannot recommend highly enough - top quality. Having come away able to do rather more than correctly spell 'CV' (well, 2 times out of 3 anyway...) I set about putting the advice into practice.
It was my bad luck that my timing coincided with the unpleasantness of 11 Sept and all that followed. For 3 months all was very quiet; only 2 of the 40-odd applications I made for heli-pilot work generated replies, and they were both negative. I've kept records of everything, and will remember the Recruitment Agencies and Consultancies who couldn't be bothered to reply for those future dates when they're desperate for pilots (in my dreams...!). Fortunately, the Resettlement people had prepared me well for what could actually have been quite a depressing process, and although I lost over a stone and caught myself snapping at our perfectly-innocent 7-year old lad on occasion we came through it reasonably intact.
Just before Christmas, the replies finally started coming in. Ultimately there were 6 that could have been considered as serious, although 2 were put on hold until such time as I use my QSP status (valid for 1 year from departure, as vouched by the Chief Examiner at the CAA during my last conversation with him a fortnight ago...) to get the IR added to the ATPL(H).
This is where the CTW scored highly in my estimation. As part of the preparatory work you fill in yet another questionnaire concerning your future career requirements, which is then examined on day one of the course. It was made clear that although the scores might be close, it is the area of interest which comes out top which should be made a clear priority. In my case, although Tech/Professional came within a point or 2 of top (I do enjoy my flying...) the main thing I wanted to achieve from my post-mil 'career' was 'quality of family life'.
Domestic OC and I would sit down on a fairly frequent basis and go through various 'what if' and 'so what' thought processes. We eventually came to the conclusion that what would suit us best would be a job where I could be at home at least half the time, where we could plan ahead for holidays and other family events and where the Boss, who's the one who actually gets on with people, could be near old friends. We already had a house in her old home town (although we'd hardly ever seen it), so it seemed sensible to make that favourite for a home base even though it's not exactly at the hub of the civil aviation universe. Critically, we also worked out our budget and established what we could afford to live on without diminishing that elusive quality of life thingy.
With these considerations foremost, we then closely examined the remaining 4 offers (whilst remaining open to anything else that might have come in). Working in the Middle East, although brilliant from the climate/money point of view, would have kept us away from friends and was largely reliant upon the IR. Instructing at mil FTS as a civvy was tempting but required a move, and wasn't as well paid as overseas. Another offer required me to live on the end of an always-ringing mobile phone, available at the drop of a hat to bog off for well-paid indeterminate periods of time. Finally (although I should mention here that they were actually the first people to get in touch and offer an interview), there was an offer to join a company which Specialises in offering pilotage and other Aviation Services to constabularies and area health authorities around the UK (can you tell who they are yet..?). The pay was the worst on offer (by a fair margin - even compared to FBH/Serco!), but there's a fixed shift system, generous leave, a modern aircraft and the chance to work with professionals who often obtain (and video record..) results. Although the post they were looking to fill is over 200 miles up the M5 from our house, there's cheap accommodation available nearby which can be used for the 5 days at a time on shift. It fitted the bill both from home and work/flying points-of-view.
You'll have worked out by now that I took the lowest paid of the above options. I'm now into the 3rd week with the company, have been cleared to endanger my observers and the general public without adult supervision and can find the time when fogged-in on a night-shift to blather to my heart's content.
I've found that there is life after the 1250 is handed back (and the aircrew watch, which I hadn't seen for the last 15+ years, is paid for - sigh), and hope that the foregoing can be of some benefit to people who might be teetering on the brink.
For people who like to go straight to the conclusion, my experience of departing from the Royal Air Force can be distilled as follows:
- If in doubt about leaving, don't. You're very well off where you are.
- Once you're convinced that it's time to leave, don't faff about. Get on with resettlement and all that follows.
- If you're not actually in the RAF system as you go through the process of leaving, make sure that ALL the paperwork is completed on the appropriate RAF forms. My 5-months-to-go medical was not recorded on the correct document, and the med people are giving me grief.
- Use everything the excellent resettlement scheme offers. Again, I cannot praise the Uxbridge officers CTW course highly enough. Use their experience, follow their advice - it worked for me (my job was obtained purely through CV/interview, not networking).
- Have a minimum of 3 applications on the go at any one time. It cushions the disappointment of the inevitable(?) rejections.
- Be absolutely certain of what you want to achieve in civvy street. Don't be dissuaded from that course.
- If you have a family, keep them on-board throughout the entire process. We're actually getting on better now than we have for some time (must be 'cos I'm away for 5 days at a time - should I be suspicious!?)
- I miss many aspects of Royal Air Force (and Army, and SOAF, and Royal Brunei Air Force) life, but I've found work that gives me stability, predictability and tremendous job satisfaction. That, and a happy family, is enough for me.
I suggest you go away and make a cuppa/ have a long drink - you'll need it if you waded through that lot. While you're doing that, I'll say my thanks to everyone who stepped in with practical assistance and offers of help over the past few months - we won't forget your kindness and generosity.
Now to get in touch with Brian Dixon over on the Chinook thread and see if there's anything useful I can do now that I'm a civvy...