Which service would you go for?
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: S England
Age: 54
Posts: 320
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future_mil
As someone said above, welcome to the Military Aircrew forum. As you have seen, there are plenty of people on here who are far too precious and far too far up their own ar5es to give you any kind of decent advice.
I'm sure that you are intelligent enough to know that if you do go down the recruitment process, for whichever service, you will have to say the right things and imply that it has been you life long dream. In other words, you lay on the bull5hit just like you would when you apply for any other job or career! The obvious question that you must prepare for is why you have left it so long to apply for your life long dream!
The three services are actually quite different, but at the same time similar! As you already know, the RN and RAF only recruit Officer pilots and both of these will expect you to want to be an officer first and pilot second - although sometimes you would never know that in the RAF!! I would not recommend joining the Army as a soldier. I did and although I finished up with a commission, it pains me to say that I would not recommend joining the Army as a soldier today. Officer training for all three services takes around 12 months and only then will you start pilot training. You may well then have a significant hold, but this is less likely in either the RN or Army.
Do not assume that because you have a CPL IR that you will breeze pilot training. The services look for different skill to commerical flying and the pilot course photo's are littered with people who started training with licenses, but did not pass the course. You have to be prepared for this. What would you do if you signed several years of your life away, but failed a flying course and were then contractually committed to the services?
The RN and RAF tend to keep their pilots in flying positions far longer than the Army before they get whisked away to fly a desk for a couple of years. Although the AAC are addressing this by starting to recruiting Direct Entry Officers who are not pilots. This is a new direction for the Army and 'should' make Army Officers' flying longer.
I would not get too excited about some of the posts on here. There are hundreds (thousands!) of officers' and soldiers who are not in the services because of their love of their country or the Queen. It's no longer the romantic 'way of life' that it was a decade or so ago and many view their jobs as just that. Jobs! Don't get me wrong, it is different to anything else that you will have experienced, but gone are the days when everyone within 'the mob' eat, sleep and breath the job.
Just like any other application, if you apply, do your research and know what you're getting yourself in for. It's not like you can just decide to not go in that day if you no longer like it.
Good luck in whatever choice you make.
As someone said above, welcome to the Military Aircrew forum. As you have seen, there are plenty of people on here who are far too precious and far too far up their own ar5es to give you any kind of decent advice.
I'm sure that you are intelligent enough to know that if you do go down the recruitment process, for whichever service, you will have to say the right things and imply that it has been you life long dream. In other words, you lay on the bull5hit just like you would when you apply for any other job or career! The obvious question that you must prepare for is why you have left it so long to apply for your life long dream!
The three services are actually quite different, but at the same time similar! As you already know, the RN and RAF only recruit Officer pilots and both of these will expect you to want to be an officer first and pilot second - although sometimes you would never know that in the RAF!! I would not recommend joining the Army as a soldier. I did and although I finished up with a commission, it pains me to say that I would not recommend joining the Army as a soldier today. Officer training for all three services takes around 12 months and only then will you start pilot training. You may well then have a significant hold, but this is less likely in either the RN or Army.
Do not assume that because you have a CPL IR that you will breeze pilot training. The services look for different skill to commerical flying and the pilot course photo's are littered with people who started training with licenses, but did not pass the course. You have to be prepared for this. What would you do if you signed several years of your life away, but failed a flying course and were then contractually committed to the services?
The RN and RAF tend to keep their pilots in flying positions far longer than the Army before they get whisked away to fly a desk for a couple of years. Although the AAC are addressing this by starting to recruiting Direct Entry Officers who are not pilots. This is a new direction for the Army and 'should' make Army Officers' flying longer.
I would not get too excited about some of the posts on here. There are hundreds (thousands!) of officers' and soldiers who are not in the services because of their love of their country or the Queen. It's no longer the romantic 'way of life' that it was a decade or so ago and many view their jobs as just that. Jobs! Don't get me wrong, it is different to anything else that you will have experienced, but gone are the days when everyone within 'the mob' eat, sleep and breath the job.
Just like any other application, if you apply, do your research and know what you're getting yourself in for. It's not like you can just decide to not go in that day if you no longer like it.
Good luck in whatever choice you make.
