Fancy rejoining....
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Just my experience rather than rounding up. There is of course some variety but 30 appears to be the norm rather than exception to me (caution - just my opinion not stats involved/attempted)
dash2
You are undoubtedly correct but bear in mind the current crop suffered abnormally long holds since they joined around the time of the massive cull. You should start to see a steady decrease in the average age henceforth.
BV
BV
Times have changed.
I did my initial squadron classification Two years, four months and six days after arriving at ITS; and that included a recourse.
I did my initial squadron classification Two years, four months and six days after arriving at ITS; and that included a recourse.
Last edited by Fareastdriver; 7th Mar 2018 at 09:27.
It has been 3 years since SDSR2015 (generally positive for the RAF) and even then the outcomes/timeline have not changed. Last I heard was people waiting up to 22 months after EFT. I know of many people who have taken over 8 years to serve FL FJ sqns.
The holding situation reflects extremely poorly on the RAF. It continues to create a very poor opinion of the service and eats away at much of the goodwill that young people have when the join.
I have heard this many times... “blame it on SDSR2010”. This was 8 years ago yet the situation has not remedied itself.
It has been 3 years since SDSR2015 (generally positive for the RAF) and even then the outcomes/timeline have not changed. Last I heard was people waiting up to 22 months after EFT. I know of many people who have taken over 8 years to serve FL FJ sqns.
The holding situation reflects extremely poorly on the RAF. It continues to create a very poor opinion of the service and eats away at much of the goodwill that young people have when the join.
It has been 3 years since SDSR2015 (generally positive for the RAF) and even then the outcomes/timeline have not changed. Last I heard was people waiting up to 22 months after EFT. I know of many people who have taken over 8 years to serve FL FJ sqns.
The holding situation reflects extremely poorly on the RAF. It continues to create a very poor opinion of the service and eats away at much of the goodwill that young people have when the join.
Other factors which need to be considered:
- The advent of MFTS. Whether or not you are an advocate of MFTS, the changeover is inevitably causing a variety of delays. Could it have been done better? Probably. How much control does the RAF have in this process? Not a great deal.
- SDSR 15 (which in fact is not much more than 2 years ago). By being, as you say, fairly positive for the RAF, it created enormous problems because we had only just got over the carnage of SDSR 10. Again, it doesn't matter whether or not you think either of the two SDSRs was sensible - the point is that we went from boom to bust and then back to boom in the space of five years.
- SDSR 18 (NSCR). The uncertainty regarding what will be announced later this year (apparently - we don't even know when we are going to know!) has made a lot of people wary of making significant effort or change which may be undone overnight. Rumours are rife about what may come out of it, but if there is any significant change from SDSR 15, there will be yet more turmoil which will be very little to do with either the Forces or Ascent. The only way to avoid this is to have some consistency from the pollies. Anyone for holding their breath?
Of course the RAF is seen as the guilty party, and yes the Service has played its part in the misery of those in training, but there is plenty else going on as well!
At present it is a year between IOT and EFT and worse case after that is about a year and half for those that go from EFT to ME training (which will change for the better by the end of the year). EFT to BFJT was down to about 9 months last time I looked. I say again, the maximum time for TyF pilots is about 5 years for zero to hero amongst the current cohort and expected to get better. For RW and ME pilots it should be about 4 years - again, current cohort. Unless NSCR buys more toys for MFTS and then we can see further training time reductions.
For the 2010 cohort it has been about 7 years, but go figure it was 2017 last year and they have been 7 years through a round of redundancies and lengthy holds. However, in 2018 the current cohort have no redundancy, wind back of the training system and a shrinking force requirement to worry about - SDSR was great in equipment terms but not so good at funding expansion of a training system to match that ambition.
We’ve had worse hold over times in the past and for once there is light at the end of the tunnel that aircrew numbers in training are about to start growing towards our gain to strength. The problem is not really the time to train them it is more the numbers that we need for the aircraft we are getting from SDSR15.
For the 2010 cohort it has been about 7 years, but go figure it was 2017 last year and they have been 7 years through a round of redundancies and lengthy holds. However, in 2018 the current cohort have no redundancy, wind back of the training system and a shrinking force requirement to worry about - SDSR was great in equipment terms but not so good at funding expansion of a training system to match that ambition.
We’ve had worse hold over times in the past and for once there is light at the end of the tunnel that aircrew numbers in training are about to start growing towards our gain to strength. The problem is not really the time to train them it is more the numbers that we need for the aircraft we are getting from SDSR15.
Crikey! How times have changed. On my 30th Birthday I was on my fifth Flying Tour, on three types, which was my third tour as an Instructor. And that included a total of 4 months holding between courses.
Join Date: Jul 2002
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I rejoined successfully
i left at my 38/16 point in 1977. I then did 9 years flying in RAFO, as it is now known. Then I did 11 years in the Civil Service as Higher Instructional Officer, 5 in Germany (with a free heated and lit OMQ) and then 6 in UK. I then rejoined the RAF as a Bulldog instructor on a UAS. When I retired again the financiers took the 18 years pension I had earned and drawn, added the extra three years I had done and recalculated the whole 21 years at the date of my second retirement. My pension quadrupled and is now more than my full salary when I was 38. If you rejoin make sure that you serve a few days more the three years, otherwise no pension boost.
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I have....
To be honest, after a few years out in the wider world, I got as bored and frustrated with my (now former) civvy job as I had been in my final regular tour. An FTRS advert pitched up so I thought why not, nothing to lose and all that.
Gotta say, with LC terms and conditions (no postings, no dets and no on-call duties) I reckon I've now got all the bits I liked about serving without any of the triv that had started to annoy me.
Pension got abated, but I can live with (or is it without) it and I get to go home every night - sweet!
It won't be to everyone's liking, but it works for me
Gotta say, with LC terms and conditions (no postings, no dets and no on-call duties) I reckon I've now got all the bits I liked about serving without any of the triv that had started to annoy me.
Pension got abated, but I can live with (or is it without) it and I get to go home every night - sweet!
It won't be to everyone's liking, but it works for me
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
A2QFI, good see you are alive and well, thought you had been quiet. I have now moved a little closer to you, near Grantham.