Life after the RAF
 

Well one year down the road after leaving the RAF after 25 years service I can say this:

Individual resettlement officer (Cottesmore) waste of time money and space.
Resettlement training offered good.
Advice on resettlement from most trainers very good.
Last 4 months away from RAF work Cleared from Station and still paid a bargin.
Courses at Aldershot excellent.

Only down side no toss pot boy wonder officers to wind up all day.

Reading the moans and groans on here getting worse is priceless.

Life is wonderful outside trust me take a leap of faith and go for it. :D

You forgot one thing, your degree of fitness has gone from "acceptable" to "above average" (or in my case at the time of leaving "unfit" to "average")

Enjoy!

It even mentioned on my JPA certificate that I failed my last fitness test....did I really try?

6 months on and still waiting for my P45

JPA certificate, whats that? Did get the nice pin badge but no P45, lol.

Life after 22 yrs in the RAF, bloody excellant.
Now doing a job I enjoy, more days off than I work, no deployment, lost around 15kg in weight, much fitter and loving the life in Australia.

Do I miss it ? mmmmmmm, No.
Would I go back ? Not a chance.

However to those still serving: Keep up the good work boys and girls and try to enjoy it.
:ok:

You ain't been out long enough for nostalgia to kick in, but it will; I promise you. ;)

Given enough time, you too could become like Beagle.:E

Watch out for the recurring dream that you're back in uniform!

Surely you mean nightmare? 5 years on no regrets and no nostalgia.

...... but on the other hand!

It’s not easy to leave the Royal Air Force,
With a smile on your face, it is true.
For a start you’re too young to be finished,
And to stop wearing blue, makes you blue.

It’s a wrench to be told you’re not wanted,
That your tools of the trade are expired.
Here you are, at the peak of your mountain,
And the ropes cut, farewell, you’re retired.

There’s no fun out there being a civvie
You are no longer ‘Licenced to Kill’.
They go tense if you ‘top’ your opponents,
Make mistakes, and they send you the bill.

Where’s the flair when you’re not in the Service?
Out of uniform you’re off the track.
They laugh at the clothes you are wearing.
Should I ditch these, are flares coming back?

In civvie street sport is a business.
And payment is needed to play.
Try swimming, or tennis, or football,
The cost will turn you quite grey.

Being ill is a real painful business.
Nothing’s free with the old ‘National Health’,
Pulling teeth is a guinea a minute,
It can seriously damage your wealth.

There is also a problem with housing.
In ‘Quarters’ the rent is quite low.
But the civvies aren’t bothered by ‘March-Outs’,
When they leave, the dirt doesn’t go!

They don’t have ‘Disturbance Allowance’,
When they travel to work they must pay.
Their holidays aren’t very often,
And the Unions have now had their day.

So be warned on those days when you’re grumpy,
And life is a pain in the bum.
Be thankful you’re still in the Air Force,
And not a civilian like some.

ERB (Written in 1993 as I retired after 13 years in the RAF)

I frequently get the recurring nightmare!!! I thought it was just me.

I've been out 11 years and not missed it yet. I'm told that nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Doc C

Nope, me too. Many nights I've woken up in a cold sweat wondering if I should have handed my aircrew watch back before departing.

Lamp swinging isn't nostalgia,
it's an indoor sport

(One that, sadly, the P Ed staff didn't seem to count)

Many ( and I do talk to many ) of us old f@rts who care , do actually discuss having had recurring dreams of being back in the Service in our prime and of trying to contribute to operations.

However, it is of course the Service we remembered.............

Seems to me that most of the whinging on here is done by people who have already left!
Can't have been that bad to do 25 years!
Sounds like you made the right choice by leaving - or did I just bite?:)

It was invariably those minority crewroom whingers who were the most vocal - seems as though little has changed? And I trust that the grass will still be greener in civvy street in the coming years!

When I was in the Service I was commited to what I did, I believed in it and drew satisfaction from it. I was proud of what I was. Within 6 months of leaving I had forgotten everything which made me leave (in 1989) and remembered only the good times.

Everything I have done in civvy street has just been a job. That's the way it is unless one is fortunate enough to be running one's own succesful business.

I've been out since 2004 after a mere seven year's service (got out before getting into the immediate pension dependency trap!). Plenty of recurring dreams about life in the RAF!

Two nights ago I had a very vivid dream. I was an officer cadet at a Cranwell-style reception in honour of HM The Queen, who glared at me for slouching with a beer in my hand! The dream got more bizarre, HM was left without bodyguards in a dark alley as part of a convoluted plot by Prince Andrew to commit multiple regicide and assume the throne, for reasons known only to himself.

I have recurring dreams of mealtimes at the Mess and being orderly officer as well! :eek:

I left twelve years ago after over 25 years. I'm glad I joined and I'm glad I left. I was proud of what I did in the Service, although I cannot pretend I liked everything that was happening in the 1990s. I had great time when I was in (most of the time), met many wonderful people some of whom have become lifelong friends and I went to many interesting places that I wouldn't have gone to if I hadn't joined. But, for a number of reasons (not least of which was a large wodge of redundancy money!) it was time to move on when I did.

Since then I have pursued a career in civil aviation and my family has, for the first time, been able to put down roots in a community; we have been in the same house for nearly twelve years.

Am I nostalgic? Of course! I had some epic times. Do I miss it? Definitely not - from what I see the proud Service that I left has been in terminal decline for some time. I do, though, hold in extremely high regard the guys and gals that are still in and constantly do more than we should reasonably expect of them with the shoddy, obsolete kit that they are given to operate.

The one thing I do miss is the banter. I just haven't been able to get civvies to buy into the 10-second response criterion!

Best thing I ever did was join, next best thing I did was leave.

I left in 1989 after 13 years no regrets whatsoever in either joining or leaving I thought (and still do) that leaving a job at 31 after 13 years was the right thing to do I still live close to the base (Leuchars) but do not go there and have no friends left that are there presently serving.