reacher,

What! A young man of 25 in the Military? There is too much fun to be had in the Military at your age. You are too young to go and waste your life in the airlines just yet. Save that for when you are old (like about 30)!

Apologies for taking a while to reply. I was deployed:}

Glad most of my ramblings actually made sense to a couple of people...

Captain Sand Dune,
Absolutely no offence taken at all.

When I say that I am not bitter and twisted, what I mean by that is firstly, yes I have had a gutful of the RAAF and thus why I am jumping ship. Secondly even though I have had a gutful I am not going to bad mouth the RAAF to anyone who asks about joining in the future. I have had an absolute ball. The flying has been good, but even more important that that the mates and good times with those mates have been the best. As such if anyone asks about joining I will tell them about all the good things, good times and what YOU can get out of the RAAF (as the RAAF automatically gets everything it can out of you - not a bad thing mind you...).

But like all good life or business plans you need an exit strategy. I didn't even know I had one when I joined, but it was there, under the surface, it just needed the dick around factor to exceed the threshold level for me to realise it. This last para I won't be saying to newbies as this will be different for everyone and everyone will have a different threshold level and when the time comes they will all start to realise it, either conciously our sub-conciously and it will just be a case of whetehr they WANT to listen to that little voice or ignore it.

Anyway I think we are probably very alike in our reasonings for getting out. Good luck to you sir and I hope you continue to enjoy life on the outside. Myself, well I am not going into a flying job other than helping out the local flying school with some instructing and hopefully doing some aeros instructing and joy flights as well. Got to love flying those little Pitts... I am actually going to give our own business a go. Wife is hesitant as there is no longer the guarantee that when we go to the ATM there will be money in the account to feed our little varmints, but I don't want to be 60 and say "gee I regret not trying". Rather large step from my perspective of having the nice warm RAAFy blue security blanket, to having nothing but what you put in, but I do like a challenge...

All the best

Cheers
CB

Cloud Basher,

Thank you very much for the dedication of the early part of your working life and for your service to the defence of Australia. Sometimes the RAAF forgets to mention that when you leave!

All the best wishes to you and your family in the new business. Just remember that in the worst case that there is a good paying job awaiting you in the airlines.

Cheers,
Flex

My RAAFie mate was telling me that he saw some presentation which showed a significant increase in the number of pilots leaving over the last three years. He says it is only going to get worse in the near future. He then went on to tell me that it is all good because the Chief of the RAAF says so.

I guess he knows what he is doing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by control snatch

My RAAFie mate was telling me that he saw some presentation which showed a significant increase in the number of pilots leaving over the last three years. He says it is only going to get worse in the near future.

---

You mean the presentation that shows nearly double the number of FLTLT separations this calendar year compared to the previous two calendar years combined, and more than double the number of SQNLDRs this year than in 2005???

:suspect::eek::uhoh:::{

I agree, during my time I had friends killed in preventable accidents and am bit bitter. Personally I would not even consider flying for AAvn or the Navy and I will never get in an ADF Helo again.
The majority of mil tasks are tedious and boring, only a select few get to fly the fast stuff. Remember, in the ADF you are an officer then a pilot-and you will be reminded of that if you start thinking the other way.

I am one of those 2007 separations that has the RAAF worried. Having seen the presentation on separations myself; and not wanting to drop the OPSEC ball, I would have to say that the real worry isn't the raw numbers but the high proportion that is made up of FCIs and QFIs. I am leaving because my better half has had it up to here with having her career screwed around by my constant moving and if I stay in and get promoted then there is no end on sight. Current job is probably the best flying job I have had in the RAAF and I am glad I am leaving on a high note. For those of you about to leave or thinking about it, enjoy it while you can and try not to leave with a sour taste in your mouth. Out of interest, I was hammered with multiple e-mails of CAF's Aus Aviation propaganda piece last week. Was this RAAF wide or just my chain of command getting excited?

Its fairly normal for those in the RAAF at the time of an exodus to see it as the beginning of the end; the fact is this isn't the first time an (impending) exodus has happened; and it wont be the last.

The last very big mass exodus (as opposed to a small exodus) however was probably 88-91 or thereabouts so the corporate memory has probably faded somewhat.

It went pretty much across the whole RAAF - I got it Tuesday, and was talking with friends in ALG and SRG later in the week and they both received it through their respective Adminos or COs - neither were particularly impressed with it either. :rolleyes:

Anyone else see it?

What did our noble leader have to say? It will be weeks before I get my copy of AA in this sandy place.

Well done to the brass
 

The head shed will be patting themselves on the back shortly for an improved retention rate: anyone who is free to leave seems to have resigned already.

ROSO is holding the RAAF together - once the retention rate improves as a result, heads will go back into the sand.

Cooee...

I dunno about that. Nothing much useful was done to prevent the exodus then, and they'll probably do much the same this time.:hmm:

We've already had the same questionnaires asking why pilots leave, and yet again the same answers were given - keep us flying, don't post us just when we've got our suitcases unpacked from the last move, don't promote us, keep us flying etc etc.

The ivory tower knows what will keep pilots in. However the indications so far are that yet again nothing more than lip service will be paid to solving the problem. Thinking outside the box probably isn't conducive to promotion.:rolleyes:

What!? I thought you operational types were far too busy to be loitering about on PPRuNE!:}

I've only got it in pdf form and am unable to copy it in here, but it's in the September issue of AA (F-111 on cover) and appears to have been written in response to the Defence Update editorial the magazine ran the month before (August issue - 787 on the cover).

Nothing we haven't all heard before really - perhaps it wasn't the message that has pi$$ed people off, but rather the fact that AFHQ asked for it to be "disseminated...to all aircrew", and that many of us received it more than once. :hmm::suspect::zzz:

FA18
 

Foxtrot Alpha,

you've got a Private Message.

Cheers...

I guess with the retention problem, this will soon become a recruitment problem. Heard that 2FTS is about to (?) crank up the sausage machine big time. Truth or rumour?

If true how can the CAF be saying its a good thing to lose FCIs and QFIs? Out with the deadwood, disloyal malcontents???

Dear Shep,

You have your head in the sand.

Cooee

Yup, the big ol' sausage machine (includes recruiting, BFTS and 2FTS - not just 2FTS) has been arced up!

Yup, him and everyone else in the ivory tower I fear. They all know what is required to fix the situation, but as always lack the intestinal fortitude to make the big changes necessary. That would require making a decision, you see!:hmm: Not conducive to promotion these days, it seems.

Where is Shep going to get promoted? He could not possibly be the next CDF, could he?:eek:

As for the others, ie. Air Ranks, I guess it must be hard to try and make changes to retention plans when the CAF comes out and says in black and smudge that there is no problem.

I heard ACO's were to be put into ground jobs that are occpied by PLT's. One graph I have seen showed that FLTLT PLT's out number FLTLT ACO's but SQNLDR ACO's Out number SQNLDR PLT's. Guess when you have NAVS in charge its going to cause problems.:}