Evenin' fellas,

I though I might canvas opinion on the RAF, as I'm very close to joining up…

Anybody here a member? enjoy it? Hate it? Best jobs to go for?

Having left uni with a respectable 2:1 in '06 .. I find myself drifting into my mid twenties but not found too much to interest me work-wise (been bike shops and sporadic free-lance filmmaking) The forces would appear to offer a good wage and an active lifestyle, which appeals!

Any voices of experience care to pass on some tips?

cheers!

I've a couple of family members in various forces, afaik, once you are over the initial hump of basic traning at the start it's pretty good. Can be hard on significant others though, if thats a factor. Also, don't expect to be able to walk into any trade or specialisation that looks like big fun, you might have to be a ditch digger for a few years! 😀

Which branch are you looking at? What's your degree in?
If you get into an interesting specialisation it can be better than good from what I understand.
If you just end up doing general eng. stuff, then it tends to have more chance of becoming dull quickly, from what i've seen.

Can't answer for the RAF but I spent 10 years in the Army, allbeit some time ago before the current commitments and publicity, but I did spend 3 years in NI.

As a character building experience there in none better and based upon your degree it will also give you the career direction you seem to need.

All the forces offer excellent sport and social activities, sound like an advertising poster don't I(?). If you're single it's ideal. I left just after I got married and we had our first daughter. As Andy_K says, if you're married or in a relationship, the current commitments can make it very hard.

I think sootyandjim of this parish is something to do with them so he'll probably be along sometime.

Just BUMP the post a couple of times and see what responses you get.

Good luck whatever you do.

Thanks for the wise-words already!

My degree is in Film .. which is something that I have pursued, but the whole media industry is fubar right now. The raf would be a different direction entirely … But I'm a pragmatist at heart, I'm not too concerned about the job, ('aerospace battle manager' is 1st choice) but the salary, lifestyle, and job security are what I'm looking at.

thanks again guys

DO IT!

Biggest regret I've ever had was turning down my acceptance into the RAF 2 days before my training was due to start for a girl.
Was going in as an officer in Imagery intelligence – Dream job. Needless to say we broke up a year later and the RAF laughed down the phone at me when i asked if i could re-apply.
Be prepared for a long application process, mine took approx 18 months iirc which included a couple of days worth of tests at RAF Chicksands.
I'd do the job now if they'd let me

Are you looking as going in as an Officer? I looked seriously at joining as a Fighter Controller before Uni but later decided against it.

I was an Air Cadet for years and visited many bases and spoke to lots of people there. I was in touch with the careers office and did a 'Realistic Job Preview' – basically went to a base (RAF Boulmer) to see what being a Fighter Controller entails. Unfortunately, it involves sitting in a hole in the ground, on a rubbish base miles from anywhere, although this appears to be specific to Fighter Controllers.

The general life of an Officer seems good – you're really well looked after and the social side and aporting activities are second to none. I know someone who is a Navigator at an exciting base and loves every minute.

😀

Have you got experience of the Military at all? It can be a shock, the way they operate, the discipline, the bullshit, that way of life is fine if you know how it works, it can be…hard otherwise.

Not trying to put you off, just go in with your eyes open is all.

Have you looked at joining the police? There are a lot of ex forces in the police who all speak highly of their times there but very quickly got sick of the deployments and look stints away from home, especially if you're settling down and have family (I know not everyone is the same). But police has a lot of variety, options and good jobs out there. You can easily arrange a "ride-along" basically a shift going out with the guys to see EXACTLY what we do .. definately worth doing, and worth thinking about if you have that forces mentality, obviously looking for something challenging and that offers variety. good luck!

I'm in the RAF, i've been in just over 12 years and love it!!! I work in comms and stuff 😆 I am looking at going for my commission as I fancy going down a different path. I have never looked back or regretted joining up. I have met some quality folks and done some awesome things and been some great places.

Im in the RAF and have to say its a very good life. You do have the Bulls**t factor to put up with sometimes but the pro's outweigh the cons by miles. If you are after a career more than a job its hard to beat.

yes i ve been in the mob now as a weapons tech for 11.5 years.

just got back from a 3 year tour in cyprus where i did no end of sports and spent hardly any time at work!!

however ive just come back to the worst posting i could of not wished for working with the army!!

im actually getting to the point of throwing it all in to b honest !!

dont let that put you off though, as long as you stay away from anything to do with the army you will have a brilliant time in the RAF and make some great friends.

as long as you stay away from anything to do with the army

What, you mean like fighting and stuff? 😉

I was an officer in the Army, way-back-when it was know as BAOR & we all swanned about the N German plains in tanks and armoured vehicles & drank our respective weights in beer most nights in Hamburg.
Can't fault it.
Still trying to work off the beer belly even now ; )

Nixon

You mentioned that your degree is in film. Have you seen this

This is some of their work:

and they are also responsible for this channel on YouTube.

as long as you stay away from anything to do with the army

You may end up operating with the Army though as I would imagine that taking pictures of planes taking off from airfields might get quite dull.

no what i meant is the army way of life!!!
in the army its like………….. you do that now,no questions!!

whereas in the raf………….. hey steve can you have a look at that job for us please .

in the raf you get treated with more respect.

that is all

If you're wanting to join the military and not just wear a blue jumper and be asked “to see to a job” (that's what civvies do), then the RAF maybe isn't for you.
Unless you're a fast jet pilot you're only ever going to be support staff – admin in a blue jumper.
I'd suggest that simply by being here, on the site, you're more likely to be happy getting your hands oily and occasionally enjoy (?) some muddy rides – so maybe the Army is more what you should be looking at?
It’s going to more physical in the Army, but if equate it to how you ride your bike and what sort of events & riding you enjoy, this might point the way a little more.
After school & Uni, my best friend became a Harrier pilot, I instead went to RMAS and even now he’s not keen on getting wet on a training ride unless I put him in a position where it’s a given!
Chalk & cheese.
Thus far no one has mentioned either the RN nor the RM.

Ti29er – Nice piece of generalisation, you do your parent service a great discredit for uttering such bilge as well as the memories of many 'blue jumper wearers' who have lost their lives recently far from a paperclip. I served as 'support staff', spent 6 of my 12 years in the RAF on TSW operating alongside teeth arm elements of the army from as near as South Armargh through Bos/Kos, SL, Iraq and Afghanistan (with only the most brief of transits through the Butlins currently featured on Channel 5). Plenty of 'oily hands' moments as well as brown trouser ones. In fact in total during my 12 years I only spent 3 in 'blues', one year at the start when I was still an LAC and unable to deploy then 2, I'm proud to say, whilst serving at DMRC Headley Court. So please, don't judge all the RAF from the not as brief as it could be interface with movements muppets and snowdrops at Brize Norton!

…on the other hand s&j, a friend of mine's recently retired after 30-odd years in the RAF. He says he had a shot fired in his general vicinity once in his whole career, while involved in evacuating British civvies in Cyprus.

TI29er… that is the biggest load of bollocks ive ever read!!!!

if im a blue jumper admin walla what am i doingwearing overalls(green btw) in a bay fixing/building ejection seats or on the pan at 4 in the morning trying to get a jet in the air???

come to think of it im sure i wasnt wearing a blue jumper whilst in the bomb dump at Basrah.

Nixon fiend – I no longer serve in the RAF (though I've been weighing up joining the RAuxAF of late, I do miss serving quite a bit) but I'd like to offer you a bit of advice if I may and its this. Make sure you realise what you may potentially be called upon to do. Con-tray to the bilge spouted by some of those fellows from the army, RAF personnel can and do often serve as far forward as their pongo cousins. Of course this has come as a shock to those who did join up for an easy life of wearing a blue jumper and hanging around handbrake house. The larger RAF (away from field force units such as TSW) has on the whole 'woken up' over the last few years and with deployments coming around more often and numbers decreasing due to cut-backs the days of sports afternoons, knocking off for beer calls and POETS day are gone, especially if you find yourself posted somewhere like RAF Odiham (as I was for my last tour) and supporting the only really useful SH asset the armed forces has left and therefore busiest. All that said though, if you don't mind working hard, understand that one day you may end up somewhere dodgy holding a rifle and don't think of it as an easy option career you can get a lot out of the RAF, though they will try to take as much as they can out of you (my old unit, TSW, once had the unenviable reputation for having one of the highest rates of divorce among its personnel due to the high tempo of deployments, ie: my first year, 286 days deployed out of 365, though I was single at the time.)

Here we go, Army v RAF……please boys no, I dont think any of us have been in both.

Like Ti29er I was an Army officer so here is my tuppenceworth. Got to say nixon-fiend it sounds like you are drifting into this without any real commitment. Thats fine for a 17yr old with no prospects and no idea but you are a 20-something graduate and presumably an officer candidate. 2 big issues with that:

1. Training – I was super committed to being a soldier and almost literally crawled over broken glass to get into Sandhurst. If you are just along for the ride you will get found out.

2. War – you may have noticed a few bombs and bullets flying around lately. RAF, Army, Navy, whatever, we live in dangerous times and you are going to get posted somewhere sh1tty…..are you really up for this?

johnners – Yes, there are a few about but they are becoming fewer and fewer. My boss at Headley Court had served a similar amount of time but had only a LS&GC medal, an MSM (and bar) and and QGJM to his name, but the RAF isn't unique in this respect. There are such tour dodgers in the army and in the RN (FAA aside) it seems almost a matter of pride to have never drawn 'green kit' from pussers.

Double post, oops.

Renton – relax; I was fishing!
And as per McBoo's comments, you have to WANT a commission to put up with the amount of "basic" training you'll have to endure at Sandhurst.
Can't you look at a pre course? They used to call them O typre engagements.
A time in the TA maybe? (my experience of the TA is from may years ago and not very positive; I have no doubt it's changed radically since 1991/2).

Frankly I'd go for it mate – my brother was in the RAF for years and loved it – terrific opportunities for travel (and not just to war zones!) Try and pick a trade that will be useful in civvy street would be my advice.

I turned down a career to join the Kings Own Scottish Borders as an Officer – what a mistake! I also fancied a career in Intelligence but realised I'd probably be sent back home to Belfast to 'work' – no thanks! Then looked at a career in bomb disposal – I wanted to get home at weekends!!

If you're at a loss career wise etc then the RAF would be a good choice. Esp in the current economic climate

Good luck
TS

Yes. Choose something that has Civvi applications if possible. You'll be a heaving civvi again before you know it!
Tank: KOSBies, GreenSlime & RAOC / RLC. Not enough hours in the day me thinks!

I have been told that the RAF Club in London has a very good wine list, so add that to the list of good reasons to join the crabs.

The RAF also have the best married quaters, by far of the two services.

You are quite late in the day to be looking at the Armed Forces in general as somewhere to go when other stuff isn't going according to plan. Current recruiting figures will see the Army fully manned by next year – many Trades and Branches in all 3 Services are currently closed as they have met their targets.

There isn't anything quite like a recession for military recruitment. You'd best make sure you want it, fit the criteria and can convince recruiters that you are better than the other 100's of applicants – many of whom have wanted nothing else for a long time. It sounds like you are close to applying rather than joining up – application is the first part of some fairly testing times.

I hope that I can offer some useful comments here. To start with I'll declare my allegiances so that everyone knows where I'm coming from, I'm in the Army, I'm 28 and have 2 and a half years of service (including training). I'm an NCO and my only regret is not joining up sooner. I'll also mention at this stage that I have a bit of problem with the RAF at the moment for a couple of professional reasons which I won't go into here for the obvious reasons.

That said, yes, the RAF is a good career from what I've seen. A friend of mine recently graduated from Cranwell and yes, they seem to be better treated etc etc. However from what you've written so far nixon-fiend, I do find myself wondering if you REALLY WANT a Commission, or are you just drifting towards the military as they seem to offer you what you want? I think a pertinent question here is to ask can you offer what the Armed Forces want? As has already been said, if you do want a Commission, sooner or later you're going to have to prove it…which basically means you're going to have to take a step to your front and prove you're a better man than the people around you. It pays to be a winner. And that goes for all three services.

I'd also comment that although having a degree opens up the Commissioned Ranks to you, maybe you should also look at what the Non-Commissioned Ranks can offer you. Yes there'll be a little more bullsh1t factor but you'll have a different career…not better or worse neccesarily, different. Perhaps you could also look at the Royal Navy. From my limited contact with them they do seem to be treated better than a comparable rank in the army.

Hope that helps and it hasn't come across as too sanctimonious.

ti29er

Balls! Should have read I turned down a career in the KOSBies! Anyway – no point thinking what could have been!!

Nixon – just do it if it's what you want to do. Life's not a dress rehearsal. If I had to do it all again I'd jump into the services with both feet. Especially if you haven't fully settled yet.

That's a very timely point.
Is there anything left that you actually fancy doing? In whichever service?
It's all very well having a degree from 3 years ago, but does that make you obvious material for Cranwell when you'll be up against highly motivated, mostly younger officer cadets who desperately want to serve in the RAF, whose first choice is RAF, whose every waking thought is to pass selection & join up?

Maybe have a look at other openings – after all no one said you had to be an officer. I had many soldiers under my command who were far better educated, to a higher level than ever I was & they weren't officers. I’d go so far as to say that the Army was a far better organisation for having such a rich seam of talent and education liberally distributed throughout the rank structure.

Tank: Why did you not take up that commission in the KOSBies if it was offered? I am assuming you passed out of RMAS (?).
That's it – off to Bonty 24 shortly as I'm racing pairs and I need some beauty sleep + it's 03:00hrs.

Had a mate in the RM he told me stories of wearing womans un derwear on important parades, training in Norway – lots of Skiing but also sitting in a snow hole all night!
I nearly joined the RAF wanted to do something on planes – all they would have let me do was clean the cockpit windows! so i went to work in a foundry instead……

Never been in the forces myself but I have many colleagues at work (Air Traffic Control) who are ex-RAF. They almost all speak very highly of working as an ATCO with the RAF. From what I've heard most ex Raf ATCO find it very easy to convert their licence to a civil one on leaving so you've got good career options there as well.

Plus (slightly) less chance of ending up where bombs may land on you. Many of them worked at Prestwick so good riding nearby as well.

I’d go so far as to say that the Army was a far better organisation for having such a rich seam of talent and education liberally distributed throughout the rank structure.

holy crap Ti – you really post some unqualified and splendidly out of date bilge. Your previous 'fishing' post set a standard and yet you continue to excrete waste product. You were part of a military left long behind.

+1 ^^^^^

Perhaps some qualification would be useful Tall?
Just popping up, attempting to rubbish another’s post with no qualification as to your issues nor in any way an explanation as to why you feel this way is a little lacking in both merit & substance – to put it mildly.

Let's have some meat on the bones of your derisory comments or if not then perhaps you could venture a suitable answer to the original post? This might be more constructive, after all that’s why we've taken the time to contribute to this thread. 💡

This might be more constructive, after all that’s why we've taken the time to contribute to this thread.

Your second post on this thread was, as you put it, fishing – so don't get all high and mighty that you are adding value and I must therefore justify my response to your guff. If it wasn't, your claim of fishing was a late cover up for what was outdated, biased and unqualified guff that did nothing but highlight a solid ignorance of the RAF.

Your point I highlighted and robustly rubbished above was another example of a lack of knowledge on the subject. I doubt you've worked in the Tri-Service environment in this century, so offer only conjecture and historical subjective opinions. The Army has an average reading age of about 14 years old. The RAF has a higher educational requirement for entry into training, on average, than the Army. There are stars and idiots in all Services, but your last statement was unfounded and factuallly incorrect – and not just biased guff.