Thinking of joining up as an officer...

[redorchestra]

Hello, I've been lurking on this forum for a few days, some of the stuff has been very enlightening
Anyway, I've just graduated in history and realised how bleak my employment prospects are (more rejection letters piling up each day ), and I'm considering joining the RAF. It's not just something I've thought of as a last resort, in fact I was obsessed with aviation as a teenager (was also in the ATC for a few years) and all I wanted to do was be a pilot in the RAF, but unfortunately my eyesight isn't up to scratch so that smashed my dreams for a few years. I'm kinda coming round to the idea again now though, and I have a few questions I hope you might be able to help me with

1) Do you need perfect eyesight for all aircrew jobs, e.g. as a navigator/weapons operator, or for any of the roles on a nimrod for example? If so, would it be better for me to join up as a ranker rather than an officer?

2) I find the idea of being an intelligence officer quite appealling too, as I really enjoy analysing stuff, collating information, making decisions etc...however I can't find much information about this job online, could anyone point me to somewhere with a better job description than the one on the RAF careers website, or even better, a serving intelligence officer speak a little about what it's like?

3) I wonder sometimes if my character/temperment would be ill-suited to being an officer, as I'm rather quiet, laid back, polite, friendly etc...would these character traits be an obstacle to becoming an officer? I'm not a complete pushover and can be harsh and decisive when required, but I wonder if you need to be a bit more of a hardarse to be an officer..however I've always thought that of the three services the RAF is the most lenient in this respect, as you aren't really commanding people in the same way you would if you were an officer in the Navy or Army..I may be wrong though, please correct me if so!

Anyway, I've rambled quite a lot..I'm not decided on this yet, it's just an idea. I don't want to waste the best years of my life (I'm 21) filling out application forms for jobs though

[rawli]

in order for your suitability for the different aircrew branches to be decided you will need an RAF eye test at Cranwell. What I suggest to you is to apply to go to Cranwell as WSO and then in your med review they will tell you what you are suited and not suited for. If you don't make the grade for WSO then they will give you the option of leaving selection or an offer of another branch choice which you are suitable for. With regards to OASC, just be yourself, if you don't then they will see straight through you. Try not to be too quiet though, make sure you are confident and speak up when you have a point to make. If you want to do it then don't go half-heartedly at it, through everything you've got into then you will have it made! Good luck.

[Biggles1211]

I guess that the only people who can tell you if you'd make a good pilot or intelligence officer would be the people at the AFCO......

[RAF Mancunian]

The RAF look more to motivational and leadership skills in their potential officers so if you have any abillity in either of these it will be helpful. It is also good that you are analytical because RAF officers tend to take a step back to asses situations before taking action. Its how they work. Also, NCO Aircrew can wear glasses as long as their eyesight is above a certain standard (this what I have heard, so don't quote me on it), and if you have a degree you will obviously have an advantage over your fellow applicants who will probably have A-Levels at the most. NCO Aircrew pay starts at £28,000 a year so even though you won't have a commision, the moneys not bad is it? Hopefully this has been of some help to you and good luck.
RAF Mancunian

[rawli]

and if you have a degree you will obviously have an advantage over your fellow applicants who will probably have A-Levels at the most.
RAF Mancunian

That is not true! i know people who are still at school with more maturity than some students. At the end of the day you dont fly a plane with a degree in history.

[rawli]

Not if the people without a degree show the same amount if not better maturity than the graduates. I have just passed OASC and I'm 17, I passed with 6 other people of the same age for a pilot scholarship. If that in itself dosn't suggest that they are encouraging for DE for pilots then I shall eat my head sir!

[rawli]

i c your point but it wud never boil down to just qualifications, they are just bits of paper which u pay a lot of money for. I have never met any 1 that has completed a uni course and not got a degree. If you pay the money then you get a degree - the RAF know this as well!

[Biggles1211]

5 GCSEs and 2 A-Levels are merely an eligibility for being assessed as a potential officer. Anyone with these qualifications can apply for a commission. What happens after that depends on your personal qualities, not on what pieces of paper you can wave around.

[rawli]

That is absolutely right. The RAF assess you as a potential officer and what qualities needed to be a succesful officer a candidate needs to have. This includes things like maturity and if a candidate has maturity at an early age then fine. The only reason the RAF tell people to go and get a degree is not neccesarily for the qualification itself but because the candidtae is not mature enough to be an officer and three years a degree would allow him or her to 'grow up'.

[redorchestra]

i c your point but it wud never boil down to just qualifications, they are just bits of paper which u pay a lot of money for. I have never met any 1 that has completed a uni course and not got a degree. If you pay the money then you get a degree - the RAF know this as well!

Er, I think there's a bit more involved in getting a degree than paying a lot of money for a bit of paper. It's not the degree itself that matters in the workplace, but the skills you learn during your studies. I agree that having historical knowledge wouldn't be much help in being a pilot, but part of getting a history degree is learning analytical skills , using your initiative, thinking about alternative solutions to problems, absorbing large quantities of data and condensing it into an accessible format etc. I'm sure all of these qualities and more would come in handy when having to make responsible decisions.
I'm not saying that people without a degree will not have any of these qualities, that's obviously not true, but please don't belittle the work I and others have put into getting our degrees. I didn't get a degree to join the RAF with anyway, I got a degree because I enjoy history and I didn't know what I wanted to do career-wise. If I could've been a pilot I probably would've joined straight after my A-levels, so my degree doesn't really have anything to do with my interest in the RAF.

[rawli]

very nice touch but it is off the point a bit, the argument was that people with degrees have more chance of becoming an officer than people without and I am arguing that they don't, not about the point of degrees. But speaking on your point how many people do you know that go to uni and dont get a degree?

[redorchestra]

very nice touch but it is off the point a bit, the argument was that people with degrees have more chance of becoming an officer than people without and I am arguing that they don't, not about the point of degrees.

Well, this whole line of argument is 'off the point', seeing as this is my thread and I never asked if having a degree would increase my chances of being an officer. Like I said in my previous post, my degree has got nothing to do with my thoughts on joining the RAF. I never said I was superior to anyone and I don't expect preferential treatment.

But speaking on your point how many people do you know that go to uni and dont get a degree?

I'm not sure what you mean by this; what do you think people go to uni for, to get a packet of crisps? The whole point of going to university is to get a degree. If you mean that it's incredibly easy to get a degree, I think you'll find that's not true either, despite what the Daily Mail might say. It might be easier to get on to a degree course than it used to be (which is surely a good thing), but it's still as hard as it's ever been to leave university with a good degree in a good subject. The dropout rate at most universities is high, I knew a lot of people who didn't make it past the first year.

[rawli]

If you look at 16-18 education, many people complete their courses and still get Us in their exams. At uni if you completed the course you would have to try very hard to fail. I am not saying that it is true for all courses but I know for some courses that the percentage for passing assignments etc is 35%!