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Evening!

My first post so looking for some advice from the more experienced on the board .

Im wanting to join the RAF as pilot but have got to be realistic and think about the competition. So my main question is if you go to the OASC, pass all the aptitude tests and do alright in the interview but they decide you're not suitbale for the role of pilot, is there any chance they will offer you a different job in the RAF or are you totally disregarded and told your unsuitable and to apply again at a later date?

Reason i ask is if im not accepted as pilot i would be willing to accept Weapons Systems Officer/operator. But i dont want to say that before i go incase they construe it as a lack of ambition!

Thanks for any help and advice

abdn wrote:Evening!

My first post so looking for some advice from the more experienced on the board .

Im wanting to join the RAF as pilot but have got to be realistic and think about the competition. So my main question is if you go to the OASC, pass all the aptitude tests and do alright in the interview but they decide you're not suitbale for the role of pilot, is there any chance they will offer you a different job in the RAF or are you totally disregarded and told your unsuitable and to apply again at a later date?

Reason i ask is if im not accepted as pilot i would be willing to accept Weapons Systems Officer/operator. But i dont want to say that before i go incase they construe it as a lack of ambition!

Thanks for any help and advice

When you apply you can list up to about 6 branches, in order of preference. If you are applying for Pilot they advise you to add others becuase of the high standards and level of competion.

So you could go Pilot, WSO, then maybe a couple of ground branches if you are not only willling to take a flying role.

Pilot was what the majority of people on my OASC were after, and I don't think more than one person got accepted. (If any)
You would do well to put three or four choices down, but when you get to interview stress that Pilot is your first choice, but you are aware of how competitive it is. It isn't a lack of ambition, it's more a sense of realism. Make sure you have researched the role, training, location etc of the other choices you put down, because you will get asked about them.

Ta very much!

abdn wrote:

Reason i ask is if im not accepted as pilot i would be willing to accept Weapons Systems Officer/operator. But i dont want to say that before i go incase they construe it as a lack of ambition!

Having been there and done that, I would suggest firstly that you do not look at WSO as a second class option ("I'm willing to accept"), but treat being offered that as a privilege, and also list other ground branches that you are interested in. You also have to realise that a very large number of entrants who pass OASC and then IOTC still get chopped in the early stages of pilot training (often referred to as the Navigator Selection Course) and end up as WSOs or even civilians.

Numbers are getting smaller and smaller - take what you can get and be glad of it. Trust me, I've been there and chose the wrong branch - big mistake.