17 year old son interested in a career in the RAF

[Nineteenseventy2]

Hi,
My 17 year old son is interested in joining the RAF to become a pilot or work in the aircraft area. He has always been very into gaming and excels at mathematics and both roles have these listed as ‘what do you like doing’. He is very keen on one area and I really haven’t got much clue!

Do they do careers sessions or something for young people where a bit of guidance can be given and advice on living costs etc?
He has said the role he is interested in states they have to do 12 years service in the RAF. Has anyone on here been in the RAF? Are they good with training etc? Also, are they looked after if they move away from home?
He is in his final year of A-levels so I think he’d need to apply pretty quickly.
He has also applied (and received offers for) civil engineering at university but he is swaying towards not going to university.

Recruitment office, he needs to talk to

Adult DS is in British Army. "They" do a lot to look after them, I find.

Dh spent 12 years in the raf and he says it was the best thing he ever did
He learnt a trade and is now a specialist in his field, still working in the aeronautical industry
He got to travel and he made so many long lasting friendships
They also taught him to iron 🤣

Hubby leaves the RAF next month after 26 years.

Which role is he looking at?

A friend of mine and her husband have enjoyed a long, well paid and interesting career/s with the RAF. Lots of training and life experiences, travel and variety.

My DD is in the midst of applying to the RAF at the moment, be prepared it can be a v long process! When she did her Airman Selection Test the recruiter did her results then talked to her about the various roles open to her and could answer questions etc. She applied for air and ground crew and has stuck with that but the AST result can throw up other options.

The minimum length of service is (basically) dependent on the amount of training they get as far as I can see!

Have a look at if RAF would sponsor his degree, I know someone who had this.

Tell him to join your local air cadets, it will give him a really good flavour for the life and some basic training opportunities.

Excellent employers. Don’t worry about the time commitment, he will get far better training/ working conditions than in a normal job

Echoing a PP, get him to visit a recruitment office and talk to the staff there. There's a huge range of career opportunities. My DS joined after his AS levels and it's been the making of him.

@insancerre
I like the bit about learning to iron!! Seriously though, I agree - I think it’d be a great way for him to learn a skill in a specialist area. He wants to travel too!
The recruiting office closest to us is phoning me tomorrow

@ThreeB
He is interested in the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems. Although, I’m sure the recruiting officers could open up more windows for him.

He’s applied for civil engineering at 5 universities and had conditional offers from all of them but I just can’t see him doing that and he shows no enthusiasm whereas the RAF role he does. I know what his character is like and what he likes. The RAF would definitely suit him.

@Limer That’s great to hear! I really think he’d enjoy it and it would be the making of him too! It’s nice to hear positive things about the RAF.
My dad was in the RAF but years ago and long before I was born.

We will see what the recruiting office says and what advice they can give and go from there!

Its a good career choice. Well paid, lots of opportunities. He should go for it

Ex-RAF here. The training is amazing. You will find he will come home a more confident and capable person after basic training.
I personally wouldnt speak to the officer that phones. Its seems a little too much like "mums sorting all this out for me" let your son speak and let him be proactive taking this further, if he chooses to do so. I think your role should be a more backseat support. This certainly isnt a dig at you, just would look more favourably in the recruiters eyes if your son was taking the lead in this process.

www.raf.mod.uk/recruitment/sponsorship

I’m an Ex-RAF sponsored undergraduate myself and served for well over a decade after graduating but it was all a long time ago I won’t offer much advice on the current system.

I do know with the size of the RAF these days there will be a lot of completion for any role…..I’m not saying that to put him/you off but just to make you aware it will be a very competitive recruitment process.

Good luck.

What's not to like. Paid to travel the world. Education you don't get into debt for and random drug testing.

Absolutely - a family member served 12 years and now has a good career in a niche area of aviation. Did go through a period of depression though on leaving as he hadn't really maintained any social circle outside of RAF so I think that is important to maintain.
I would recommend trying to get RAF to sponsor a degree too as lots of civvy jobs on leaving in the aviation/ engineering field require degree level education.

They also didn't travel as much as you'd imagine or see any action, a lot of the role was just routine maintenance, which in times of peace is common.

@catfunk

lots of civvy jobs on leaving in the aviation/ engineering field require degree level education

Very very much agree with that - In fact agree with all of your comments.

Over the decades there has always been the often unspoken issue of (euphemism alert) attrition during training so the more strings somebody has to their bow the better.

Warning: recruiters want to fill vacancies in short-manned trades and roles.
He should do his own research on roles and apply to what he wants to do.
There's a big difference between joining as an Officer, NCO direct entry aircrew (e.g aircrew man) or aviator (used to be called airman). Only Officers can be pilots. Lots of website reading to do.

What is his general fitness like. He will be expected to be able to run, swim etc. my friend was in the RAF. She was taught to drive by them including HGV licence (hence why so many lorry drivers are ex forces, they have the licence, can he’d down easily, be away from home etc).

Great thing about RPAS is the American postings, they were quite in demand a couple years ago. I'd be mindful of the emotional toll of the job and if you think he has the mindset for it, obviously quite a contentious role that would not suit everybody. Also demands quite high aptitude scores (although not as high as traditional pilots).

At his age though he should shoot for the stars, no pun intended, follow his heart. He can always retrade into engineering and do a degree via learning credits. Or if he doesn't get the scores for RPAS, or if he doesn't pass the training, engineering can be his plan B?

My husband is RAF, DS (still young) wants to be an engineer in the RAF, I'm trying to encourage the officer route but he doesn't want to go to uni and do more school

They’ve said they aren’t taking applications at the moment as they are upgrading the website and applications process. They think it’ll be March before applications are open. DS, in the meantime, is joining a gym to prepare for the fitness test. He is also busy with A-level mocks at the moment!