Officers – these are our equivalent of senior managers or team leaders, with 20 jobs available covering a wide range of skills, for example Dental Officer, Logistics Officer or Pilot. We expect a great deal from our officers – they have to lead by example.
As an officer in the Royal Air Force, you’ll be expected to lead from the front. In every aspect of your work, you will set the standard for men and women under your command.
With 20 different roles to choose from, you’ll be able to find one to suit your skills and aspirations.
As an RAF officer, you’ll receive world-class leadership training, professional qualifications and competitive pay and benefits, along with early responsibility and a defined structure for career progression.
The training offered differs according to your role. Most officers begin their career with the 30-week Initial Officer Training (IOT) course at the RAF College Cranwell in Lincolnshire. On successful completion of IOT, you'll move on to do your professional training. You’ll also continue to have regular training and assessment throughout your career.
As a professionally qualified officer (e.g. a Medical or Legal Officer), your initial training course will be shortened to 11 weeks, but you’ll still receive a thorough grounding in RAF knowledge and military skills to prepare you for the challenges ahead.
You don’t have to be a graduate to be an officer; you just need to display the attributes for your particular role. If you join the RAF as an airman, airwoman or non-commissioned aircrew or Air Traffic Controller, there may also be opportunities for you to earn a Queen’s commission and become an officer at a later date.
If you’re looking for a challenging career with real responsibility right from the start, you could find it as an RAF officer.
If you join as an officer you can expect to be paid the following:
Rank
Annual salary
Pilot Officer : £24,130
Flying Officer : £29,000 – £32,060
Flight Lieutenant : £37,170 – £44,205
Squadron Leader : £48,824 – £56,075
There are different pay scales for some specialist officers and for people who join as graduates or with professional qualifications. Within the pay scales above, your salary will be determined by your experience and your performance. RAF pay and charges are reviewed annually.
Training:
Initial Officer Training will introduce you to military life and skills. It will also develop your leadership skills and show you how to gain trust and command respect – crucial aspects of your role as an RAF officer.
Non-Commissioned Aircrew (NCA) – four flying roles.
Weapon Systems Operators play a vital role in protecting the security of the UK and its allies. Flying will be your life – whether you work on board reconnaissance aircraft or in an air transport role. There are four Weapon Systems Operator roles and, depending on your qualifications, you could move around them during your career:
Weapon Systems Operators (Acoustic) use sonar technology to locate and track submarines and ships.
Weapon Systems Operators (Crewman) are responsible for making sure that loads and passengers are carried safely on either fixed-wing or rotary aircraft.
Weapon Systems Operators (Electronic Warfare) operate radar systems to survey air and surface activity.
Weapon Systems Operators (Linguist) analyse foreign language radio emissions, providing military commanders with combat support.
Non-Commissioned Aircrew have only three ranks in their career structure:
Sergeant (Aircrew)
Flight Sergeant (Aircrew)
Master Aircrew.
It can take as long as three years to complete your training. However, once you enter productive service, you will be promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
Airmen and airwomen – ground support roles using specialist skills. There are around three dozen different jobs to choose from, anything from medical support to aircraft maintenance, administration to logistics.
The majority of RAF personnel are airmen and airwomen, who are employed in a wide range of ground support roles.
As an airman or airwoman you do not have a commission – but that’s not to say you couldn’t earn one later in your career.
The rank structure for non-commissioned staff is:
Aircraftman/woman
Leading Aircraftman/woman (LAC)
Senior Aircraftman/woman (SAC)
Senior Aircraftman/woman Technician (SAC(T))
Corporal (Cpl)
Sergeant (Sgt)
Chief Technician (Chf Tech)
Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt)
Warrant Officer (WO).
You will join as an Aircraftman/Aircraftwoman, your rank while you complete basic recruit training. You will be promoted to Leading Aircraftman/Aircraftwoman after six months or when you complete your trade training, whichever occurs first.
You will normally be promoted to Senior Aircraftman/Aircraftwoman after you have passed a trade ability test and have completed one year’s total service.
Promotion to Corporal and above is by competitive selection.
Pay:
Aircraftman/woman during recruit and professional training : £13,377
Leading Aircraftman/Aircraftwoman : £16,681
Senior Aircraftman/Aircraftwoman : £17,140 – £28,372
Corporal : £25,886 – £32,531
Sergeant : £29,424 – £36,204
During your recruit and professional training, you will be paid £13,377 – approximately £257 per week.
You will be promoted to Leading Aircraftman/Aircraftwoman after six months or when you complete your specialist training, whichever occurs first.
You will normally be promoted to Senior Aircraftman/Aircraftwoman after you have passed a trade ability test and completed one year’s total service.
Promotion to Corporal and above is by competitive selection.
Within the pay scales shown above, your salary will be determined by your experience and your performance.
Bonuses
If you are still in the RAF after four years and have not given notice to leave the Service, you can expect to get a bonus of £3,750, or £5,500 after five years. You may have to commit to a further minimum period of service to receive a bonus.
If you spend between 12 and 18 years in the RAF, you will get a grant when you leave to help you settle back into civilian life.
RAF pay, bonuses and charges are reviewed annually.
RAF Regiment – our elite fighting force trained to protect RAF personnel, bases and high-value assets.
The Regiment is the RAF’s specialist fighting force, protecting people, aircraft and bases around the world. We’re a tough force, trained to the peak of physical fitness and endurance. We parachute into enemy territory, secure airfields and are often the first forces into battle.
RAF Regiment training is tough for a good reason. By the end of it, you’ll be ready to carry out operations all over the world, from close protection services to reconnaissance missions, ground patrols and front-line combat.
The RAF Regiment is only as good as the men who join it. Both Officers and Gunners are part of a close-knit, professional organisation that puts a high premium on teamwork, loyalty, determination and physical fitness.
In return, the Corps offers a career that few others can rival in terms of variety, excitement and travel. Coupled with the excellent RAF rates of pay, non-contributory pension scheme and conditions of service, the RAF Regiment offers an outstanding career opportunity to active young men.
Promotion:
With time, you could have opportunities to earn promotion through the ranks. Some promotions early in your career might be based on your time and satisfactory service. However, as you progress, promotion will be based on merit in competition with your peers – whether you’ve got what it takes to take on the extra responsibility given to more senior ranks.
If you join as an airman, airwoman or non-commissioned aircrew, there are opportunities for you to progress into management roles, or even to attain the Queen’s commission and become an RAF officer.
Working Hours:
For much of the time, most people in the RAF work similar hours to people in other jobs – a five-day week with free evenings and weekends.
That said, we are not nine-to-fivers: we do what’s needed to get the job done. Sometimes, you’ll have to work late or at weekends, and, if the situation demands it, you’ll work as long as it takes. If you’re on a detachment (a short period abroad to accomplish a specific task), helping with disaster relief, or on an operational mission , you may even have to work round the clock.
Outside working hours your time is your own, and all RAF personnel get six weeks’ paid holiday, plus the eight public holidays. You can relax and socialise on the base or in the local area, see family and friends or take advantage of the wide range of sports facilities that are available on most bases.
Travel:
The RAF can be required to operate anywhere in the world, so we can offer great opportunities for travel. Although you’ll probably spend much of your working life in the UK, most roles will involve spending some time overseas. Typically, at any one time around 10 per cent of RAF personnel are working overseas.
But travel can mean different things
‘Because the RAF expects so much of you sometimes, you get a lot in return. I spent two months working in Kenya, in quite demanding conditions – working hard in very high temperatures. But while I was there I learned to scuba dive in my spare time and even went on safari.’ - Lee Tierney - Environmental Health Technician
Long term
In some cases, you’ll travel with your whole unit or squadron and stay for a tour of duty, or until an essential operational mission is completed. This could be:
A posting for two or three years to a permanent base with full-time RAF personnel. The RAF’s main permanent overseas base is Akrotiri, in Cyprus. There are others in the Falkland Islands, Ascension Island and Gibraltar, as well as a number of embassy, NATO and exchange posts.
An operational deployment – for example to Afghanistan, the Falkland Islands or the Middle East.
‘I’ve recently returned from a tour of duty in Ascension Island: 16 months on a gorgeous tropical paradise, playing golf in the sun and beach parties in the evenings – but even in the UK there’s a lot going on: I’ve been surfing in Cornwall and am looking to go on a skiing trip in the near future. You don’t get that in an average nine-to-five job.’
- Jenni Niddrie, Personnel (Support)
Short term
Overseas duty can also involve being one of a small team dedicated to a particular job. For example:
An overnight aeromedical evacuation flight, returning casualties from abroad to the UK.
A disaster relief mission – such as the help we gave to victims of the earthquake in Pakistan.
No comments:
Post a Comment