First of all, wow! I wish my AFCO would organise smth like that, I asked and was told unless I know somebody who can take me, they don't do that.
I actually do know an officer at RAF, and in your trade Matt, Sarah, so I went to see how my trade works (not allowed to see yours until pass my NSC), it was great to soak up the atmosphere of the working station
But coming back to my contact in your trade, out of 52 techs under him, only 2 are female, so you are right Sarah, very few females, and they are desperate for more women in techy and engineering trades!
Apparently a lot of old fashioned misguided preconception about girls not going into silence, engineering and technical jobs still rife, but it shouldn't be! Girls are as capable as boys in any trade.
And believe me, they are desperate for ICT techs, (the officer I know said they are stretched very thin at the moment and he himself needs to have at least 5 more SACs) always understaffed, hence why they are pushing you though so fast.