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Any RAF or Navy Officers out there?

Thinking of join the navy as an engineer or possibly a pilot after my degree? Would any one recommend it or advise against it?

Should I join RAF or NAVY as an engineer? I'm kind of slanting towards the navy because they travel more!

Any advice greatly appreciated!
Reply 1
Avatar for Drewski
Drewski
19
Original post by MatthewRooney
Thinking of join the navy as an engineer or possibly a pilot after my degree? Would any one recommend it or advise against it?

Should I join RAF or NAVY as an engineer? I'm kind of slanting towards the navy because they travel more!

Any advice greatly appreciated!


There are many here who can offer advice based on their experience, but no-one is going to tell you what you should join.

It's your life, it's your career. You have to make the decision for yourself.

If you want to be a pilot, it makes sense to go to the organisation that will have the most pilot spaces. If you want to be an engineer, then it's a bit different.

Yes you'll travel in the Navy, but it's not as if you'll get any choice over where you go.
Original post by Drewski
There are many here who can offer advice based on their experience, but no-one is going to tell you what you should join.

It's your life, it's your career. You have to make the decision for yourself.

If you want to be a pilot, it makes sense to go to the organisation that will have the most pilot spaces. If you want to be an engineer, then it's a bit different.

Yes you'll travel in the Navy, but it's not as if you'll get any choice over where you go.


I 'm not asking for anyone to tell me what to do. I'm simply asking their opinion why I should join one or the other!
Reply 3
Avatar for Drewski
Drewski
19
Original post by MatthewRooney
I 'm not asking for anyone to tell me what to do. I'm simply asking their opinion why I should join one or the other!


But again, nameless faceless people on the internet, why should they sway you?

You're looking at two very different roles. And you're also looking at two very different services. They're not as easily comparable as you might think.

What draws you to being a pilot? What makes you want to be an engineer?
Which idea do you prefer, which would you rather be?

Hell, if you're looking at both the RAF and the RN, why not the Army? They also have pilots. They also have engineers. Seemingly you've made the decision not to include them. Why?
Original post by Drewski
But again, nameless faceless people on the internet, why should they sway you?

You're looking at two very different roles. And you're also looking at two very different services. They're not as easily comparable as you might think.

What draws you to being a pilot? What makes you want to be an engineer?
Which idea do you prefer, which would you rather be?

Hell, if you're looking at both the RAF and the RN, why not the Army? They also have pilots. They also have engineers. Seemingly you've made the decision not to include them. Why?


If faceless people can provide valid information then I am happy. I just wanted to hear from someone in the navy or RAF what their experiences were like.

but thanks for showing your concern! :smile:
Reply 5
Avatar for Drewski
Drewski
19
Original post by MatthewRooney
If faceless people can provide valid information then I am happy. I just wanted to hear from someone in the navy or RAF what their experiences were like.

but thanks for showing your concern! :smile:


But "how do you know they are valid?", is my point.

Every service has good and bad bits. But the bad bits to one person might be another person's good bits, or might be the good bits about another service. It's not as binary as it appears you want people to make it, it's very much your take that matters.
Would you rather be an engineer on aircraft or boats / ships?

As for travel, why do you think the RN travels more? Yes, when you're on a sea post, you're away a lot. However, you are not on roles like that all the time. A lot of RN Officers spend a lot of time in shore-based positions.

Find people in your local uni RN / RAF organizations and talk to them.
As said, what exactly do you wish to work on as an engineer?

If your desired field is aircraft, then like pilots, it makes more sense to join a service where there are more places, and that would be the RAF. If you want to be a pilot, what would you like to fly? You won't get a choice in the discipline of aircraft you train on after successfully completing EFT, but it makes a lot more sense to join the Army if you want to fly helicopters, or the RAF if you want to fly multi-engine aircraft. You can fly fast-jets in both the RAF and RN, but there are a lot more current fast-jet pilots in the RAF, and there are currently no frontline fast-jet pilots in the RN. Helo's are flown by all three services, but as I said, you won't get a choice unless you join the one service that only flies helicopters, operationally.

If you suffer with asthma or have done before and it's on your record, you can forget being a pilot in any of the three services if you are unsuccessful in getting asthma written down as a misdiagnosis on your medical record. There are lots of things to consider, and I wish you luck as I too would love to be a pilot!
(edited 8 years ago)
I know that the chances are slim to become a pilot(or so I think) . But I was thinking of either a Aerospace,Mechanical or Electronics engineering degree. Aerospace would bump my chances of being a pilot as well. Mechanical Engineering would enable me to do a wider variety of jobs. Finally, Electronic Engineering would allow me to work on with technology if the Military didn't work out.

Do most pilots have degrees or perhaps very high results in their A-levels ?
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 9
Avatar for Drewski
Drewski
19
Original post by MatthewRooney
I know that the chances are slim to become a pilot(or so I think) . But I was thinking of either a Aerospace,Mechanical or Electronics engineering degree. Aerospace would bump my chances of being a pilot as well. Mechanical Engineering would enable me to do a wider variety of jobs. Finally, Electronic Engineering would allow me to work on with technology if the Military didn't work out.

Do most pilots have degrees or perhaps very high results in their A-levels ?


Bold: Why do you think that? I know far more pilots without (any type of) engineering degrees than with them. Don't let that sway your decision at all. A degree improves your chances - marginally - yes, but that goes for any degree.

I think your preconceptions of what the various engineering disciplines lead to is quite inaccurate. In reality, aerospace and mechanical will be virtually identical degrees until the final year, and none will be better or worse for an engineering career in the forces.
If you want to be a Pilot, then join the Royal Air Force. I am slightly biased, but in fairness they have the largest number and variety of aircraft and as such will recruit more pilots. The possible varieties of flying will also be much greater than if you were in the Navy.

Go for your Eng degree, it won't help you get a Pilot slot but it will help your overall application as an Officer, and is a requirement to be an Engineering Officer.

I can't comment on the differences between being an EngO in the Navy and in the RAF short of the amount of time you would spend on a ship...
i kind of like the idea of being on a ship in my younger years (maybe 6 month deployments ?). but if i have a family down the line then the RAF would be preferable as its like a 9 to 5 job. (as an engineer)
Original post by MatthewRooney
i kind of like the idea of being on a ship in my younger years (maybe 6 month deployments ?). but if i have a family down the line then the RAF would be preferable as its like a 9 to 5 job. (as an engineer)


I've got a couple of JEngO friends who might disagree with you a touch there.

You can't be that generic, it really depends on what you're doing at that time.

And deployments are going to start being longer than 6 months, most likely.
Original post by Drewski
I've got a couple of JEngO friends who might disagree with you a touch there.

You can't be that generic, it really depends on what you're doing at that time.

And deployments are going to start being longer than 6 months, most likely.

I see!

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