RAF Officer roles

Hello all,

Was just asking for advice from those with in-depth knowledge of the RAF, those going through training or in the RAF themselves.

I’m 18 and For the past 7 years or so I’ve always wanted to join the RAF in an Officer role. I’ve been part of the air cadets and I’ve been on an air defence course with Lincoln college so I have an In-depth knowledge already of the RAF and what to expect in training. I just wanted to know which roles are the hardest to get into and which are the easiest? My 1st choice is a pilot but after reading into it I’ve discovered how incredibly hard selection is. So I just wanted to know which roles I’d actually have a realistic chance of getting into, I’ve thought about RAF regiment Officer just wanted to hear other people’s advice.

Picking a role based on how easy it is to get into is NOT the way to choose a career that you could be doing for up to 20 years, potentially. And not a discussion that is expected for an 'in-depth knowledge of the RAF'.

Selection isn't easy for any officer role, but it varies as to whether it's because of the requirements or the individual; some roles require particular mental skills and coordination, some roles have very exacting medical or fitness standards, some people struggle with the Filter Interview or at OASC no matter what they are applying for.

Pick a role that you are interested in doing. If it's challenging to get into, so what? Being in the military is challenging and you're not always going to be able to take the easy option.

None of them are hard to get into if you have the aptitude, qualifications, skills and interest. You have to choose your own branches on the basis of where your skills and interests lie.

You haven't told us anything useful about yourself to offer suggestions about branches, but to be honest, it should be pretty obvious, you either want to be a Regiment Officer or you want to be a Pers Admin Officer, they are very, very different roles.

It’s alright hearing stuff such as ‘non of them are hard if you have the right attitude’ from someone with a good outlook in life such as an air cadet but I just find it more valuable from people who’ve actually gone through training for a particular role so I know what to expect.

Use the information on the recruitment website as fodder. Make notes. Do not choose a career just because you think that the pay is good or you have the required skill set either. In other words while that is somewhat important what technically matters is your interest and passion for it.
Talk to a few different army workers first to gather valuable information and learn more before making a decision either way. Find out if you truly do have what it takes to survive in the army. Remember that army training is way tougher than what you originally expect it would be as well.
You will need to pass many hard selection tests, and probably also have a interview in addition. Making it into the army is definitely far from easy and a few recruits each year drop out. Bear that in mind as you register and apply.
There are people who have experience who should be able to answer your questions about the entire process so do seek them out. Post a engaging question about the whole process on a army forum and you will get some relevant information. Good luck.
As part of the entire evaluation is about assessing your current level of physical fitness do ensure that you are relatively healthy and also in tip top condition. Other important skills will be evaluated. Get up to date contact information. Read the information carefully. Be realistic with yourself. But not too hard. Military life and army culture is tough and certainly not suitable for the weak. Your army officer can give you more details as to what to expect.

You are hearing advice from people who are currently serving or veterans, and people who have worked kn RAF Recruitment.

What do you mean when you ask what to expect? In what regard? There's plenty of information on the RAF Recruitment website and on here about training and typical tours within roles and the military lifestyle.

As I've said, you choose on the basis of something that you could be doing for many years, and having an interest in a topic doesn't necessarily make for it being a career choice.

Use the information on the recruitment website as fodder. Make notes. Do not choose a career just because you think that the pay is good or you have the required skill set either. In other words while that is somewhat important what technically matters is your interest and passion for it.
Talk to a few different army workers first to gather valuable information and learn more before making a decision either way. Find out if you truly do have what it takes to survive in the army. Remember that army training is way tougher than what you originally expect it would be as well.
You will need to pass many hard selection tests, and probably also have a interview in addition. Making it into the army is definitely far from easy and a few recruits each year drop out. Bear that in mind as you register and apply.
There are people who have experience who should be able to answer your questions about the entire process so do seek them out. Post a engaging question about the whole process on a army forum and you will get some relevant information. Good luck.
As part of the entire evaluation is about assessing your current level of physical fitness do ensure that you are relatively healthy and also in tip top condition. Other important skills will be evaluated. Get up to date contact information. Read the information carefully. Be realistic with yourself. But not too hard. Military life and army culture is tough and certainly not suitable for the weak. Your army officer can give you more details as to what to expect.

Yeah I have read up about the different roles but again after reading them I’m still clearly undecided which is exactly the point why I’ve come here to ask any advice from people in these different roles, you can research all you want but you aren’t going to get a better insight then someone who’s gone through training or in a particular role. If you’re in the RAF then maybe you could help me by telling me what your role is? And offering some more information about it, because no offence just telling me to ‘go with a role that’s right’ isn’t really going to be useful in helping me to decide my backup option. Either way at the currently moment in time I don’t have the right qualifications or fitness to join but that’s what I’m working on, I ask for more information about different roles because some roles such as the RAF regiment are obviously more physically demanding so my main focus would have to be getting an even higher standard of fitness which would require me to sacrifice say research for physical training, however technical roles would require me to obviously focus more on my education and gaining the correct qualifications and knowledge.

The problem you'll get is that people can only give you perspective on one role - very very few people will have done more than one so can't give you qualitative comparative feedback.

You say that you want to be an officer in the RAF. Why? What appeals to you about that?
You've done a UPS course, so from that you've been able to gain an insight into the forces, so something must have made you go towards the RAF, what was that something?

No role will require you to sacrifice one strength for the sake of another. They don't expect less knowledge from a RegO than any other officer, even if you think the fitness standards are different. So you might need to rethink your approach to preparation.

Re bold. Yes it is. There's no point us telling you to be a Logs Officer because you'll get in, when you actually find the role deathly dull. It's your life and your career. Your opinion on it matters.

An officer role appeals to me because it is a management role. I’ve wanted to join the RAF for a while but the dream of a management role only came to me when I started doing leadership courses and leadership exercises at cadets then I eventually knew I wanted to go in as officer as soon as I was given responsibility by achieving the rank of corporal. Again this is why I’m asking for multiple perspectives I’m not just asking for a single perspective I was just asking to hear from multiple roles. Officer training is the same for every officer but you’d be very much mistaken if you think every role is the same, I’m not necessarily sacrificing one thing over the other the other I’m choosing to direct my preparation for a particular role, if I compared RegO to a pilot yes you need the same knowledge to pass officer training but you need to bare in mind the fitness test for regiment is different to pilot and it’s a more physically demanding test I would understand your point say if you where in good shape already but for someone like me getting to the correct standard to pass isn’t something I’m going to accomplish say within a week, there’s also the fact you need to try and aim significantly past the pass mark last time I did the multistage fitness test I only got level 7 and when I last timed a 2.4km run it took me around 14 minutes. So a lot of my time would be spent on fitness. Also engineering officer roles require you to have a degree which is obviously something you need to go to uni for. At the end of the day it is ultimately my decision what role I choose I’m just looking for some insight from others to help me decide.

Yeah I have read up about the different roles but again after reading them I’m still clearly undecided which is exactly the point why I’ve come here to ask any advice from people in these different roles, you can research all you want but you aren’t going to get a better insight then someone who’s gone through training or in a particular role. If you’re in the RAF then maybe you could help me by telling me what your role is? And offering some more information about it, because no offence just telling me to ‘go with a role that’s right’ isn’t really going to be useful in helping me to decide my backup option. Either way at the currently moment in time I don’t have the right qualifications or fitness to join but that’s what I’m working on, I ask for more information about different roles because some roles such as the RAF regiment are obviously more physically demanding so my main focus would have to be getting an even higher standard of fitness which would require me to sacrifice say research for physical training, however technical roles would require me to obviously focus more on my education and gaining the correct qualifications and knowledge.

I’ve wanted to join the RAF for a while but the dream of a management role only came to me when I started doing leadership courses and leadership exercises at cadets then I eventually knew I wanted to go in as officer as soon as I was given responsibility by achieving the rank of corporal.

But sure as eggs are eggs, (it must be breakfast time, I've got them on the brain) no-one here is going to give you a role by role comparison and tell you which one is guaranteed to get you into the Officers Mess - where, incidentally, they do a very nice breakfast.

Muesli that was more dust than oats, and those toasters on an endless loop where bread came out white on the first pass and burnt after the second...