With the re-orbatting of the unit to which I belong and wider trade as far as I am aware from a reserve perspective the opportunities for promotion and career development have shrunk. The emphasis on using the reserves as a production line to fill gaps means that focus is placed on areas needing the most support, namely the lowest rank levels where numbers are greatest. Having been encouraged by my unit to peruse a commission the lack of support and assistance in order to produce a capable rounded officer within the time constraints available to the reservist was not adequate and again smacked of a poor cousin feel when I attended Cranwell. Coming from a background in teaching I was disappointed by this discovery. It might well be useful to look at the Academy programme run by the Civil Service and their mentoring schemes where potential leaders are identified and supported in a much more positive manner.
There is none in a SR unit. As a WO I have no opportunity to progress as the CWO is not available to FTRS.
As FTRS, career management as such is in my own hands, which I accepted when I went FTRS.
Career advancement opportunities seem limited for SNCOs and Officers once they have been in ranks such as FS or Flt Lt. There is also no fast track commissioning route for WOs as in the Army/Army Reserves
Promotion prospects for the OR’s appeared to be better than for the commissioned ranks. My expectation was that I would join the Sqn as a Fg Off and leave as a Flt Lt and it would also appear that some Sqn’s have better promotion prospects for commissioned personnel.
JRs have a much clearer career path. The potential for officer promotion in the other two Reserve Services is far better.
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Image caption: ‘Shark Attack’ by Squadron Leader John Eklund, an RAF Reservist with 7644(VR) Squadron. Source: RAF. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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