r/RoyalAirForce

Thinking about going for one of them. Any thoughts on them for person who have done or currently doing the roles?

For the Hr role I have a good idea of the 6 to 7 core hubs from Rafs website but is it the same for supplier and are there many options in the Lincoln area if commuting from north east UK?

Do the suppliers go away often?

How often do you change locations for suppliers?

TIA

Evening everyone,

Before OASC we’re sent a detailed breakdown of MIOT which we are expected to know off by heart for the interview. I’ve seen other people mention that similarly detailed knowledge is required of the Phase 2 training (I’m up for ops officer). Is this the case and if so can anyone tell me where to find such information? Thanks :)

I've just completed CBAT and passed for both ATWC and WSOp, so I'm now genuinely torn between the two. I have to decide by next week which route to pursue. My scores were comfortably above the required thresholds for both.

ATC

I've been researching ATC for a while and I'm particularly drawn to the operational side of the role — Tower, Radar/Area, and the potential to develop into more specialised work over time, e.g. TacATC. The main attraction is that it looks like a defined career where I could stay operational and involved in aviation for most of my service.

WSOp

This is where I'm more torn.

I enjoy aviation, and actually being aircrew and flying as part of the mission is a huge draw. Of the WSOp streams, ALM/MSO currently appeals to me most, though I find ISR interesting too.

I appreciate preference doesn't guarantee allocation, and Service requirement ultimately decides where people are streamed. From what I've read (consistently, over the last several years of posts here), a significant proportion of WSOp entrants end up in ISR, so I'm trying to understand the reality of the role rather than plan around getting a specific stream.

I'm also trying to understand the longer-term career implications of the different WSOp streams — for example, whether ALM/RW being more physically demanding has any meaningful impact on career longevity compared with other WSOp roles.

My circumstances

I'm 31, have a partner and two young children, and I'm currently established in a finance career. Moving into either an SNCO or Officer RAF role would mean a fair salary reduction, so this is a genuine long-term decision rather than trying something for a few years.

I've discussed it with my partner and we're both comfortable with the potential lifestyle. If I'm posted within roughly 2–3 hours of home, the plan would be for me to weekly commute. If further away, we'd move as a family and rent out our current home.

I'm looking at this as a career through to retirement, so I'm particularly interested in how the two trades develop over the long term.

What would be useful to know is:

1. For WSOp, what percentage of recruits currently end up in each stream (ISR, ALM/MSO, RW), and how much weight does personal preference actually carry against Service requirement? I've been told preference holds a fair amount of weight for ATC — I presume the same is not true for WSOp?

2. Specifically on ISR: does WSOp(ISR) still stream Sensor Operators onto Protector at Waddington, or does that role sit entirely within Pilot(ISR) RPAS and Mission Intelligence Coordinator posts? I've seen conflicting info on this.

3. How much of the year does a typical WSOp actually spend away from home? I've heard WSOp deployments can sometimes be short (1–3 weeks for exercises) compared with longer stints in other trades — what's the reality across a typical year?

4. How does WSOp career longevity work? Are the different streams all broadly capable of taking someone through to retirement, or are some more likely to force a move into other roles as you get older?

5. For ATC, how much real opportunity is there to move between Tower, Radar/Area, and more specialised roles like TacATC over a career?

6. Are there any significant differences between ATC and WSOp in terms of posting stability and family life?

I'm not looking for anyone to tell me which role is objectively "better." I'm trying to work out which is the better fit for me, given my age, family circumstances and it being my longer term career decision.

Any honest perspectives would be appreciated.

Hi all,

I have a family member who wants to join as cabin crew (she understands that it’s all full until April) and she was wondering if it’s worth going in as cabin crew and if there is anyone on this chat that is currently serving as cabin crew or have served as cabin crew and could tell me what it’s like so I could tell her about it? That would be much appreciated, thank you.

I have been given the option to self book the online aircrew presentation, I would assume, quite late into the application process meaning by the time I can join the online presentation, I will already be in Cranwell. I am just curious if the aircrew presentation contains information not accessible in the public domain or not and if I should be worried about my chances in the interview.

Thanks in advance!

Now that my fitness test has been booked does the process of joining speed up?

I have just send my application into this role and I have been trying to understand something but cant seem to find an answer anywhere. For this role do I do a CBAT or a DAA?, or do I do one after the other? Im really confused and I cant seem to find a straight answer anywhere so I was just wondering if anybody could help, thank you.

Hello,

I’ve been rejected due to my asthma, how would I file for an appeal and what would can I do to improve my chances of my appeal being accepted.

any advice would be really helpful.

Thank you

So I’ve failed the interview on the oasc, got a year till i can retry it. I applied for WSOp and was unprepared for the interview unfortunately. Just wondering if it would be worth enlisting for the time being, if I could take an a-level while enlisted, and if it would be worth reapplying for pilot maybe? (only a few UCAS points off the req). I’m guessing enlisting would help my chances in the interview, showing good motivation, better knowledge etc. I would just like to get started really. I got good scored on the CBAT and my medical and fitness is all in check. Should i enlist?

Hi everyone,

I am currently waiting for my medical and have been using a set of flashcards daily to prepare for my Filter Interview and OASC. I am applying for the People Operations Officer role.

I was wondering if anyone with experience could take a quick look at my flashcards to see if I am missing anything, focusing on the wrong areas, or if I need more/less detail? Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Note: For the personal questions (like why I want to join the RAF), I have just jotted down talking points to reference rather than full scripted answers.

https://quizlet.com/gb/1200443575/raf-officer-interview-prep-flash-cards/?i=76npiu&x=1jqt

Thank you in advance!

Anyone here applied for logistics driver.?
i done my pjft and waiting for SC clearance

Hey!

So, I'm about to have my interview tomorrow over a teams call.

I have a list of questions to ask and ive written notes about info on the RAF, base site the UAS is on, including some background like when they formed the UAS. But I was mainly wondering, is it okay to be looking over at these notes or should I try memorise them? I just don't want to seem unprofessional if I keep glancing at my notes during the interview.

during PVR period can you refuse to go on any deployment?

In October last year I had my RAF medical, I got flagged for high BP and a potential heart condition. Fast forward to now, the heart investigation is finally over and my heart is healthy, but in my letter from Capita I was made PMU because 1 of 3 BP in January was over the threshold for the RAF. This was deemed to be situational, as the other 2 readings were within the normal range.

I know I don't have hypertension, I'm very healthy, running 20+ km a week and strength training 2-3x a week as well. I've never had any health conditions or other high readings, only this one and the one at my RAF medical.

Anyone who's gone through this could you please let me know what you put in your appeal, what steps you took to prove you didn't have high BP and the outcome. Any other help is also appreciated.

Does anybody know the JSP which states what pets are aloud in SLA? Im at marham and been told im not aloud a hamster but aloud a rabbit, the officer told me it was in a JSP but i cant remember which one and would like to look at the list of what else if aloud/forbidden

Does anyone have an opinion on what entry role might be the best to aim for if ultimately the aim is to try and end up with the RAF Mountain Rescue?

Or is it a case of doing any role joining the RAFMA and taking things from there?

Been looking into the CBAT setup and noticed it now groups Pilot, Observer, and ATC into one aptitude testing stream. Can anyone confirm if they're all sitting the exact same battery of tests, or if there's still some differentiation in subtests depending on which branch you're going for?

Also wondering about Warfare rating(Aviation) — is that grouped in with the above, or is it tested separately as its own test? Trying to get my head around how the branches map onto the test structure. i wanna be a Aircrewman or a Observor

Has anyone sat the CBAT recently (2025/2026)? If you've got a score sheet or breakdown you wouldn't mind sharing, I'd really appreciate it — trying to understand what a competitive score profile looks like across the sub-tests before I sit mine.

Cheers in advance.

Anyone else had to get SC before OASC? How did you stay motivated through a long wait?

I'm approaching 24 weeks waiting for SC and would really appreciate hearing from anyone who's been in a similar position.

I'm applying for Control Officer and have so far passed DAA, CBAT, medical and PJFT, all first time. However, because of previous overseas residence/work and the heightened security brought in once things kicked of in the Middle East, I've had to complete my SC before being allowed back to RAF Cranwell for OASC. I submitted it at the beginning of March and it's still in progress nearly six months later.

I contacted UKSV about a month ago, and they confirmed that the application is active and there's nothing outstanding from either me or my sponsor. My recruiter has also confirmed that as soon as SC is granted I'll be added straight to the OASC queue, so unfortunately it seems there's nothing I can do except hurry up and wait.

Has anyone else had to get SC before OASC? If so, once it finally came through, did the rest of your recruitment process move relatively quickly? Particularly interested in whether it made the wait between passing everything and getting a start date any shorter?

I'm also interested in how people kept themselves motivated during a really long application. I've been in the process for 14 months now, with the last 6 months being pretty much silent. I started my OASC studying back in January when I was expecting OASC in Feb/March, then restarted again in April when typical timelines suggested I would hear. I recently started properly revising for OASC again, but it's difficult preparing for something indefinitely when I still don't know whether OASC is weeks or months away. There's also the slightly grim thought that after waiting all this time, OASC and Aircrew Medical are still hurdles I could fail and I don't want to get robotic with my knowledge and interview prep!

I'm absolutely committed to joining and giving up isn't something I'm considering. I'm just thoroughly fed up with being in limbo and would love to hear from anyone who's been through something similar and eventually made it out the other side. TIA!