"The RAF don't want to take somebody on as a potential pilot who after 12 months of very expensive training decides that once again he's bored and needs a new direction. That's not what they're looking for."
Who mentioned getting bored? The eventual goal/dream for me is to be an RAF pilot. Every step I've mentioned on the way to the ripe old age of 23/24 is to broaden my experiences and give myself the best chance of becoming an RAF pilot, however misguided they may or may not be.
However I feel if became a pilot I would always wonder what it would have been like to be a soldier on operations/ wished I had done that instead, so I came up with the plan in my first post which would enable me to train in my spare time, hopefully get a tour in and then make a decision whether to stay as a soldier if I absolutely loved the life, and maybe eventually become an officer if I have the potential, or if I still wanted to be an RAF pilot and had the potential then I could go down that route. Either scenario would hopefully end up with a highly motivated junior officer in one of the forces, at this moment I am unsure of which I just know I want to be a part of HM Armed Forces, and an elite within and elite (hence the desire to be a para or a pilot).
So in an attempt to get this thread back on track;
I made it unclear in my original post but I am 17 at the moment, and am nearing the end of my first year in college. If I join the TA I will be starting the process this September (when I turn 18 ), and if reports are to be believed Herrick will be all but over in its current capacity (approx 10,000, of which approx 10% are TA) by the end of 2014. This means that if I could get phase 1 and 2 out of the way by the time I am 19 ( September 2013) there would be potentially a year in which I could get on a tour, assuming 6 months is long enough to pre deployment training (this is mainly aimed at The Duke, he seems the most knowledgeable here). Bearing in mind that in this year I would be out of full time education so free to train full time if necessary.
Thanks so far to the majority of you, its just a shame places like this site can be spoiled by a tiny minority.
I say well done for making back up plans and thinking it through, best of luck to you.