Training for Military ATCO vs NATS

[darn]

Despite being a qualified commerical pilot (with no airline job!), I'm considering jumping ship to the dark side - ATC.

Although I'm in the process of applying with NATS, being an RAF ATCO also appeals. I've read through all the bumf on the RAF careers website, and working on an RAF station myself (as a civvie) I have some limited idea of the lifestyle involved.

Are there any mil controllers out there with any advice - any regrets or was it a good career choice in hindsight? Is it a viable alternative to civvie controlling? I'm asumming the selection criteria is equally tough for both? I also heard the RAF is apparently keen for new ATCO's, don't know if theres any truth in this.

Also I noticed the salary was considerably lower than what NATs offer, but I guess the military has certain benefits associated with it.

Thanks in advance!

[IFPS man]

This is a bit like the "I don't know whether to be an airline pilot or an RAF pilot" theme; People don't go into the RAF just to be either a Pilot, Air Trafficker or OpsBod. Surely, they are there to be RAF OFFICERS, with a responsibility to the Airmen and Women under their command and authority. That must be their prime duty/task. Their Branch function is secondary.....

[orgASMic]

IFPS Man has got it right. You have to pass selection first so you need to know why you are joining the RAF and have an idea of what will be expected of you as an officer or SNCO. After that, you then have responsibility as an ATCO.
Have you thought about whether or not you will join as an officer or direct entrant sergeant? The aptitude tests are the same, the interviews are pretty much the same, the initial training is different, then controller training is the same. Levels of responsibility, pay scales and pensions are very different. Do plenty of homework, read a decent paper, form some opinions on the big stories.
Have you thought about the impact of moving every 2-3 years (officer) or 5 years (SNCO) will have on your familiy life?
Have you also told your significant other that you will be off on your holidays for 4-6 months every couple of years? I have been on ops in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan (at less than 24hrs notice!) and Iraq and on exercise across most of Europe.
Have you considered that, as an officer, you will get jobs out of ATC? I have worked in an army HQ as the airspace manager, a foreign security force HQ as the air power advisor and a British joint HQ as a resource planner.
The RAF is changing all the time and is fighting hard to stop from getting steam-rollered by the Army. It is also getting smaller all the time so be prepared to adapt.
"If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less." General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army as quoted by Tom Peters in Reimagine, DK 2003
That is where we are - adapt or die. We have had some weak leadership in recent years and have not adapted sufficiently. That will have to change in th elight of the upcoming Strategic Defence Review.I never considered civilian ATC, but then I did not join the RAF to be an ATCO - I got chopped from flying training. The environment, culture and ethos are completely different, as are pay and conditions. And don't think that it is easy to switch sides; though our rules are slowly becoming more civilianised, we will never get civil licences. The MOD could not afford it.
It is not everyone's cup of tea, but I have had a great time over the last 17 years and I am not done yet. Good luck with whatever you decide upon.

[Not Long Now]

If you really want to be an ATCO, go the NATS route (or if you're really keen self-fund). If you want to be in the RAF, then that's your answer. They may both be called controllers, but the lifestyle, if not the entire life are completely different.
Good luck

[cottam approach]

I was an RAF ATCO and am starting my training with NATS next month. I'd fully concur with all the above, indeed some very wise words.
I have loved my time in the Service, but ultimately it is ATC that I love and so the decision was a relatively easy one for me.

[niknak]

Go the NATS route.

As a civilian ATCO you will have the time and freedom to utilise your flying qualifications to significant financial gain and make the contacts to do so.
Several NATS & non NATS ATCOs do the same and do very well out of it.

In the military, you are an Oficer first, ATCO second, you'll never get the time to make use of your existing expertise and when you do decide to leave your flying qualifications will be as good as useless considering all the effort you've already put in.