Flies military aircraft, with the selection and the commitment that implies.
The work
The training is funded, extremely selective, and followed by a service commitment measured in years. What you fly is assigned rather than chosen. The flying itself is unlike anything in civil aviation, and so is the rest of the job: military pilots are officers first, with people and responsibilities on the ground.
A typical day
- 01Brief, fly and debrief a sortie against a stated objective
- 02Carry a secondary ground role alongside flying
- 03Train continuously for situations you hope not to meet
- 04Move, often, and on somebody else’s timetable
How people get in
- Direct entry officer
Apply, pass selection and aptitude testing, commission, then start flying training.
- University air squadron or academy
Flying experience and a route to selection while completing a degree.
How it unfolds
- SelectionAptitude testing, medicals, interviews. Most applicants do not get through, and it is not a comment on them.
- TrainingTwo to four years: officer training, then elementary, basic and advanced flying, then a type.
- First tourOperational squadron. Junior, on a steep learning curve, with a ground role alongside the flying.
- LaterInstructing, testing, staff work or command — and for many, a civil licence afterwards.
Is there a job in it
No published projectionMilitary pay is set by rank and time served, published as pay tables rather than as a labour-market figure, and military flying is not counted as a civilian occupation at all. Nothing in the Handbook fits, so nothing is quoted.
The hard parts
You do not choose what you fly, where you live or when you move, and a service commitment measured in years starts after training you did not pay for. Deployments separate people from families. The flying is unlike anything civil aviation offers, and the price is a decade of your choices being made by somebody else.
What you would need
- Airmanship under load
- Formation and tactical flying
- Leadership
- Physical fitness
- Median pay
- Set by rank and time served
- Not sourced No published occupation matches this role. See the demand section below.
- Typical education
- Commissioning route, then service flying training
- Routes in
- Military, Degree
- Field
- Aviation
