how long did it take for you to fully qualify as a pilot ?what is day to day life like as an aviation support officer?

Good morning, thanks for your question.

I'm not an ASO but I work very closely with our GSF (ground support force) Commander so I have a fairly good idea about the day to day role.

In their first tour, most ASOs are a platoon commander. They are in command of a troop of 20-30 soldiers ranging from Airtpr rank (Private soldier) up to SSgt. They manage the running of the troop and some of the jobs they do are things like: report writing, mentoring, career management of soldiers, preparing for and deploying on exercises both in the UK and abroad, maintaining overwatch of the Squadron's vehicle fleet, managing the welfare of their soldiers and signposting where required. The job is very similar to a traditional infantry platoon commander job except they work in an aviation setting so there is some specific training that they receive to enable them to safely operate. In particular, the FARP commander course which allows them to command the fuelling and re-arming point for our aircraft.

Our ASOs tend to have a fairly varied career in their first few years as they are a small cohort and they have all the jobs open to them that pilots don't have access to due to their long training program. This includes jobs such as Phase 1/2 instructor.

I hope that all makes sense. Please let me know if you have any more questions.

Have a nice bank holiday,
Maddie