How to Join the Royal Air Force, Career Near Me
How to Join the Royal Air Force, Career Near Me
You may join the Royal Air Force as a Regular or Reserve service person. While the process varies slightly, you’ll need to ensure your eligibility, submit an application, and fulfill each step of the application process. Determine whether you intend to apply to the Regular RAF or Reserves first, as this will determine your application process after ensuring eligibility. Either way, you will need to pass aptitude tests, health assessments, and fitness tests during this process. Familiarise yourself with the process specific to the role you’re applying for to ensure your application to join the Royal Air Force is accepted.
Part 1 Meeting Eligibility Requirements.
1. Confirm nationality and residency. Your citizenship determines whether you are able to join the Royal Air Force. You must be a British, Commonwealth, or Irish Republic Citizen. If you have dual citizenship with another country, this does not necessarily revoke your nationality eligibility. You must also have resided in the UK for the five years preceding your application. During those five years, you must not have lived outside of the UK for more than 28 days per year.
If you meet the nationality requirements but do not quite meet the residency requirements, contact an RAF recruiter for more information on whether you may still be eligible to apply.
2. Meet the RAF’s age requirements. Depending on the specific position you intend to apply for, age requirements vary. The youngest possible age at which you can join is 15 years and 9 months. At the upper end of the age spectrum, candidates up to age 55 can serve in specific positions. Age requirements are not flexible.
If you’re applying before the age of 18, get your parent or guardian’s legal consent before beginning your application.
3. Anticipate educational requirements. Depending on which position you intend to apply for, you may need to specific academic experience. Some positions, however, have minimal academic requirements. Once you consider all of the eligibility requirements, consider your academic history and performance when deciding which specific position to apply for.
4. Consider your physical fitness. Training in the RAF requires all candidates to be physically fit. You will undergo multiple fitness assessments during the application process. Requirements in terms of the minimum level of performance will vary based on the position you’re applying for, your age, and your gender.
See the RAF Fitness Test website at https://www.raf.mod.uk/recruitment/how-to-apply/eligibility-check/?rid=19.1542 for specific information on the marks you’ll need to achieve in specific exercises – such as pushups and sit ups – as well as a video that will familiarize you with the tests.
5. Ensure your personal health. You must also be healthy to join the RAF. Health is determined according to your Body Mass Index (BMI), your eyesight, and any medical conditions you may have. If you are over 18, your BMI will need to be within 18 and 28. Eyesight requirements widely vary, and correctional lenses do not hamper your eligibility. If you have certain medical conditions, including some common ailments, you may not be eligible for application.
The RAF website provides a calculator to help determine your BMI.
You may meet the health requirement with a slightly higher BMI by undergoing an additional assessment with an RAF doctor.
If you are under 18, your BMI must be within 17 and 27.
See the RAF website for a non-exhaustive list of medical conditions that will likely render your ineligible to apply. Understand that you will have to pass several medical assessments to be admitted to the RAF.
6. Submit to a background check. If you have any convictions on your legal record, declare then when you first contact an RAF recruiter. Certain convictions may prevent you from being eligible to apply. The RAF will undertake a background check on you in order to determine your eligibility for admittance, as well as any potential security clearances.
While a legal record may not prevent eligibility to apply, it may disallow you from serving in certain positions.
7. Ensure you do not meet disqualifying criteria. Certain factors may automatically remove you from eligibility. In particular, certain tattoos or other physical adornments, extreme political views, a history of drug abuse, or pending court appearances will render you ineligible to apply. You may also be ineligible if you have recently declared yourself bankrupt. If uncertain about these criteria, contact a recruiter.
Previous or current membership in any organization known to condone racial hatred or violence will likely disqualify you.
Tattoos must not be visible above the neck collar nor below the cuff while wearing an RAF uniform. Piercings, such as gauges, that have resulted in permanently open holes may also disqualify you.
Part 2 Choosing a Role in the RAF.
1. Determine your time commitment and potential role. Before beginning your application, choose between a full-time and spare-time commitment to the RAF. This will determine whether you will be applying as a Regular or Reserve. Further, you’ll also need to determine which “area” of the RAF you are interested in. Within your area of interest, you will choose a specific role to apply for.
Areas of the RAF in which you may serve include personnel support, medical and medical support, logistics, force protection, communications and intelligence, aircrew, air operations support, and technical and engineering.
2. Contact the RAF directly. For help determining which roles you are eligible for, contact a recruiting office directly. The “Contact” section of the RAF website provides a form to contact a recruiter via email, though you may also visit an RAF office, attend an event (listed on the “Contact” page), or call 0345 605 5555 about Regular service or 0345 606 9069 about the Reserves.
3. Consider a personnel support role. There are seven specific roles within the area of personnel support that you can apply for as a Regular or Reserve candidate. These roles include positions related to personnel training and support, human resources, and physical training. If you are a musician, chaplain, or have legal experience or training, consider applying for a role in personnel support.
4. Consider a logistics role. The six roles that fall into the logistics category essentially include moving, storing, and cooking. You can serve either in either the Regular RAF or the Reserves as a chef, driver, mover, or specialist in catering and hospitality or storage and distribution.
5. Opt for force protection. You may wish to serve in the police branch of the RAF or in the RAF regiment. Positions in these areas are available to both Regular and Reserve service people. To serve as a firefighter in the RAF, you must join the RAF as a Regular.
6. Apply for a full-time role in an aircrew. Aircrew positions are only available to Regular servicepersons in the RAF. Aircrew roles include working on remotely piloted aircraft systems, operating weapons systems, and piloting airplanes.
7. Work in air operations support. There are several roles available to both Reserves and Regular RAF servicepersons. These include several positions inflight operations. Several positions in this area require you to serve as a Regular. These include roles involved with cartography, air traffic control, and aerospace systems and battle operations.
8. Apply to a communications or intelligence role. You can work as a photographer, intelligence analyst, or in the RAF’s cyber unit by choosing to apply for a role in this area. Positions are available to Reserves, though more positions are available to Regular service people.
9. Join the RAF’s medical team. There are a large number of roles for both Reserves and Regular RAF servicepersons in the medical and medical support area of interest. Registered nurses, medics, pharmacy technicians, and dentists are needed for both full and part time positions. Paramedics can serve as a Reserve, while radiographers, environmental health specialists, and biomedical scientists are needed as Regular RAF personnel.
10. Choose a technical or engineering role. Want to actually work on aircraft and other vehicles, buildings, or weapons. This may the area of interest for you. Both Regular RAF servicepersons and Reserves also need communications infrastructure technicians, cyberspace communication specialists, weapons technicians, and electricians. You can apply for a survival equipment specialist role as a Regular only.
Part 3 Initiating the Application Process.
1. Register to apply for service as a Regular. From the “How to Apply” section of the RAF website, access the Regular Registration Form or call the RAF information line at 0345 605 5555. Filling out this form only takes a few minutes. It does not require you to join the RAF.
The form requires you to indicate the role you are interested in applying for and your personal information, including your address and other contact information.
2. Register to apply to the RAF Reserves. From the “How to Apply” section of the RAF website, access the “Reserve Application Form” or call the Reserve information line at 0345 606 9069. After providing you name and email address, you will be sent an email containing logon information. This information will allow you to access the Application Zone, where you will provide the necessary information to begin your application.
Registering does not commit you joining the RAF in any way.
You must be living in the UK or overseas with a British Force Post Office address in order to complete the online application.
3. Follow the guided application process. The order of operations for passing aptitude tests, health assessments, and fitness tests varies based on the role you apply for, as well as whether you’ve applied as a Regular or Reserve. In both cases, you will also undergo a series of selection interviews.
The specific order of operations for completing the application process according to your application will be provided to you, likely via email.
If you applied as a Regular, you will complete all aspects of the application before being accepted into service and beginning training full time. You will begin by taking aptitude tests.
If you applied as a Reserve, carefully mark the day, time, and location of your Squadron Information Day. Further information regarding your specific application process will be shared with you then.
