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Wills hangs up his wings

IanHenry

IanHenry

Charter Member
Given that Prince William had to make a choice between carrying on as a RAF Helicopter pilot, or dedicating himself to carrying out his Royal duties it seems he has chosen to resign his commission with the RAF (did he really have a choice in this matter?). This must have been a terrible wrench for him. Like the Royal family or not you have to sympathise with him, I can't imagine any young man would want to give up his career in the RAF through his own choice.

http://home.bt.com/news/uknews/william-completes-helicopter-stint-11363832819575

Regards,
Ian.
 
I'm sure he'll be given lots of chances to play with the shiny toys; Charles used to fly the Queens Flight Wessex and Andovers at every opportunity, should think his son will be exactly the same. Be interesting to see what Harry does though; as he is the 'spare' and seems to taken to Army life more wholeheartedly maybe he'll be making more of a career out of it.
 
IanHenry said:
Given that Prince William had to make a choice between carrying on as a RAF Helicopter pilot, or dedicating himself to carrying out his Royal duties it seems he has chosen to resign his commission with the RAF (did he really have a choice in this matter?). This must have been a terrible wrench for him. Like the Royal family or not you have to sympathise with him, I can't imagine any young man would want to give up his career in the RAF through his own choice.

http://home.bt.com/news/uknews/william-completes-helicopter-stint-11363832819575

Regards,
Ian.
Click to expand...

Probably got leaned on by 'the establishment'; shame, he seemed (by the recent TV series) to really enjoy the work; but with SAR
being put out to private contract, and 'the establishment' being against him being deployed as support helicopter pilot in the more dangerous areas of the world it was possibly 'Hobson's choice' for him.

ttfn

Pete
 
In the Netherlands it is forbidden by the constitution that a member of the government has a military function. Therefore our King had to give up all his military function. To maintain his pilot license he flies as a pilot on a Fokker F.70 with the commercial airliner NLM (daughter of the KLM) and he frequently flies the PH-KBX which is the "royal" Fokker F.70.
 
couldnt prince william get himself a cessna? or something and continue to fly on a private lic?..same with the King of the Netherlands?..or is that forbidden because of safety reasons?
 
i doubt its forbidden in law, but whether or not he'd be "allowed" is a different matter :icon_lol:

I dont think he was "told" to go and do other stuff, i think he's just reached the end of his contracted years (RAF officers are between 6-12 yrs contract, then you can either stay or go) . I reckon he was told his current contract years were ending and when asked, he chose to go. :)


Prolly a good time to, the SAR branch is being disbanded soon anyway! :blind:
 
Daveroo said:
couldnt prince william get himself a cessna? or something and continue to fly on a private lic?..same with the King of the Netherlands?..or is that forbidden because of safety reasons?
Click to expand...

Cessna vs. Longbow? Initially I thought if he maintains his currency and does not deploy, not a bad gig but flying is inherently dangerous.
 
Victory103 said:
Cessna vs. Longbow? Initially I thought if he maintains his currency and does not deploy, not a bad gig but flying is inherently dangerous.
Click to expand...
Actually it's Prince Harry who flies the Longbow, Prince William flew Sea Kings in the SAR role. As Stiz noted the UK has put SAR out to private tender now so William's job was basically made redundant.
 
IanHenry said:
Given that Prince William had to make a choice between carrying on as a RAF Helicopter pilot, or dedicating himself to carrying out his Royal duties it seems he has chosen to resign his commission with the RAF (did he really have a choice in this matter?). This must have been a terrible wrench for him. Like the Royal family or not you have to sympathise with him, I can't imagine any young man would want to give up his career in the RAF through his own choice.

http://home.bt.com/news/uknews/william-completes-helicopter-stint-11363832819575

Regards,
Ian.
Click to expand...

This is the normal pattern. The princes serve in the military for about a half decade or so, perhaps a bit longer, and then they leave and groom themselves for eventual service as part of the royal leadership. In truth, I really admire this, as it sets an example where the most privileged males in society dedicate themselves to national service first and only then advance to higher roles of that leadership.

Make no mistake, these two pulled real combat duty, especially Harry. I was there in Afghanistan when he was working as a JTAC on the radio in his assigned sector. And he bucked a lot of hurdles placed in his path to avoid that frontline duty and instead of allowing them to bar him, he actually issued an ultimatum of his own and forced his way into that assignment. Frankly, I would like to see the elite of all nations see their children engage in this kind of genuine public duty to endure the hardships in said service and learn what sacrifice is before they gain the measure of power and leadership later in life.

Ken
 
If I go by pure media portrayal, then it appears to me that the Prince was happier within military realm rather than within the Royal realm....
 
huub vink said:
In the Netherlands it is forbidden by the constitution that a member of the government has a military function. Therefore our King had to give up all his military function. To maintain his pilot license he flies as a pilot on a Fokker F.70 with the commercial airliner NLM (daughter of the KLM) and he frequently flies the PH-KBX which is the "royal" Fokker F.70.
Click to expand...

Is true here in the states also. You can't be a serving military and also be active in political office. And that's a very good thing, IMHO.

:guinness:
 
deKoven said:
Is true here in the states also. You can't be a serving military and also be active in political office. And that's a very good thing, IMHO.

:guinness:
Click to expand...

Agree. It's just not a good idea, either through conflicts of interest or being killed in the line of duty or captured in enemy action.
 
deKoven said:
Is true here in the states also. You can't be a serving military and also be active in political office. And that's a very good thing, IMHO.

:guinness:
Click to expand...

Slight correction to that. You cannot be actively serving in the military and be a serving member of Congress, the President, or Vice-President. I point this out because there have been many Congressmen who have served in the military reserves and guard, but while they were sitting Congressmen, they could not serve on active duty.

Ken
 
Choice?

Reply to all of you. Do you think that the Queen might have had anything to say about the heir's duties now that he is a father? I don't think is was so much a choice as a discussed decision. I have great admiration for Wills and Harry, but especially for Kate. She is so beautiful with such a warm smile. And appears very kind and considerate. I would like to be around when she is queen!


Hooligan56
 
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