Pros
Job security - one of the main reasons people stay in. Pretty much a guaranteed full career if you can get through the door with security checks/medicals etc. Promotion - especially at the lower ranks it's more time served than merit based and you will likely be promoted in minimal timescales if you're not an idiot. Even at the higher ranks and brass levels there are some complete idiots which gives even the simplest of matelots hope. Qualifications - You will gain paper qualifications on taxpayers coin which you can get within a few years - putting you in good stead for an engineering job in civvy street. Just make sure to back it up with real hands on experience (See cons) Benefits/perks - Free healthcare and dental which is probably not fully appreciated. Free gym membership although they seem to give the gym access to any civvy contractor so not exclusive to AF. Adventurous training - IF you can find time away from the platform that you don't want to use for seeing family and friends, you can do adventurous training which entirely free and great opportunity to gain qualifications and try new challenging activities. (See con) Sports - if you're keen at any sport, the navy will help. At the grievance of most seagoers - you can even end up representing the navy in a large number of sports which means less sea time and crap jobs. Colleagues - I think this is something most matelots will agree with. If you can successfully navigate the minefield of old and bolds, Tory throbbers, under the bussers and overly ambitious careerists... You'll find yourself in good company with people who know and understand the same rubbish the military will put you through like no civilian can Interesting times - the UK submarine enterprise, CASD and UK armed forces as a whole really do seem to be at some sort of tipping point. Something's got to give, and when it does it will result in huge restructuring and exciting times for anyone involved. At the very least... The new Dreadnaught class SSBN being brought into the fleet will hopefully rejuvenate any stagnating careers.
Cons
Work life balance - Poor retention/recruitment leading to low manpower results in stretched watchbills, increased duties, and general unstable nature where you could be at risk of being stolen overnight to go on another platform to fill a gap. Hardly any time for leave let alone AT. Platforms - old platforms which although are inherently dangerous, are becoming increasingly more so due to aging and failing equipment, rushed maintenance schedules and increased deployments between maintenance. Often you're working on 30 year old kit with manufacturers who went under 20 years ago so stores can be a major issue. Bureaucracy - with regards to integration of ship staff and defence contractors.. far too many managers and not enough people doing the work. These large contracting bodies have weekly meetings to decide when their next weekly meetings will be. They take months to come to a decision as there is no definitive leadership. Then they charge the government billions and laugh as they have the monopoly and infrastructure which is too expensive to replace. It's clear the old and bold top brass leave the service (75 pension in hand) and embed within civilian industry/government to ultimately influence where the contracts go and whose pockets they line. On ground level.. I've seen contractors turn up at 11am to start work (after a few hours of meetings to agree the day's work), take lunch at 11.30 come back at 2pm for an hour then thin out. Where do I apply? Pension - Current AFPS 15 Pension scheme is embarrassing when compared to the previous 75 and 15 scheme. They can't bring back instant pensions due to finance act? but atleast increase EDP to something substantial. More old and bold will be taking their pension in the next few years... Foresight? Pay - you could be earning 50k+ as you progress, but a good portion of that is based on RRP which is not considered pensionable or stable salary. So when it comes to mortgage applications etc/pension accruement, it's more like 30k. Also everyone has daily interaction with the old and bold who would receive time served cash bonuses, financial retention incentives, and huge qualification bonuses which have all been removed. Also RRP by nature can be removed at any time so it really is unstable finances. And it's worrying how many people in the service have major financial commitments based on their perceived stable earnings. Skill fade - watchbills are so stretched, platforms are so old, positions are so rapidly filled and vacated that it's hard to find a person who actually knows what they are doing. By the time a maintainer knows a few things they are onto the next role and before you know it, the new guy without a clue has just become the most experienced person within the section. Rinse and repeat. Outside opportunities - 10 minutes on a job site and you can see how many ex royal navy have served a few years, left the RN and are on better paying jobs (overtime included) with a greater work life balance (no duties or sea time) with large civilian engineering contractors with similar employer perks and benefits. General sense of a lack of pride for the job and the service, purely financially driven and majority of the workforce feel more like a band of mercenaries who would jump ship at a better offer on civvy street.