Prince William in RAF until 2013?
Regular readers will remember that following the decision to outsource the RAF’s Search and Rescue service to a French-Canadian organization, Royal Anecdotes put in an information request to the Ministry of Defence to clarify Prince William’s position as a dedicated Sea King pilot in the service.
I have now received a reply from Headquarters Air Command, Royal Air Force in Buckinghamshire regarding the “phasing out of the Sea King operations”. The reply is as follows:
“As announced by the MOD in February 2010, Soteria Consortium has been chosen as the preferred bidder to provide the Search and Rescue Helicopter service for the UK. The contract is expected to be finalised in late 2010, at which point a detailed timetable of change will be decided. Presently, the service is anticipated to begin with a phased introduction in 2012 and will progressively take over site by site. The Sea King is expected to be out of service by 2016.
“Prince William hopes to qualify as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot in summer 2010. Once qualified, the Prince will become a full-time RAF Search and Rescue pilot. The normal tour length for a Search and Rescue pilot is 30-36 months, which would take Prince William to late 2012 or 2013.
“It would be inappropriate to speculate on the future of Prince William’s career until the contract replacing the MOD Search and Rescue Helicopter service has been finalised.”
So there we have it. William could serve into 2013, although it does seem unlikely given the uncertainty over the service. The last paragraph highlights that point.
When this story first broke earlier this year, the Conservative Defence Spokesman, Liam Fox, complained that this decision should have been taken after a General Election, probably due on May 6. That suggests he might have reservations over the outsourcing, or the proposed foreign contractor. I will write to Dr Fox asking for details of Conservative policy on this matter.
It now looks as if William’s normal career flow within SAR won’t be altered because of the current arrangements, especially if, as expected, the Conservatives win the election. However, the uncertainty involved may give him an opportunity to bail out before his time is up.
