Previously, particularly with things like National Service and the larger size of the Armed Forces, most people either were related to, or knew somebody, who was serving/had served.
These days, with the footprint of the Forces smaller than its ever been, it's a lot less likely. Quite often I have people 'referred' to me by family, friends and colleagues of my Mrs, because "Johnny is looking at joining the RAF, and wants to know what it's like".
So far, after speaking to me, the vast majority of those people have decided that they can do better for themselves than a career in the RAF. I don't lie or embellish, I just point out a few things that they're might not have considered or be aware of, and tell them a bit about my experiences whilst serving.
In the last 18 months, out of 8 potential recruits (3 Officer and 5 OR) only 2 of them have went on to submit a formal joining application, and one of them stopped the process before getting to Halton. Again, how much influence I had in these is debatable, but I do know of at least one individual where it played a potentially significant part in; simply because after talking to me, his parents became quite strongly opposed to him joining.
Sadly, a lot of people who are still serving (mainly the pension trapped) and leaving the Forces are doing so with a negative feeling about the whole thing. Like a bad apple in the barrel, this can have an effect in those looking to join, who read things like FYB on social media etc., and pick up on this vibe. Similarly, this will also have an effect on reserve recruiting of ex-regulars. After all, if you felt let down by the RAF when you were in full-time, are you really going to consider doing it part time afterwards once you've escaped?
