Acting pilot officer (A/Plt Off) is the lowest commissioned grade in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. Acting pilot officer is not an actual military rank, therefore acting pilot officers are regraded to

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

instead of receiving a promotion. Unlike other RAF ranks which officers may hold in an acting capacity, acting pilot officer is maintained as a separate grade. The grade normally denotes an officer who has recently been commissioned and joined as a non-graduate direct entrant. Although acting pilot officer has a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

ranking code of OF(D), neither the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...

nor

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

has an exactly equivalent rank. As acting pilot officers are junior to

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

s in the British Army or the Royal Marines and to Royal Navy

midshipmen A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, Sout ...

, the rank is the most junior commissioned rank in the British Armed Forces. On a University Air Squadron, students can apply for the position of acting pilot officer in order to undertake a senior student or flight commander role, usually four per each UAS. In order to be awarded a Volunteer Reserve commission they have to complete an intensive course run by the Officer and Aircrew Cadet Training Unit at

RAFC Cranwell The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force military academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets an ...

. On graduation,

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

acting pilot officers hold a full commission for one year. This can be extended if serving for more than one year in a senior position on squadron or retained if serving the RAF reserves. Up to 2012, 3 Flying Training School (3FTS) was responsible for the training of UAS APOs. However, starting in 2013 OACTU took over the duties of training acting pilot officers with a course aligned with the commissioning course of the RAF reserves. The rank insignia is identical to that of a pilot officer, consisting of a thin blue band on slightly wider black band. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. RAFVR APOs have a VR marking on their rank slides, either a small brass VR pin mounted on the stipe or embroidered underneath. Officers of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets are ranked as acting pilot officers until completion of their Officers' Initial Course at RAFC Cranwell. File:British RAF OF-1a.svg, An RAF acting pilot officer's sleeve insignia File:File-UK-Air-OF1B-mess-insignia.svg, An RAF acting pilot officer's sleeve mess insignia File:Acting-plt-off orig.jpg, A RAFAC Acting Pilot Officer's shoulder insignia

References

{{UK officer ranks Air force ranks Military ranks of the Royal Air Force

See also

References