Autism in the Military

My son is 16 and has a diagnosis of Autism/Aspergers. He has just accepted a place in the RAF as an Aircraft Engineer. 

He was given a medical where he was asked how his Autism affected him and his medical records were looked at. They seemed more concerned over any food Intollerance’s. 

They have finally opened up to the fact that people with Autism are an asset. 

My son is 16 and has a diagnosis of Autism/Aspergers. He has just accepted a place in the RAF as an Aircraft Engineer. 

He was given a medical where he was asked how his Autism affected him and his medical records were looked at. They seemed more concerned over any food Intollerance’s. 

They have finally opened up to the fact that people with Autism are an asset. 

It’s very different being an aircraft engineer to joun8ng the army as a foot soldier. As the world appears to be tetering on the brink of ww3 and the military are looking for our children as canon fodder. Please don’t let your joy create a rule which could condemn my son to military service which could see him bullied or killed ( he has a job, is physically ver fit - runs marathons - and his own home but has very poor language and social skills 

I've done aircraft engineering for a few years, and it is a job an Autist can do very well indeed.

Attention to detail is all important. 

I liked the people and the working environment much better though doing I.T. or field service engineering work.

I found Aircraft engineering in the civil sector, to be a miserable (and astonishingly poorly paid!) experience once I passed the "initial enthusiasm for the learning" phase. I liked the actual work, but little else, I did six years of it though, so I gave it a fair chance.

I was good enough to do Airframe Engine and Avionics interchangeably, and I got asked to come back repeatedly for several years, so this isn't the sour grapes of "failure to do the job", but it was awful compared to I.T.

I did it because I was following my dream of being a commercial pilot and couldn't actually afford to fly after getting my licence to do so, and hoped it would help me do some of that. It did not. I eventually got offered a chance to do some flying as an inducement to return to the engineering, but that was a false promise so I quit properly after a year.

THEN I got a real offer of some hour building, but it really was too late to realistically get that CPL (commercial licence) and then a job flying, and I had quit properly, abandoned my overly troublesome and expensive aeroplane in a field, (where it remains today, and that's not an unusual thing in private aviation) and walked away form the whole mess and even completed my grieving for the wasted time, money, and effort I invested in aviation.

BUT, having said all that, as a first job and getting the RAF training, excercise, personal discipline, etc. That does look like a great opportunity for a younger person, and if he finds it all not to his taste the skills are really transferrable and useful.