Hi EMS,
Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents worth in re the military angle. I did 20 years in the military as a crewman for most of them, first in the Navy as a crewie on B model Iroquois and squirrels and then in the Army on H model Hueys and Blackhawks, gathered a few thousand hours between them all. While I was in a Sydney based job I also did volunteer weekend work for NRMA Careflight on the old Dauphine they used to have.
I highly recommend crewman work, its fascinating and exciting. It puts you in contact every day with people who are passionate about one thing, flying. I have not had any exposure to the crewman training at Careflight in Brissy but I do know a couple of guys who worked for them for a while and they both tell me it’s a good place.
I wanted to have a word about the military option. You are correct in your statement about having to be in a separate job in the Navy and Army for a couple of years before you become a crewman. In the Navy you used to have to be either a radar plotter, an aircraft maintainer or a ground handler (aircraft re-fuller / aircraft movements guy) for a couple of years before you could apply, not sure if this has changed. In the Army you can now be selected at the recruiting level to be an Aircrewman Loadmaster but you still need to be a ground handler first for a couple of years. This gives you piece of mind that you are going to be a loadie at some stage though (they don't call them loadmasters any more, I think its just Aircrewman now, I've been out for 10 years so I'm not up with the latest). The reason the Army puts you through ground handler first is to teach you various things such as refuelling, radio operations (HF and UHF techniques), flight following (for example, ground handlers will provide flight following and initial SAR response for remote helicopter operations outside controlled airspace, places like far north western Australia etc), these and other training benefits build a great base knowledge before your Aircrewman training, they are all needed afterwards, I couldn't count the number of times I refuelled a Blackhawk in remote Aust or PNG from 44 gallon drums while the pilots went off and did whatever pilots do
Having completed both the Navy and Army Aircrewman courses I am in a good position to compare them (assuming they haven't changed too much). The Navy course has far more detailed training in Navigation, Metrology and, surprisingly enough, ship borne operations while the Army has far more focus on confined area operations, tactics, aerial gunnery etc. I did conduct ship borne ops in the Army as well and the techniques are identical. I also completed NVG training in the Army, I'm not sure if the Navy has started this as yet (I assume they do now). Having done a couple of years of civi rescue work there are aspects of both services training that are beneficial to the civi work, the Navy Nav and approach procedure training is great for the front seat work you have to do while the confined area and high winch work you are taught in the Army was probably a bit better for the odd cliff rescue etc. The Navy is far more civilised if you like the idea of showering every day ha ha but I enjoyed the 'wariness' of the Army, personal choice I guess. One thing I have noticed is that the majority if not all civi EMS groups use Navy patter which is a little different to Army patter but you could adapt to either easily. Both services drum into you the safety aspects of everything you do, I must admit, and please those who read this don't take offence, I was occasionally frightened by some of the things I saw civi trained crewmen do like refuelling with out grounding the aircraft
This may not be the fault of the training, maybe that guy was just lazy, who knows... Any way, you can be assured that the training you get in either service is outstanding. The military pay these days is also pretty good, base salary plus allowances for maintaining your qualifications and flying disability allowance (weird name for 'danger pay' I guess). You also get up to seven weeks leave a year..
Another thing to remember is the Navy has a limited choice of aircraft, the Army does your basic training on H model Hueys now I think, then there is the choice between Blackhawk and Chinook and they are getting the new MRH90 soon.
It is certainly a big decision to go into the services as you are locked in for at least four years however the up side is excellent training that you are paid to do rather than paying for it yourself, if you are keen have a look around here:
http://www.defencejobs.gov.auAlso don't forget all three services are gagging for more pilots, maybe you should consider a job flying a Tiger around...
