UK aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers (REME Aviation), have signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ease the transition of military engineers into a career in the civil aviation sector.
The agreement allows serving and former REME Aviation personnel to apply for a UK Aircraft Maintenance Licence, recognising the vocational and academic qualifications they gain throughout their military careers.
A pathway between military and civil sectors
Tim Johnson, chief of staff at the UK CAAsaid: “We all appreciate the great skill and dedication that those who serve give to our country. The significant new agreement will enable those joining the Army to broaden their professional experience and move more easily between a career in the military and one in the UK’s civil aviation sector. This will enable both the military and civil sector to be more successful in their missions.”
Johnson continued: “There is a significant amount of crossover in the skills needed to maintain our high tech military equipment with maintaining the aircraft that fly above our heads every day. We welcome this further deepening of our long standing collaboration with the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD).”
Army personnel trained in aeronautical engineering are highly skilled technicians. Under the MoU, their expertise – developed through structured military training and operational experience – will now be formally recognised by the UK’s civil aviation regulator.
Supporting lifelong careers in aviation
Lieutenant General David Eastman MBE BEng(Hons) MSc CEng FIMechE, deputy chief of the general staff, welcomed the initiative: “I am delighted that we have made this historic agreement with the UK Civil Aviation Authority. This MoU not only represents our deepening relationship with the civil sector, but it also formally recognises the professionalism and high engineering standards of our REME workforce.”
“Accrediting the technical training delivered here, at the School of Army Aeronautical Engineering, provides a through-career learning pathway that is underpinned by industry standards and supports the professional development of the next generation of technicians.”
Lieutenant General Eastman added: “Importantly, the MoU also recognises the training already competed by serving Army aviation technicians and will enable them to apply to the CAA for an Aircraft Maintenance License when they choose to leave the Army.”
“This agreement reflects the Ministry of Defence’s drive to strengthen our relationship with Industry, as articulated in the recent Strategic Defence Review, and provides opportunities that have previously been out of reach.
“I am excited to see how this could support the creation of a REME Aviation Reserve and how, in the longer term, it might support a zig zag career pathway for our future generation of aviation engineers.”
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