Officially, the rule for the RAF is one year clear of asthma.
However, my former GP used to carry out annual reviews for anyone who had had asthma. They’d sign you off after 2 years of clear reviews, but that means you de facto needed to be 3 years clear of symptoms and medication before you’d be eligible to be considered as one year clear.
The problem with Asthma is what is the trigger factor, allergens, chest infections, stress etc. RAF personnel maybe required to deploy at short notice into areas where such trigger factors exist. Would the duty medics have the resources to assess and treat a service person having an asthma attack in the field, and the evacuation chain to safely remove them from the area?
To my mind, anybody with a history of asthma should be seen by a consultant who is a specialist in asthma management, not just a GP. Acute asthma attacks may progress to be rapidly fatal if not treated expeditiously by the medical team, is this an acceptable risk??
Unfortunately, they’ll never let him be aircrew. However, if he’s 4 years clear of inhalers, never been admitted to hospital and never needed oral steroids, he could still join in other roles. He could also join one of the other services (medical and some trade restrictions permitting).
This really shows a change in attitude since the recruitment process went fully private.
I had asthma as a child, and was collecting my inhalers until aged 14. When I applied to the Army at age 18 it turned out my mum had been collecting my inhalers until I was 16, even though I wasn’t using them.
We explained the situation to the recruiter, and they signed me off as clear. I think it only took a signed letter from my mum explaining such for the cogs to turn again.
Clearly, lower medical standards than the RAF! 