Are you ex RAF

Thanks for your comments, I made plenty of mistakes at the time so am not viewing this as one sided, in fact the opposite until I joined the forum last year and found that other people had had similar treatment.

The biggest issue was that I was not politically savvy enough to know when to keep my mouth shut (what 19 year old does?) and being the only direct entrant on the course meant that I was also the youngest by a long way.

In the long run, with 20:20 hindsight and all that it probably did me a favour…I view it as useful as a university degree, the beer was as cheap, I got paid a lot more than being at Uni, wore a flying suit every day, I got 130 hours in the back of a Wessex and a hell of a lot of life education, what more can a young man ask for? 😀

Its so true Wessex Boy, at The Air Traffic Control training base at RAF Shawbury the Officers were given far more chances than the Corporals /acting SGt when trying to pass the segments of controller training.

I think Wessex Boy was commenting on his Basic Rotary Wing Loadmaster Training course and not the ATC shool which also shares the same Station facilities, mind you when I went through in 1975 there seemed to be no favoritism between Officer and SNCO’s…..

A225HVY

Its so true Wessex Boy, at The Air Traffic Control training base at RAF Shawbury the Officers were given far more chances than the Corporals /acting SGt when trying to pass the segments of controller training.

Thanks to those that have pointed ex RAF bods over to the ex RAF Forum.

It is expected on Friday 13th 2006 that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office will allow ex Forces personnel to wear The Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal after the Queen has given her approval.

35000+ personnel from HM UK/Commonwealth Armed Forces have been awarded this medal by the Malaysian Government for liberating their country between 1957-1966 (Although Operation Firedog was in force before this time the state of Malaysia was not formed then, hence the date anomaly)

So if you did those armed perimeter/bomb dump/flying boat guards or shipped bombs in Chinese Sampans or more importantly threw 25 pounders out of the bomb bay hatches of Sunderlands you might be entitled to wear one of these.

The Veteran Badges issued for the 60th anniversary D-Day landings has now been extended to cover those who served up to Dec 31st 1954 and I hear tell that this date is being extended further next year.

I lasted 16 months before they found out that they hadn’t completely removed my soul/character during Airman Aircrew initial Training (course 146).

They realised 2 days before the end of my Basic Rotary Wing Loadmaster Training (60 hours on Wessex, 67 course at Shawbury), and I was put in front of the Crewman Leader to be told that even though I was top of the course for my flying skills and was the one to have been chosen to go to NI for in-theatre training, my attitude meant that now matter how well I did on the FHT I would fail the course….

At 20 yrs old I could not handle this and completely cracked, failed my FHT, took it again and did even worse! I was back-flighted onto 68 course, given the nastiest instructor available and did the whole course again, but under intense pressure & Scrutiny, so much so that after another 60 odd hours I was asked to go and see the Crewman leader, my signature block says the rest….

Of course my bad/wild/indecent behaviour on occasions may have accelerated me towards the door a little, but had I been a junior Officer, it would have been accepted as letting off steam. But in the Sgt’s Mess, no allowances are made for going from Air Cadet to RAF Sergeant in 13 weeks

There is at least one other forumite who went through Shawbury at a similar time, and I have found that mine was not a unique experience….

21yrs in the Tower/Ops glad to be shot of it!!!

Got too corporate in the end…took the redundancy money in SALT2 and ran.

Happy as I am working for the opposition on the Red Force iso Blue Force

A225HVY