I was at Halton in 83 and 90 when it was still the Aircraft trade training camp after completing basic at Swinderby. Being in the forces definitely sets you up for life.
Joined 3rd May 1961, 98th Entry. Passed out accelerated promotion [1 yr to Cpl.] Singapore tour with visits to Darwin. Returned to UK, commissioned as Navigator, once again with accelerated promotion [time served as airman]. A tumultuous journey with ups and downs but never a dull moment. Not the easiest way of life but certainly never boring.
I remember it with affection not forgetting the hilarious attempts by women trying to be blokes ha! No stamina for finishing the fitness section. Many were seen sitting in corner crying. Conclusion, not place for girlie in the military.
Hi guys, I’m an applicant in the process of joining the Royal Air Force as a Reg Gunner. I’ll be covering the entire application process on my channel, which may interest some of you. I posted my first video regarding the DAA on Saturday. Please let me know if it was helpful, thank you.
i think it is much harder actually getting accepted than it was when i joined in 82,...Swinderby.As i recall it,just a test,interview and medical and that was about it...no pre training course....which it seems all the forces do now...Also Swinderby back then was just six weeks which thinking about it is no time at all..one and a half months....it was pretty full on though,with a lot to cram in...i mean turning teenagers from school into somebody fit to pass out in such a short time was no mean feat for the instructors....it was what it was...good,not so good...but always that incredible feeling of pride on the pass out,then back to the block after to destroy the gleaming floor,ready for the next intake..no carpets then..Good luck to all the young people considering applying now....i only did 4 years,pvr`d out in Germany,to become a postman...36 yrs now with 272 days to go..lol....no regrets joining and have fond memories of my 4 yrs....great friends made etc
As a former army squaddie I know very little about the RAF'. Other than the RAF regiment is its infantry unit and requires a much higher level of fitness to get in.
In the days when the RAF was big and located all over the world the officer training at Cranwell as a flight cadet was 3 yes 3 bloody long years !!! You have it easy today !!
All that shit to go through and I'd get my kit and turn up right now in the depths of winter and do it all again. Made some right mates and memories at Halton.
Yes, all RAF applicants have to go through a basic training course. This is for non-commissioned roles ( not officers).You’ll do this and then go on to phase 2 trade training ( for mechanics, that’s around a year and a half at Cosford). For an officer role such as pilot, you will do a longer and more academically and mentally challenging course at Cranwell. I feel like that course is around 22 weeks. Best to contact your local careers office for more information - best of luck if you join up!
My starting date is in November. But due to covid I haven't and will not do my prtc or the family day thing, I will get there and that's it. It's a bit daunting.
Fitness is easy, trust me. Just run every week for about 2 miles and you good. Pushups is only 20 and situps 35. But for me the ast was the hard part since I'm bad at English.
I have my start date 14 December cannot wait! My only concern is that I doubt my overall academic abilities. Does anyone no if their are more exams similar to the airman selection test upon arrival at basic trainnig? I managed to pass the airman selection test on my second attempt with practice, but I am concerned if their are going to be academic base tests that I have to complete in order to progress in basic trainning I may struggle a little. On the other hand i am very capable when it comes to fitness or physical trainning so I won't have any problems in that regard.
I've heard that the academics are on par with primary school difficulty. So you shouldent worry. I start in November so when I get time I might come back and tell you if you want.
They don't tell you about the swearing, yelling, sacarsim and attitude from the halton training staff, not that it bothered me as i found it entertaining 😂
@Paul ? This is to be expected. When I went through Basic at RAF Swinderby in the late 80's it was a hell of a lot worse then. Take no personal offence from it; it's to sort the wheat from the chaff, nothing more than that buddy :)
Things have certainly changed since I was in. And for the better. For most of my time we were treated like civilians in uniform with negligible weapons or military training. It seemed to me almost deliberate. They took away our eagle shoulder patches, (which marked us out as RAF anywhere), gave us a shapeless working uniform to replace the old Hairy Mary battledress, took.away our boots for shoes, for all weathers, replaced our warm greatcoats for raincoats and provided little or no cold weather clothing. It seemed like the office chairborne warriors thought we all worked in warm cosy offices, like them. I was pleased to see combats are the working uniform, with proper boots, which is a huge improvement. Maybe, somebody finally realised the RAF is actually a military service and not civilians in uniforms looking like RAC roadside assistance. (Which have been mistaken for in tbe past!).
@Wasp Wasp, I completely agree with you there. The Kit then was awful; '58 webbing, bad boots, ill-fitting No1's, the DMS shoes (as you mentioned) and the Eagle emblem removed from No1's. I served in the RAFP & along with the Regiment we had some decent kit eventually through the 'Soldier 92' thing they had; mind you the early Goretex stuff was shit because they didn't have taped seams and leaked like a sieve unlike Goretex stuff has nowadays, and now there's proper boots being issued from proper bootmakers! Neveretheless, it's good to see our lot getting decent kit for a change! I wish them well in whatever trade they choose these days.
I read up about them as I’m joining and I’m at my selection interview and I’m only 17, I read an article of an recruit who is still in the raf and he said that they are English and maths exams wich are 45 long and you’ll do one after the other and he said they are very simple and are like primary school question but does get harder but the score needed to pass is low so you should pass it easy
@@connorvernon238 The apptitude test seems to me like it's never changed from when I joined in the late 80's; basic Maths & reasoning and some English language questions.
Spent 4 months in Bahrain, liked the swimming pool on the roof of our hotel the best because our apartment was only one floor below, although the boss had a bigger pool ours was closer!!
Guys help im 13 and do and jnow alot about respect/cooking and cleaning but i have astmah and i am abit fat but are deffo able to be bulk what shall i do? I rlly wanna join 😢😰
Some of them instructors could do with a good beasting - fat cu*ts. Imagine asking a recruit to do 20 press up's that you couldn't do yourself.....embarrassing. 😂 Probably more embarrassing than the 5 miler of death or thinking the Reg are part of the big 3 😂😂😂😂
This is a world away from when I went through basic at Swinderby in the late 80's but the gist of it all is still the same. The 'Rock apes' beasted me then and they'll continue to do so to others but for a good reason. Good luck to any of you who applied or have aspirations to do so; the RAF is a good career.
@wakeupuk3860 Aye, I get it now, mate. Swinderby is gone & so many other places we served; although it was later than you, which is fine. I salute you for what you did before I joined 👍
Thank you Bucks for your comment, but I spent most of my five years as an APO, (Aerial Photographic Operator) safely tucked away in darkrooms developing and printing aerial photographs, chatting up WAAFs, learning Tae Kwon DO and enjoying Jack Daniels and BLTs at the USAF Airmans club at RAF Alconbury. Quite a cushy time with GREAT mates that sadly I never came across in civvy street in Civil Engineering, as a Teacher reaching DH status, a Senior Microsoft IT Trainer and professional Presenter. But on being posted to Cyprus, I did crap my pants, when belted into the side of a Wessex helicopter flying alongside cliff faces taking photos of possible Turkish-Cypriot arm caves hidden in caves, when a few shots were fired at us. I don't know about your time, Bucks but the guys I served with, lived in the same block, went on holiday with, met their parents and who in away became like brothers to me and truly real managers and leaders (i.e. 111 Lightning Jet pilots) that I sadly never came across again, in civvy street - even though meeting quite senior people later in life. Now 71, it is those few years in the RAF are my fondest memories and even though I was a troubled teenager, somewhat wild, maybe ended up in prison and only joined to get away from my parents - it was the BEST decision of my life as it certainly set me up for quite a successful career, good money, travel around the world and most of all the pride I have in passing on what I learnt in the RAF to similar troubled young lads that I know changed their lives. The only thing is sadly, up to about five years ago, I had always helped, advise, done recommending letters for young people to join the services, I don't do now because of the Woke change being made. This is due to the absolute decline of discipline, intelligence level and the removal of centuries old teaching of academic topics now replaced by Woke indoctrination topics. Chatting to ex long-term service personnel who once would have stayed in but bought themselves out, often tell me of similar changes that led me to leaving teaching. In all ways our once very highly skilled, competent and extremely effective fighting men and women is no longer the case. As such no way would I now advise any young person NOT to join the Army, RAF, Navy or Marines, in fact I would even actively discourage them from doing so. Because I now strongly believed they would be 'lambs to the slaughter' if ever coming up against a non-Woke enemy, which when working in Russia and visiting China I saw first hand what they would be facing. @@Buck9672
Yup get off the bus from Newark and the screaming started lol. Spinny run back way through the sheep dip in full NBC yea this is very different lol Looks good best of luck to all.
Went through on 4 Flight in 2000. Brings back a lot of memories watching this, the sights, the sounds. Nice lookback on my experience. CPL Pete Kenn was the standout staff on my flight! met him a few years after when I was back at Halton staying there while flying at Benson
I was at Halton in 83 and 90 when it was still the Aircraft trade training camp after completing basic at Swinderby. Being in the forces definitely sets you up for life.
Joined 3rd May 1961, 98th Entry. Passed out accelerated promotion [1 yr to Cpl.] Singapore tour with visits to Darwin. Returned to UK, commissioned as Navigator, once again with accelerated promotion [time served as airman]. A tumultuous journey with ups and downs but never a dull moment. Not the easiest way of life but certainly never boring.
How did they get their boots before they got there?
No thanks. Way too WOKE.
Is this that song from halo 3 in the background lol
I remember it with affection not forgetting the hilarious attempts by women trying to be blokes ha! No stamina for finishing the fitness section. Many were seen sitting in corner crying. Conclusion, not place for girlie in the military.
Hi guys, I’m an applicant in the process of joining the Royal Air Force as a Reg Gunner. I’ll be covering the entire application process on my channel, which may interest some of you. I posted my first video regarding the DAA on Saturday. Please let me know if it was helpful, thank you.
Hoping to start back end of this year after hopefully passing OASC, how similar is this video to what it is now?
As a regular in 1962 for 5 ys this brings back fond memories
Looks a lot more fun than when I went through Swinderby 40 odd years ago...
Pass out parade in front of your parents is something you will never forget.
I did my trade training at Halton in 91. No1 technical training school as it was then. I loved it especially BET.
Was gonna join raf instead I went infantry this is fucking buckshee 😂😂
Was a sight to behold, my son ironing his clothes when he came home for Christmas lol!!
Had a great career over 30-years in the RAF Regt, shame it has been turned into MPGS +
Can’t wait to start the raf going in as a gunner, got my fitness test coming up soon, wish I went in it 3 years ago when I left school
Got my basic training in 3 weeks, wishing I joined when I left school too 🤦♂️
hows it gone? im hoping to become a pilot and join next year for basic training
8:57 what’s happened to this lads hat
They mention about passing the test before you can go into the second part, if you fail this test what happens?
Get sent back 2 weeks
Do they do the 5 mile of death?
8:30 am sorry but WTF is that beret
i think it is much harder actually getting accepted than it was when i joined in 82,...Swinderby.As i recall it,just a test,interview and medical and that was about it...no pre training course....which it seems all the forces do now...Also Swinderby back then was just six weeks which thinking about it is no time at all..one and a half months....it was pretty full on though,with a lot to cram in...i mean turning teenagers from school into somebody fit to pass out in such a short time was no mean feat for the instructors....it was what it was...good,not so good...but always that incredible feeling of pride on the pass out,then back to the block after to destroy the gleaming floor,ready for the next intake..no carpets then..Good luck to all the young people considering applying now....i only did 4 years,pvr`d out in Germany,to become a postman...36 yrs now with 272 days to go..lol....no regrets joining and have fond memories of my 4 yrs....great friends made etc
I've just applied at the old age of 45.
As a former army squaddie I know very little about the RAF'. Other than the RAF regiment is its infantry unit and requires a much higher level of fitness to get in.
In the days when the RAF was big and located all over the world the officer training at Cranwell as a flight cadet was 3 yes 3 bloody long years !!! You have it easy today !!
All that shit to go through and I'd get my kit and turn up right now in the depths of winter and do it all again. Made some right mates and memories at Halton.
so say you wanted to be a pilot or mechanic in the raf, do you have to do this course before hand?
Yes, all RAF applicants have to go through a basic training course. This is for non-commissioned roles ( not officers).You’ll do this and then go on to phase 2 trade training ( for mechanics, that’s around a year and a half at Cosford). For an officer role such as pilot, you will do a longer and more academically and mentally challenging course at Cranwell. I feel like that course is around 22 weeks. Best to contact your local careers office for more information - best of luck if you join up!
Yes, my 19 year old cousin has just started his basic training and he wants to be a plane mechanic.
Injured me I'm afraid. 41 years of pain
With your initials you should have joined the best of the services
How did they injure you?
My starting date is in November. But due to covid I haven't and will not do my prtc or the family day thing, I will get there and that's it. It's a bit daunting.
I really want to join up when I’m older but I am worried about the fitness test, the rest I think I can do already because I am in the cadets!
Fitness is easy, trust me. Just run every week for about 2 miles and you good. Pushups is only 20 and situps 35. But for me the ast was the hard part since I'm bad at English.
@@joshuasymonds3258 Thank you!
I have my start date 14 December cannot wait! My only concern is that I doubt my overall academic abilities. Does anyone no if their are more exams similar to the airman selection test upon arrival at basic trainnig? I managed to pass the airman selection test on my second attempt with practice, but I am concerned if their are going to be academic base tests that I have to complete in order to progress in basic trainning I may struggle a little. On the other hand i am very capable when it comes to fitness or physical trainning so I won't have any problems in that regard.
I've heard that the academics are on par with primary school difficulty. So you shouldent worry. I start in November so when I get time I might come back and tell you if you want.
They don't tell you about the swearing, yelling, sacarsim and attitude from the halton training staff, not that it bothered me as i found it entertaining 😂
@Paul ? This is to be expected. When I went through Basic at RAF Swinderby in the late 80's it was a hell of a lot worse then. Take no personal offence from it; it's to sort the wheat from the chaff, nothing more than that buddy :)
Watched this about a million times 😂😂 even though i'm joining in a couple years.
Things have certainly changed since I was in. And for the better. For most of my time we were treated like civilians in uniform with negligible weapons or military training. It seemed to me almost deliberate. They took away our eagle shoulder patches, (which marked us out as RAF anywhere), gave us a shapeless working uniform to replace the old Hairy Mary battledress, took.away our boots for shoes, for all weathers, replaced our warm greatcoats for raincoats and provided little or no cold weather clothing. It seemed like the office chairborne warriors thought we all worked in warm cosy offices, like them. I was pleased to see combats are the working uniform, with proper boots, which is a huge improvement. Maybe, somebody finally realised the RAF is actually a military service and not civilians in uniforms looking like RAC roadside assistance. (Which have been mistaken for in tbe past!).
@Wasp Wasp, I completely agree with you there. The Kit then was awful; '58 webbing, bad boots, ill-fitting No1's, the DMS shoes (as you mentioned) and the Eagle emblem removed from No1's. I served in the RAFP & along with the Regiment we had some decent kit eventually through the 'Soldier 92' thing they had; mind you the early Goretex stuff was shit because they didn't have taped seams and leaked like a sieve unlike Goretex stuff has nowadays, and now there's proper boots being issued from proper bootmakers! Neveretheless, it's good to see our lot getting decent kit for a change! I wish them well in whatever trade they choose these days.
Do all the guys still have to have the grade 2 all over?!
Is this the same for those who want to become a student nurse for the RAF?
A bit different I think check the website tho
R.A.F. Halton 217 Entry, 3 Wing, Z Flight. Carpet ! Remember having to polish the floor until you could see your reflection.
I didn’t know you had exam during training too! Does anyone know what those exams are like?
I read up about them as I’m joining and I’m at my selection interview and I’m only 17, I read an article of an recruit who is still in the raf and he said that they are English and maths exams wich are 45 long and you’ll do one after the other and he said they are very simple and are like primary school question but does get harder but the score needed to pass is low so you should pass it easy
@@connorvernon238 The apptitude test seems to me like it's never changed from when I joined in the late 80's; basic Maths & reasoning and some English language questions.
Don’t ever take this down, ima need this in a year or so. Brilliant stuff. Hoping to become a pilot soon
RAF pilots are officers, so they'd go to Cranwell, not Halton :)
The Army sleep under the stars. The Navy use stars to navigate in the night. The RAF use stars to rate hotels.
Only if you are an Officer mate
Spent 4 months in Bahrain, liked the swimming pool on the roof of our hotel the best because our apartment was only one floor below, although the boss had a bigger pool ours was closer!!
Guys help im 13 and do and jnow alot about respect/cooking and cleaning but i have astmah and i am abit fat but are deffo able to be bulk what shall i do? I rlly wanna join 😢😰
I’ve applied now waiting for my medical and fitness tests already seen this video loads 🤣
Some of them instructors could do with a good beasting - fat cu*ts. Imagine asking a recruit to do 20 press up's that you couldn't do yourself.....embarrassing. 😂 Probably more embarrassing than the 5 miler of death or thinking the Reg are part of the big 3 😂😂😂😂
and Ive got mates...with an 81MM mortar barrel. What am I...
A 15 Squadron gunner?
A RAF Regiment Baseplate bummer!
How times have changed.
Good to see Cpl McKean in the video. Top bloke. Hard to believe its 8 years since I was there.
Is it just the one exercise you go on or are there others?
An hour and a half 4 times a week??! 🤔 Thats more than a good basic level of fitness
I passed my AST only just, I really struggle with maths, I’m not worried that if I get to the PRTC that I will fail on the assessments, are they hard?
So is this how you can become a pilot or is this for ppl who don’t want to be a pilot? And how do you become a multi engine pilot?
This is for anyone joining the RAF, regardless of the role. After this, you then go on to specialist training etc
This is a world away from when I went through basic at Swinderby in the late 80's but the gist of it all is still the same. The 'Rock apes' beasted me then and they'll continue to do so to others but for a good reason. Good luck to any of you who applied or have aspirations to do so; the RAF is a good career.
Cheers dits
For me who joined in 1969 and did his six weeks basic at Swinderby it is a 'planet' away compared to what a recruit goes through now.
@wakeupuk3860 Aye, I get it now, mate. Swinderby is gone & so many other places we served; although it was later than you, which is fine. I salute you for what you did before I joined 👍
Thank you Bucks for your comment, but I spent most of my five years as an APO, (Aerial Photographic Operator) safely tucked away in darkrooms developing and printing aerial photographs, chatting up WAAFs, learning Tae Kwon DO and enjoying Jack Daniels and BLTs at the USAF Airmans club at RAF Alconbury. Quite a cushy time with GREAT mates that sadly I never came across in civvy street in Civil Engineering, as a Teacher reaching DH status, a Senior Microsoft IT Trainer and professional Presenter. But on being posted to Cyprus, I did crap my pants, when belted into the side of a Wessex helicopter flying alongside cliff faces taking photos of possible Turkish-Cypriot arm caves hidden in caves, when a few shots were fired at us. I don't know about your time, Bucks but the guys I served with, lived in the same block, went on holiday with, met their parents and who in away became like brothers to me and truly real managers and leaders (i.e. 111 Lightning Jet pilots) that I sadly never came across again, in civvy street - even though meeting quite senior people later in life. Now 71, it is those few years in the RAF are my fondest memories and even though I was a troubled teenager, somewhat wild, maybe ended up in prison and only joined to get away from my parents - it was the BEST decision of my life as it certainly set me up for quite a successful career, good money, travel around the world and most of all the pride I have in passing on what I learnt in the RAF to similar troubled young lads that I know changed their lives. The only thing is sadly, up to about five years ago, I had always helped, advise, done recommending letters for young people to join the services, I don't do now because of the Woke change being made. This is due to the absolute decline of discipline, intelligence level and the removal of centuries old teaching of academic topics now replaced by Woke indoctrination topics. Chatting to ex long-term service personnel who once would have stayed in but bought themselves out, often tell me of similar changes that led me to leaving teaching. In all ways our once very highly skilled, competent and extremely effective fighting men and women is no longer the case. As such no way would I now advise any young person NOT to join the Army, RAF, Navy or Marines, in fact I would even actively discourage them from doing so. Because I now strongly believed they would be 'lambs to the slaughter' if ever coming up against a non-Woke enemy, which when working in Russia and visiting China I saw first hand what they would be facing. @@Buck9672
Yup get off the bus from Newark and the screaming started lol. Spinny run back way through the sheep dip in full NBC yea this is very different lol Looks good best of luck to all.
Went through on 4 Flight in 2000. Brings back a lot of memories watching this, the sights, the sounds. Nice lookback on my experience. CPL Pete Kenn was the standout staff on my flight! met him a few years after when I was back at Halton staying there while flying at Benson
Oh memories, another working weekend!