cadets – Page 2 – Fooyah

October 22 2019October 22 2019

Remote

Over the weekend I tried something out not because I wanted to but really just because I should have been able to do it. While I was at RAF Wittering I spent some time on the Playstation remote play feature just really checking that it would work. As I’d been feeling remote recently through stress and poor sleep I didn’t spend a great deal of time playing [in fact I practised some statistics] but I did confirm that I can play the Playstation when I have a wifi signal.

While on military bases I either use the wifi provided by BT on some bases or, on others, there is a private contractor service called Media Force. In my experience they provide excellent coverage [except in my room at Shawbury] and for £10 you can get a week’s worth of 24Mb/s connection.

The Media Force connection at Wittering was enough to get my PS4 working remotely via my laptop:

I only played a very arcade type game as I didn’t really have the time to get into a specific game. But, I proved the system worked. For the PC version you connect a Dualshock4 via a USB cable. This system worked well.

I then tested the system on my phone. It’s an Apple iPhone running iOS13+. I apologise for the crappy picture because I was using my laptop to take the photograph and both of its cameras point rearwards [towards the user].

In this setup the Dualshock4 is connected via BlueTooth which is pretty cool. You just have to re-pair the controller with your PS4 when you get home. I’ll definitely be using this system more in the future!

October 20 2019October 23 2019

Harriers Ascending (no more)

I really enjoy the things I do, if I didn’t it would be sad for me I guess, although many many people struggle to find enjoyment in their lives. I’m at RAF Wittering for a couple of days of training and as much as the commute from Kent to (almost) Lincolnshire on a Friday afternoon is hell it is great to be here. Everyone I meet or speak to feels privileged to be able to visit the places we do and have unique experiences.

While driving to the 504 Sqn building I passed two Harrier aircraft out on the pan enjoying the morning sun. It would have been a silly thing to keep driving past them so I stopped, got out the phone camera and tried to capture them in their morning glory.

This beast is, as far as I can tell, and I’m happy to be corrected a Harrier GR3. Although it looks a little old I do like the matt effect paint. There was a time when these screeching jets were all the rage around RAF Wittering but now the air force has a new VSTOL plane based at Marham. Next to the GR3 was the trainer:

I think there are only a few viewing angles where this one looks gorgeous. The extra bubble canopy really doesn’t help. I’ve never been a big fan of Harriers, they were always very noisy and didn’t seem that impressive to me but I might be slowly changing my mind. I saw two Spanish AV8 fly at RIAT this year and there’s definitely something special about them, especially on the slow pass and hover.

After getting back in the car I head to the little car park by 504 and what do I see but two fire appliances/trucks/engines or whatever you want to call them. I’ve got a mate who is a firefighter and so I tend to send him pictures of any trucks I see. It was while taking these I realised these trucks were from Ascension Island and the little air force base there. Amazing, the things you see.

Apologies for my shadow getting in the way. There was an issue with the sun and directions for the best photo.

August 20 2019August 19 2019

Skills Are Lacking

I’ve just spent a weekend at RAF Wittering where I was practising my skills at instruction. I can assure you, worryingly to my profession, that my skills are not that good and I need loads of practice. The next weekend is within the month and so I need to read a lot, learn and instruct. I’m secretly looking forward to this as a challenge is always a good thing. Even if I’m not that good there’s still the challenge of getting better.

Here’s to the next few weeks of learning!

July 7 2019July 7 2019

CCF Camp SHY

It’s the end of a great week and tiring week at RAF Shawbury. I spent a week there with the CCF RAF cadets and I’m pretty sure everyone had a great time. I’m struggling today with being super tired [fault of seeing Rammstein last night] and so have decided to write this instead of doing some pressing work badly.

RAF Shawbury is home to the helicopter flying school for the three services and there is a mixture of uniforms walking around.

On the Sunday we had some time on a high ropes course in Telford and then went to fly some birds of prey along with seeing owls close up. I got some excellent photographs and I endeavour to show them on here at some point.

Monday was the first day of section visits and we had the RAF Police tell us about their job and demonstrate restraining an adult volunteer [me]. One of the Midlands ARVs also came along to show us what kit they have and what they do. In the afternoon we had talks about training Air Traffic Controllers and we saw the simulators they use covering RAF Cottom. We had a tour around the dry helo training area run by the Ascent military contractors.

Tuesday brought a trip to nearly RAF Cosford and involvement in training the Midlands police how to cope with public demonstrations and protests. The cadets also learnt how to use riot shields correctly.

Wednesday for me was time spent at the DCCT block and then on the range in the afternoon. It was a little disconcerting that we had to stop often as there was a helicopter taxi way just behind bullet catcher. The last thing we needed was a stray round to kiss a Juno flying ten feet above the ground.

Thursday meant a visit to Air Traffic Control and a drive across the airfield. Then we nearly all had a helicopter flight in the afternoon piloted by an Army major. In the evening we had a camp meal out at The Red Lion in Shrewsbury.

On Friday I had a very short visit to the RAF Museum at RAF Cosford and then another afternoon on the range. It was very hot and there was a lot of aircraft activity including a visit from an Apache and two Pumas. We managed to get a tour around the Pumas. In the evening an ex-SAS member gave us a talk on motivation. This was followed by the traditional ceremony of the plates.

The final day meant tidying rooms, packing and then a journey home. Mind you, I had to stop at Milton Keynes to see Rammstein burn gallons of fuel during their concert. The review should follow shortly.

June 9 2019June 9 2019

Dakota Overlord

This last week saw a fleet of Dakotas fly from Duxford to Caen in Normandy to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. If I spend too much time on this matter I will descend into a melancholy beyond which we’ve seen in these communications. I shall leave it here and show some photographs I took.

The above baby flew over my house the weekend before the anniversary and it was extremely pleasant to watch. These really are gorgeous aircraft.

It was wonderful to see so many aircraft flying towards us while we waited on the school field. It’s a shame they were about half a mile west of us but still a great sight.

Finally, here’s a photo taken of my cadet contingent to commemorate the anniversary.

May 13 2019May 13 2019

HHOM

Just got back from a lovely weekend being trained in quite specific skills to do with a particular system. I was billeted at Halton House Officers’ Mess and I am glad the course changed from RAF Wittering to RAF Halton. I hadn’t stayed or seen Halton House before Friday and I was slightly worried I’d never get to see it as Halton might be shutting down.

Halton House Officers' Mess — Halton House Officers’ Mess

The light was pretty good when I arrived and you can see that in the picture. I try not to use filters as I think that’s cheating, unless there is a very specific effect you are going for. The above picture is filter-less, just aperture adjustments. I was given Room 8. This looked out over the main balcony.

The Salon, above, is the main hall but we don’t call halls halls anymore. In this particular picture my room was in the top right hand part of the balcony. It was such an amazing place to stay and I took photographs of every room.

The staircase has one of the best rise/step ratios I have seen and it is perfect for people in flowing dresses. I should have taken one with me and glided down this artifact. The house was bought by the air ministry after one of the Rothschilds didn’t want it and sold it at auction. It’s a lovely place and one I can tick off my list of great places to visit that are quite difficult as a member of the public.

The house has been used in numerous films, even a Bond film, and you can see a list on Wikipedia.

May 6 2019May 6 2019

K Qual

I just spent a weekend of good fun at a training camp near Folkestone. I was on my K qualification it involved spending some time at the Hythe Ranges run by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and they are part of the Defence Training Estate. According to the DTE website:

An area of low lying, slightly undulating land adjoining the foreshore. Hythe Ranges is one of the oldest ranges in the country and has been used for live firing for nearly 200 years. The whole area is steeped in military history. There are two Martello Towers on Hythe Ranges, and a “Grand Redoubt” fortification at Dymchurch. These were built in the early 1800s to resist potential invasion by Napoleon.

On the Saturday there the weather was somewhat changeable! We had moments of delightfully warm sunshine and a few minutes later we were in a hail storm. We had to do our job in all weathers because there’s only so much time you can be booked onto the range.

I love the clouds and colours in this picture, the light was stunning. In this picture you can see the bullet catcher, one of the Napoleonic Martello Towers and in the bottom left there is part of a Hythe Frame. The Hythe Frame is used to raise and lower targets on the shooting range. It is a manual device and I really enjoyed using it although the sound of bullets passing overhead was a little disconcerting.

February 19 2019

He Said What?

Over the weekend I went to a chapel communion service and I did this voluntarily. I was away at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre and while there one of the members of staff was going to deliver the chapel service. I went to the chapel service to support her and be a part of her experience. There is also the very slight possibility that one of these services might persuade me a little to partake in religion. It’s not happened yet and perhaps I secretly want this. I am, very slightly, jealous of those who have such faith, such comforting thoughts about the world.

As it turned out my friend couldn’t deliver the service because there are rules about who can touch certain parts of church paraphernalia and I guess you have to be a certain rank within the church before you are allowed to commit certain acts. I find it all rather confusing and very amusing. I think that every church has these man-made rules to govern who can do what within their made up system of belief. Everyone seems to take this very seriously.

I was once at Amport House and someone mentioned that although gay priests are allowed your vicar licence has to be approved by the local bishop and if that bishop is homophobic then you lose your licence to priest if you come out to the church. That seems utterly ridiculous that your ability to church is dependent on what your human boss thinks. But then again, the idea that a committee of humans can overturn the common ideals of a religion within a committee and change a religion’s view on a particular issue amuses me greatly.

The sermon on Sunday was interesting. The padre [I honestly don’t understand the terms for vicar/priest etc] spoke about Valentine’s Day and the love that we receive from partners on that day. He then linked this into the love that Jesus gave to us and also the love that God gives us. There was general chatter about two holy men who gave their lives for strangers. One of them was at Auschwitz and he sacrificed his life for another man. The other man went on to live to an old age and had many children. The other priest was a man who got entangled in another soldiers parachute on D-Day. The priest cut himself free to fall to his death and the other soldier went on to do his job. These stories were interesting and not ones I had heard before. While they showed a love for the stranger I do think they missed the point that they occurred within a time when there was great evil on the Earth and millions were dying in concentration camps and in battle. But religious people gloss over the problem of evil.

Within the sermon the padre talked about a passage from John. He mentioned words that Jesus said:

[side point: Jesus didn’t say these things. This was written about thirty years after Jesus died. Go back and think about any conversation, important or not, from thirty years ago and try to be convinced about how accurate you are. It amuses me just how much study is made from the EXACT words in the bible when it’s all translations and copying errors]

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Hey, it’s only my way or no way. You must do as I say or you won’t get to heaven. Do as I say you muthafuckers because I will damn you if you don’t follow my exact words.

“But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

This part was read out and the message was meant to be that if you love Jesus you will get to heaven. My problem is the bit IN THEIR OWN BOOK which clearly shows signs of an abusive relationship. This part wasn’t talked about in the sermon and it’s interesting the bits of their own book they are willing to gloss over. You see that little bit in there which is along the lines of:

Follow my rules or else. Follow my rules and I will love you. Don’t follow my rules and you are damned to everlasting hell.

Do as I say or you will be burnt and suffer in indescribable pain forever. This section of the reading was glossed over in the sermon but it screamed in my head and really bothered me. If christians take this book so seriously and believe it is the word of god then why don’t they see these parts. The parts that require complete submission or else. They don’t see them because they are either glossed over or they think it is a good thing. That passage has really bothered me for a few days now.

Follow my rules or get fucked.

It’s not like following the laws of the road or those at work. This is referring to eternal damnation and the only path to heaven is through following the rules of Jesus. Well, screw that. This book has been used to justify hatred and murder for the last two thousand years and probably will be used for another millennia. I do hope that one day we grow out of following a book written by men about two thousand years ago which is demonstrably wrong about so much.

You don’t need Jesus to understand that being nice to people is the best way to go. You don’t need Jesus to believe that treating people as you would wish to be treated is a good maxim for life. These things are self evident and don’t require a god or his naughty boy. It’s easy to use the principle of BE NICE to inform all your choices and decisions. If only more people realised you don’t need god [or the threat of hell] to be good.

February 6 2019February 8 2019

RAST Heats

I have spent some time recently at an Army Training Camp with a team of CCF cadets whilst they trained to compete in the Royal Air Squadron Trophy. They worked very hard and won the South East heats and so now move on to the national finals in a month’s time.

I can’t show you any photographs of that because they all contain the cadets. What I can show you are two pictures of Crowborough in the lovely sunny snow.

Another:

I’m very proud of the work the cadets put into the competition.

Also, while at the defence training area I found an old safe. I thought it looked particularly picturesque and so here it is:

January 16 2019January 16 2019

1989 – A Good Vintage

There are a number of reasons why 1989 was a good year for me but the one to talk about is my trouncing of my ATC squadron for awards. As listed in this communication I won four of the awards that year.

Shooting
Bandsman
Cadet Of The Year
NCO i/c Flight Of The Year

I am very proud of these. I still have the personal trophy for Cadet of the Year.

I recently attended a meal in celebration of thirty five years of 309 squadron and it was a good bash. It was lovely to see lots of faces from the old days. The trophies were on display and although my names are no longer on the prizes given out now – there’s not enough space for the new names and so new trophies were bought – I could see the old trophies around the room along with plenty of clippings in the scrap books.

There was also a presentation on the large screen with plenty of photographs from the old days. A fair few had me in them, mind you I was involved for over ten years.

The above photograph has John Trant, Lisa Slater, me, Flt Lt Andrew Passfield OC 309, Jamie Hubbard, Dean Willetts and Simon McGarry. We are the ones who won prizes in 1989.

That’s me playing the fife as the band marched down the town high street.

December 5 2018December 5 2018

Old Memories

Being part of the cadets at work has given me some brilliant experiences and I absolutely love. I often feel like I’m just a big kid really, soaking in all the experiences and seeing some amazing things, some of which I’m not even allowed to talk about. When I went to Cyprus last year it was twenty nine years since I had last been and had those experiences. I went to Akrotiri in 1988. I went one better with a recent trip!

In 1986 October time just after I had been to my first annual camp at RAF Coltishall my squadron went to Crowborough Training Camp for a week of activities. I have a few distinct memories of being there. One evening we watched a scary movie, I think it was Alien, and we had to do this in the girls’ block as that was where the TV and VCR were. When we left it was foggy and we all ran down the hill to our billet as fast as we could.

I knew that one day we were meant to be going rock climbing and abseiling at High Rocks but it was raining and instead we went to watch Top Gun in the cinema at Brighton. We were full of that film for the rest of the week.

A memory that came back to me after looking around one of the billets this past weekend was that we had a music box near the door where the power was and we played the Top gun soundtrack a lot along with “In The Army Now” by Status Quo and also “The Final Countdown” by Europe. I loved these songs at the time and I loved the feeling of belonging and having a good time together. I can still remember my team from that Crowborough camp; Nick Filler was I/C, Charles Randall, Vanessa Payne, Gummy and me.

This recent visit and my first time back to Crowborough comes thirty two years later. I’m back at this place with a bunch of new recruits who are learning the skills to be good leaders and enjoying that feeling of being part of something larger than themselves. I hope they enjoy it and get as much from it as I did.

I’m not always sure that I appreciated every moment while I was a cadet but i do look back with such fondness. So much so that I’ll be heading back to my old squadron for a meal next year to celebrate thirty five years since 309 was given squadron status.

October 30 2018October 30 2018

Am Port

I had a lovely time recently at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre in Hampshire. This was a weekend course in the wonderful setting of Amport House.

The weekend was spent with like minded people learning about personal development, emotions, biases, listening, understanding and respecting each other.

I know that a chaplaincy centre doesn’t really fit my overall view of the world but in all honesty it’s just a nice calm place to be. I didn’t have the room directly next to the church organ this time and in all honesty I was slightly disappointed about that! I did manage to fit a run in on the Sunday morning and that was pleasing. It only worked because we moved the clocks back to symmetrical time.

The pleached limes looked lovely with leaves and all that, but I didn’t manage to get a good enough photograph of them. Maybe next time?

October 22 2018October 22 2018

Reinden Wood

I spent a couple of days inside Reinden Woods part of the Cinque Ports Training Area. Whilst there I supervised a number of training opportunities for the cadets and generally helped out. I quite enjoyed playing a role during the vehicle check point exercise. I took some photos and they are below. I’m not going to say a huge amount about this weekend except to say it was fun while also being cold overnight.

Of course I don’t believe in ghosts but if films and stories are anything to go by the lodge pictured above would be haunted. It was bad enough having the cockerels crowing at 04:00.

I don’t go near wild fungi, I have no idea what they are and don’t want to die.

This is possible not the greatest photograph of this view but I had a task to do and came back to this spot about two minutes after and go this shot. I was even prettier two minutes earlier.

July 9 2018July 11 2018

CCF Camp HLW

I’ve just got back from a wonderful week away with the RAF Air Cadets at RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire. It might not be in Bedfordshire but Bedford was the nearest largest town/city. It was a very busy week and lots got done. I had a great time and I’m pretty sure the cadets did too. We didn’t get any flying [in aircraft] but there was plenty of shooting and fun.

As is usual we arrived on the Saturday and got settled in. Then Sunday was a day at a country pursuits experience. We went to the English School Of Falconry quite close to the Cardington Hangars. There were planes from Old Warden flying around showing off including a Percival, Lysander, Hurricane and Spitfire.

We all had a go at landing birds of prey and then some archery, air rifles and laser clay pigeon shooting. It was a baking day, really hot.

Monday was filled with some camp admin, getting the right forms delivered to the right people while the cadets visited the RAF’s Centre for Aviation Medicine. I found this particularly interesting as I’m currently reading a book about the development of the pressure suit and it has a lot of medicine development in it. The camp photo infront of the Hawker Hunter gate guardian and then a church service for the RAF100 Baton. I, somehow, didn’t make it to the service but I did get there just in time for another selfie with the baton. My first was at Amport House.

RAF Baton. Second time! pic.twitter.com/11rxK9IB88

— Ian Parish (@iparish) July 2, 2018

Later that day the cadets had a brief for a Rocketeers challenge they were going to take part in and then in the evening I ran a DCCT range over the other side of the Henlow base. We nearly got stuck in the base as they locked the gate at 21:30 and we finished at 21:25.

Tuesday we visited the RAF Museum at Hendon and in the evening the cadets watched the football match. I went for a run.

Wednesday morning the RAF Outreach team came to run the cadets through a disaster response planning exercise. After that we headed to Twinwoods Adventure for indoor sky diving. Twinwoods was based on the old Royal Aeronautical Establishment site and actually used the vertical wind tunnel that was developed for investigating flat spin aerodynamics.

The skydiving experience was fantastic and I really enjoyed it. It was such a high to finish and contemplate the second flight.

I don’t think you can explain just what it’s like to do this. Such an exhilarating time. Wednesday evening I ran another DCCT range practice with the cadets doing the shoot to qualify for their “trained shot” badge.

Thursday was my big day. I had spent hours since arriving at Henlow preparing to run my first outdoor 25m 5.56 full bore range. For whatever reason the CC couldn’t do it and so it fell to me to run the thing. There were range orders to read and a RAM to write along with all the briefings etc. I planned the day so that cadets could qualify for their “marksman” badge. To give you an idea of what it’s like, imagine having six lanes of semi-automatic weapons and 900 rounds to be shot. Then put the rifles in the hands of teenagers. Now, we follow the safe system of operation but it is still an intimidating amount of responsibility.

The day went very smoothly and I was happy with the number of cadets who qualified for the marksman badge.

Thursday evening we dined out at a pub near the base, The Airman. The company was great and the food was ok. The next day one of the schools had to leave for a school event because normally we would hold this meal on the last night.

The hangars at Henlow were designed and built before the end of the first world war and they have a beautiful look about them.

Friday I judged the drill competition, went for a run and helped supervise the block clean up. In the evening we watched the Battle Of Britain on the large screen and essentially just chilled. It was a fantastic week and I am really looking forward to next year’s trip.

April 9 2018October 22 2018

RAF 100 Baton Relay

As part of being 100 years old this year the RAF has a specially designed Baton travelling around the UK.

I was lucky enough to be at Amport House for its visit there.

I do have a picture of me holding the Baton but instead I’ll settle for this picture of all the group. I’m in there.

April 9 2018

Amport House

I have just returned from a lovely couple of days away at Amport House in Hampshire. It’s a lovely setting near Andover where the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre is housed. I spent time there on an ACO Personal Awareness Course. Although the course is based at the chaplaincy centre it is a non-religious course which is probably just as well for me as I am completely not-religious and verging on anti-religious. However, the centre made sure that my bedroom was closest to the chapel and my door was literally next door to the chapel organ.

There were a number of cadets there from all over the country. It was a good mix and they all got along quite quickly. This bonding does tend to happen as they already have a common interest. The whole weekend was non-uniform and first names only, even for staff-cadet relationships. This made it an environment suited for the discussions we had. The aim was to raise the personal awareness of the cadets in an intra and inter-personal way. They were tasked to think about dealing with others but also knowing themselves. I am sure all the cadets got a great deal from the experience and it is unlike any other course available in our pseudo-military organisation.

The house itself has been in the military since the second world war. It has always been used for the chaplaincy and is currently the centre for the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. The gardens were designed by Lutyens and Jekyll and are grade one listed, they are lovely.

Part of the garden was the oldest pleached limes in the country. These are lime trees which have been trained over many years to provide a hedge. These particular ones are designed so that courting couples could walk in privacy between the trees but the chaperones could see their feet and ensure they didn’t get too close to each other from outside the centre walkway.

It would have been nice to see these in bloom and leaved but maybe next time. On the whole it was a good weekend and I really enjoyed myself. Sitting outside during a break ready a book surrounded by such a wonderful setting was delightfully relaxing.

February 26 2018

Range 1

I spent some of the time at the weekend being the controlling officer of my first range. I ran the SMP DCCT range with cadets teaching them about marksmanship. It was good fun, the cadets learnt a lot and I learnt a lot. I’m looking forward to running my first live range soon.

February 8 2018

EGWE

Last weekend was pretty busy. My cadets were taking part in the regional heats of a national competition. We decided to have a training day before and so headed to St Martins Plain on Friday afternoon.

Above is where the officers stay. The blocks are warm and good enough for a couple of nights. I wouldn’t really want to spend much longer than that there. To give you an idea here’s the inside view of a two-person room:

Yes, I do take a suitcase with me on these trips. It’s for holding stuff. I rarely have to carry things over distances so it makes sense to use it. The yellow lump is my boot polishing kit. You can’t see the carpet in detail but it is hard wearing stuff that also happens to be really sticky to fluff and stuff. Hoovering the carpet is a real chore! There is normally a single electricity outlet in these rooms so a multigang extension lead is a must.

After one night at SMP we got travelled to RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire. It was a journey of about two hours and Henlow was a place I hadn’t been to before. That Saturday night was spent in the Officers’ Mess which is a slight step up from the Army camp.

Officers' Mess Henlow — Officers’ Mess Henlow

Quite a few messes around the country look like this. They are lovely buildings with decent rooms and dining and drinking facilities.

The room comparison is obvious. I wonder where I’d rather stay?

Given these surroundings it’s hard not to want to live in a place like this. Lovely sofas and lovely prices.

Sunday morning we zoomed to RAF Halton for the cadets to take part in the Royal Air Squadron Trophy. They came second out of the contingents in the South East and so will represent the SE at the national finals in about a month.