Thursday 18 November 2010

Did'nt think the idea would take off, good luck all

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JACK fm OxfordshirePress Release

'Buttock Clenching Radio' as

Oxfordshire's 106 JACKfm deploys to Afghanistan


After over 12 months of planning, this weekend Oxfordshire's 106 JACKfm's entire breakfast team of 4, 'JACK's Morning Glory' deploys to Camp Bastion in Afghanistan for a UK local radio first. The team will spend a whole week living amongst our military personnel whilst presenting their daily live breakfast show to those back in the UK.

afghan jack

The project has been officially endorsed by The Prime Minister David Cameron who personally phoned 106 Jack FM's breakfast show to wish the team good luck and asked JACK's Morning Glory to pass on a message of how proud he was of our servicemen and women. Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson has also lent his support, calling with a message of encouragement for everyone at Bastion.Unfortunately as he tried to allay the team's fears about the flight, he ended up telling them about the 'buttock clenching landing' and the time a 'heat seeking missile' was fired at him.


106 JACKfm presenters Trevor Marshall, Sue Carter and Greg Burke will experience life in Camp Bastion whilst their roving reporter Rosie Tratt will visit another Main Operating Base at Lashkar Gah. The show will broadcast live to Oxfordshire from the BFBS studios within the camp between 6am and 9am each morning.


The team has been granted access not only to serving personnel, but also the little known areas of the camp in order to show what life is really like 'inside and outside the wire'. They'll be doing this not just on air, but also online via the custom-built website http://afghanistan.jackfm.co.uk. The site, which is now live, will feature video, audio, Twitter and Facebook updates uploaded daily from camp, focusing on daily life and the great work our British forces are doing to rebuild Afghanistan.


Programme Director Sue Carter said: "Between us in the team going out, we've got over 50 years of radio experience, and it's definitely the biggest thing any of us have ever been involved with. We just hope we can bring our audience throughout Oxfordshire a taste of what life in Afghanistan is really like for the thousands of our guys and girls who are serving out there."


The broadcast would not be possible without the support of our major partner The Royal British Legion as well as The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS).



Wednesday 17 November 2010

Backroom boys and girls make a difference.

The true value of 606 Squadron is often seen only in staff deployed overseas, but behind the scenes another layer of support exists to assist the RAF in maintaining its vital presence. The training weekend on Saturday saw Logistics hard at work in the Technical Stores preparing a very large consignment for the MOD. This work was pure muscle (and of course the usual Logistics` brains and common sense!) as the fork lifts were unavailable. By 1700 on Saturday afternoon the centre aisle of Tech Stores was a mountain of carefully `picked` items all correctly attached to the right paperwork. This will have released the Regulars on Monday to do other vital work as they would simply have to load the goods onto the transport. On Sunday the 606 Logistics` lads and lasses were back in the Clothing Stores undertaking a stocktake. This went extremely well and threw up a number of discrepancies, both over and under, for the regular Suppliers to address on Monday. In each of the above jobs there are multiple positives.

1) 606 gets vital hands on experience

2) 606 gets a great sense of `participation` in being part of the RAF Family

3) The Regulars gain time to perform additonal work

4) The Regulars understand that 606 are not `weekend warriors` but a cohesive unit well trained and able to give them vital support.

There was a great sense of satisfaction in the Logistics team on Sunday evening and we all went away with a spring in our step.

Corporal Fisher

Tuesday 16 November 2010

Getting just a little bit more coverage.....



The Independent on Sunday has recently featured just a little piece of 606 (Chiltern) Sqn.

Through our links with local commercial Radio station Jack FM, we managed to get the Jeep Wrangler we use for recruiting activities featured. The vehicle provided in association with Jeep Oxford has been used throughout the region this summer attracting attention and showing what the RAF Reserves do.

Full story is at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/gooood-morning-afghanistan-and-abingdon-and-bicester-2133460.html

Good luck guys and girls enjoy the trip and make loads of great radio!!

Saturday 6 November 2010

RAF Benson Reservist receives award in the City of London

Acting Sergeant Malcolm 'Reg' Goodall from 606 (Chiltern) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force has recently been awarded the Mrs Patricia Brain/ Lightmongers Merit award. The trophy is awarded annually to a person that has contributed over and above to unit activities.

Acting Sergeant 'Reg' Goodall is one of those sorts of people that every commander needs, he never fails to deliver, and always does so with a smile on his face. A member of 606 since its formation in 1996 he has deployed overseas to Iraq, and is always at the forefront of squadron activities. As a Motor Transport Driver he is responsible for moving the key elements of the helicopter force during training, exercises or on operations. His recent move into the management team has seen him oversea the transport requirements for numerous squadron deployments, all that have run without a hitch. Finally not only happy with his own output, he is key to the training of newer squadron drivers, he is able to pass on his great knowledge and experience to all around him.







Acting Sergeant Goodall was presented with his award by Baroness Betty Bothroyd at the Annual Company Installation dinner held at the Haberdashers Hall, Smithfield.


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