A Windy Week in Wiltshire - Ex AGILE JAGUAR - Fg Off Lis Foster
At
the beginning of February a group from Operations Flight travelled to the wilds of Netheravon
Camp, in the midst of the Salisbury Plain Training Area, to take part in Ex AGILE
JAGUAR. The week was to be spent
preparing for the first of the year’s Field Training Exercises (FTXs), a mandatory Joint Helicopter Command training exercise in preparation for those deploying to theatre in the coming year.
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An Army Air Corps Lynx arrives from Germany to take part in the FTX.
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We arrived at Netheravon Camp in time for tea. It never ceases to amaze me how, in conditions which can only be described as bleak, the RAF chefs provide such top quality food. With roast beef and Yorkshire pudding waiting, we put to the back of our minds any nagging suspicions we may have had about the puddles of water that had greeted us inside our tented accommodation.
Our remit for the week was to prepare
the Flight Operations room – or tent – ready for the start of the full FTX the following
week. The week was possibly of most
value to the not-yet-qualified Flight Operations Assistants, as it provided plenty of time and
opportunity for some serious NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) and Royal Flight plotting practice, both on
paper and using AMPA (Advanced Mission Planning Aid) software. For those
of us with more experience, being able to use the AMPA software was of most
benefit.
There was also plenty of
opportunity to improve our knowledge of meteorology as we were working
alongside a Flight Lieutenant from the Mobile Meteorology Unit (MMU) – a sponsored reserve
post. As it turned out the local
forecasts became something of a feature of the day as, perched on top of the
only hill for very many miles, Netheravon Camp was buffeted by gale force winds
for most of the week, which took the already low air temperatures down well
below freezing due to wind chill. The
force of the wind on the tent canvas and shaking the tent poles made so much
noise at night that at times it was impossible to sleep without earplugs. The Met Officer was able travel home in the
evenings as she lived nearby, and feeling guilty about leaving us at the camp,
she provided us with a tin of wonderful home-cooked brownies.
Although for most of the week no
helicopters were based at Netheravon, we did get the opportunity to watch them
carrying out judgemental training in the vicinity. This is where an incident is enacted on the
ground and the overflying helicopter crew must make a ‘judgement’ as to how
they should react. Apaches, Merlins and
Chinooks visited during the week and on the day before we left a couple of Lynxs
arrived from Germany ready for the FTX starting on the following Monday.
All in all the week provided
some valuable training opportunities and for those with no experience of live
ops, it was a gentle nudge in the right direction, although I’m sure things
would have been more exciting had we been present for the FTX. It was also a good job we were all aware that
we had the RAF Fitness Test to complete the day after our return, otherwise we
may have been tempted to try rather more of the fantastic field catering than
was absolutely necessary.
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| Getting to grips with the AMPA software |
