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.

An Army Air Corps Lynx arrives from Germany to take part in the FTX.

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.

Getting to grips with the AMPA software

If you go down to the woods today….

Fg Off Lis Foster

 For the November training weekend, Ops Flt relocated to woods on Hankley Common, part of the Longmoor Training Area, where scenes from the recent James Bond film, Skyfall, were shot.  Here we were to undertake a field ops Exercise, alongside other Flts from 606 Sqn.

With an advance party of SAC Stu Taylor, and ACs Roper, Butwell, Church and Carlyle, I travelled to the training area on the Friday afternoon, where we were able to erect 3 of the 4 tents required for the exercise before nightfall.  The remainder of the equipment was then set up the following morning in time for the arrival of the rest of the Flt.

The main training for the weekend was an exercise put together by SAC Stu Taylor and Cpl Les Birch – who has now left the Sqn – using their years of experience from working in Ops rooms in theatre and on live JHC exercises.

 

For the Exercise, Ops Flt was split into 3 groups, plus an Exercise Control (ExCon) team.  Each group had a mentor (Fg Off Cooper, Cpl Wallington and myself) whose job it was to subtly guide, while letting them run the exercise in their own way.  After allowing for time to set up the Ops rooms with maps, flying programmes, ‘Pilots to See’ boards and meteorology, the Exercise  then went on to run for some 8 hours, until 2000hrs. Each group had the same injects, but dealt with them in their own way – from General Whinge demanding a helicopter to take him into a danger area with no notice, to arranging casualty evacuations for a convoy that came under fire.  The pace of injects was good and allowed everyone to experience something of the life in an Ops Room.

During the day there was a visit from the HAC, Air Marshal  Macfadyen and Lt Col Natrass from Reserves JHC. The VIPs talked to us all individually and seemed genuinely interested in the training taking place.

The 606 Sqn chefs provided a cook tent with a communal facility for boiling ration packs, as well as tea and coffee, and this became a focal point for people to congregate in the evening.  With the generator being switched off at 2200 we all settled down to an early night.

The weather throughout Friday and Saturday had been beautiful, however, we were woken in the early hours of Sunday morning by an enormous clap of thunder – the heavens opened and when I turned on my torch just before 0700 I found I was lying in a large, quickly growing puddle.  Luckily the all-weather sleeping system had worked and I was at least warm and dry inside my bivvy bag.

After getting up and moving the kit out of the floodwater I took my packet of ration-pack porridge over to the cook tent, only to find that the chefs had worked their magic and bacon, sausage, eggs and beans were just about ready for breakfast.  Amazing!  Ops Flt had slept in the tents we had been using for the Exercise, but much of the Sqn had slept in bashas in the wooded area.  I’m sure the cooked breakfast was doubly welcome for them.

Unfortunately the torrential rain did not abate and it was decided that it would be best to pack up our kit and return to Benson, where the tents would need to be unpacked and hung up to dry.  It was a good job we had managed to have such a good run of Stu and Les’s excellent exercise on the Saturday.  The weekend had been a real success and many thanks have to go to Stu for organising such high quality and imaginative training.

Day 2 of training....

Day 2

So our day started at 8.30 with a quick joke from the FS and another check of who was here, then if was off outside to the parade square for a 'refresh' of marching, shun and turning. As the cold nipped at our fingers I think the majority of us wish we had warn our gloves! It was defiantly good to shake off the cobwebs from basic but I think we impressed the SGT after being told we were the best oggies he had seen in years.

A few rest bites later and we were on the up, literally! To the fire escapes we went on the other side of the parade square to practise coming down the stairs at the Royal Albert Hall. After a few quick 1, 2, steps DOWN! We were all pretty good to go though I'm sure Mandy is hoping for railings when we get there Friday after a slight fumble.

After lunch is was another joke from the FS to keep us all in good spirits and a greatcoat check which of course was a disaster as the tailors at Northolt had now refused to do anything with them. A decision was made that everyone that wasn't sorted would be heading to Halton to be kitted properly which included Emma, Mandy and myself, again. So as we all go on the bus one thought went though all our minds, when do we get off, as a collision on the M40 was about to make our journey that little bit longer. 16.50 arrived and with only 10min to spare, in the nick of time we had arrived to Halton where some very unimpressed civvies awaited to great us. Finally sorted we returned to Northolt with our greatcoats and an unusual new passenger with no trousers??

Dinner miss so it was off to Sainsburys for sarnies and a much needed drink down the bar? I'm sure there was a joke in there some where about Emma's muffin?  

606 Sqn win award for notable success.

The Inspector’s Cup is awarded to the RAuxAF unit which has enjoyed notable success during the past year. This year it is awarded to 606 (Chiltern) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force for two initiatives which have brought great benefit not just to the Sqn but the wider Royal Auxiliary Air Force.

Exercise CHILTERN KITE took place in Apr 11, although previously run for 606 Sqn personnel, this iteration was the largest collective training event run for RAF reservist personnel in many years. With participants from  a number of RAuxAF squadrons taking part the exercise provided a show case of PTVR capability to visitors including senior Air Command personnel, politicians, employers and members of the  Reserves Forces and Cadets Associations from across the UK. The PR result was a secondary objective since this was primarily about offering stimulating and worthwhile training for those taking part. 606 Sqn through its strong connection with its parent station was able to deliver helicopter support which enhanced the exercise still further. As retaining our people becomes the challenge retention positive activities such as this exercise provide a valuable tool in that endeavour.

606 Sqn again showed the capacity to deliver creative outputs this time at extremely short notice in supporting the Royal Windsor Castle Tattoo in 2011. With the participation of personnel from 6 other RAuxAF Sqn’s, OC 606 Sqn took the lead in conceiving, planning and delivering an arena display in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen. The display can still be viewed on You Tube and significantly in 2011 this was the sole RAF arena representation at the Royal Windsor Tattoo.

General Service Respirator Training

As part of the roll out of the new General Service Respirator RAF Reservists from 606 (Chiltern) Squadron have been undergoing conversion training.


As part of the training there is a requirement to test the equipment and the skills and drills of the individuals in a CS environment.


Below are a couple of pictures of some squadron members preparing for the respirator test facility after their weekend of fitting, teaching and testing.

Once in the CS environment staff will practise the decontamination, drinking and canister change drills.

One member of the Regiment Flight, Lance Corporal Calleja from Didcot missed the recent awards ceremony due to his civilian work commitments.  The opportunity was taken to present him with his Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Exercise Chiltern Kite 2012

Fg Off Lis Foster
As far as Ops Flt is concerned I think Chiltern Kite (CK) 2012 was a great opportunity for everyone to undertake a selection of Ops and FP training. Despite the cold weather – and those buildings in Imber village seemed to give off a really cold dampness – everyone seemed to have a good time.
Many thanks to Cpl Les Birch and SAC Stu Taylor for the excellent Ops Exercise that ran on the Saturday. It was obvious that a lot of work had gone into it and hopefully there will be further opportunities to continue with that throughout the year and into the future. Those of us who didn’t get to work with the helicopters were able to have some fun on vehicle patrols. My own experience of top cover proved to be very exciting with the chance to fire plenty of rounds at the ‘enemy.’
As usual the food provided by the field catering team was outstanding. Who could have believed we’d be eating roast lamb and fruit crumble and custard on the Saturday evening!
On behalf of everyone on Ops Flt I’d like to thank all those who spent many hours, days and months organising such a fantastic weekend.
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For more images of Ex CHILTERN KITE see here.

New Recruits - their story part 2.

How has my two weekend experience of being a "Sprog Airman" on 606 Squadron been so far? I would have to say that it's been good, busy but very enjoyable and the weekends fly by.

There seems to be a widely held belief that anything involving the Military means hours of "Character building exercises" like peeling spuds, bulling boots, marching in the rain and being shouted at to drive some obscure message through your thick skull before you get to do anything interesting. However, so far that's not my experience of 606 Squadron, yes, the weekends have been busy and mostly classroom based but the quality of instruction is excellent and delivered by enthusiastic, approachable people who know their stuff and manage to get it over in an entertaining as well as informative manner.

I suppose the biggest suprise is that we haven't been shouted at or run ragged for no apparent reason and that, as recruits, we are treated like adults, so if that's a worry for someone reading this who is thinking of joining 606 don't let that put you off! My overall impression as an end user is that it is a professionally run outfit, there is no hanging around waiting for something to happen.

It's very structured, the whole weekend is used constructively and I know from previous work experience that doesn't just happen without a lot of effort so it's obvious that the RauxAF invests time in developing it's people right from the start. Then again all the people I've joined with are a good bunch, they all want to be here and they all put the effort in to whatever we have been doing and "have a go" so that no one needs to be carried. The other Squadron members I have spoken to have all been friendly and happy to talk be it just to pass the time of day or to offer some advice. I don't think that there is going to be any secret to enjoying my time at 606, just do what it says in the recruiting blurb, be a team player, give everything your best shot and you'll get a lot out of it, I'm looking forward to it.

Andy.

When applying for 606 Sqn many questions would go through my head. Am I doing the right thing? Am I too old at 41? How will I be treated? What kind of person does the squadron want?

I must start with the fact that all members of the Squadron have been very welcoming, supportive and professional.It was also clear from the beginning that the other recruits joining were like minded individuals who have come from a variety of backgrounds and ages but all of whom work together and get on well. During the first few weekends we have had a vast number of lessons from rank structure of all three forces, history of the RAF and drill to name but a few. The training staff have worked hard to ensure that we are given the correct information delivered in a clear format that makes sure that the time at the squadron is used to maximum effect. It is clear from all the staff that they want the recruits to succeed and be able to start their careers in the best possible way and clearly put a lot of time and effort themselves.

I am certainly not too old at 41 and I definitely have made the right choice in joining 606 Sqn.

Tim

I thought I was way too old at 46 to come back into this environment, but 606sqn have managed to prove otherwise.

Right from my very first contact with the recruiting staff at 606sqn, my experience has been very rewarding. This is a military outfit and there is discipline, and a certain amount of fitness is required. The training staff treat new recruits with great respect, and because of this they achieve such good results. The subject matter is interesting and the method of delivery is structured in such a way that the information is easy to retain and repeat when called on to do so. Regular members of 606sqn have been very friendly, and are genuinely interested in what we have to offer, and this makes me very keen to graduate successfully from my training and join my flight in the squadron. From my initial impression it appears that the squadron holds many and varied opportunities for new recruits.

Pete

The two training weekends so far have been new, informative and very cold. So far we have mostly done our Gsk (classroom based work) and Marching with Cpl T who has a teaching style that is very effictve and great to take part in. Our two weekends so far have only been 4 days so far so more info is sure to come that will be of help from everyone.

Paul

New Recruits - their story part 1.

My first experience of Reservist Basic Recruit Training

A (very) long time ago, I had my first experience of military life as a member of my local Army Cadet unit. Then a young and spotty teenager, I remember a lot of shouting from NCO’s with their face just inches from my own, being ordered to “drop and give me 20” as punishment for any minor misdemeanour and on more that one occasion having to run several miles at the double in boots and webbing because one of our section was out of step on parade.

So, these being my primary recollections of the military (and most people’s belief that this is how it is), you might wonder why I decided to join the RAF Reserves but the truth is that I have much better memories of my cadet life (which lasted almost 8 years man and boy so to speak), the challenge, the friends, the whole experience and I suppose it was these I took with me however it is fair to say that on arriving at RAF Benson for my first training weekend and facing the dreaded fitness test I wasn’t really sure what to expect and was just a little nervous.

It was then most reassuring that when gathered in the tea room of 606 squadron HQ with the other recruits that morning I discovered that I was not alone. Here we all were, drawn from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, a mix of men and woman spanning a spectrum of ages and until a few minutes before all strangers but now we were getting to know each other, sharing our anticipation of what lay ahead. Several of my new comrades had previous military experience so I listened to what they had to say, hoping to glean a few tips and before I knew it we were off to the gym for that fitness test.

The test was tough but not as bad as I had built it up to be in my head and when told I had passed, I had a great feeling satisfaction and achievement but if I’m honest there was also a sigh of relief..!

Having “made the grade” there were congratulatory comments from our NCO’s before more form filling then the attestation ceremony. It was at this point when it all became real for me… I thought “This is it, you’ve made it” and I felt a great sense of pride. That feeling was their again the following morning when I put the uniform on for the first time and it has been there every time since. For me that is one of the best things about being a member of the RAF.

Our basic training started straight away and despite any previous apprehension I may have had, it is fair to say that life with 606 squadron has been a great experience so far. The members of our training flight are all good people and we look out for each other which is important, after all we are in this together. Our NCO’s are not just extremely knowledgeable of their subjects but they have encouraged and supported us throughout. They endeavour to make the training sessions as interesting as possible – not always an easy task with some of the topics – and contrary to common belief Sergeants do have a sense of humour (sort of), provided of course you show the respect due to them. There is a lot to learn in a short period of time but you really believe that the officers and NCO’s want you to succeed and that spurs you on work hard and do better.

We are two thirds way through our course now and there is still the basic training at RAF Halton to come. I’m really looking forward to that two weeks away and I can’t wait to get back to RAF Benson to start my trade training. Joining the RAF Reserve is one of the best decisions I have made... wish I had done it years ago!

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!!

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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A great weekends training on exercise Halton Kite

So we have just returned from another training weekend for RAF Reservists this time we made the short journey across to RAF Halton.

The idea of the weekend was to split people into a number of small sections that would then carry out some leadership, personal development and air power study training. All agreed that it was a great way to spend a weekend and made everybody that little bit more aware of where the fit into a team and what they can contribute.

First task build the accommodation for the weekend.







Then it was off to the recently renovated WW1 trench system that was used for training before departing to the front line.








Some really eye opening facts were put across, especially as one of the squadron members present had a relative that had passed through the system on his training.







Next onto a bit of studying and discussion on the use of Air Power in history, if we don't know where we have come from how can we know where we are going, so this was a great eye opener for some.








Like all military exercises we can always find time for a bit of drill, just to keep the mind occupied of course.









Then into Friday evening with a local navigation exercise, not a great distance around Wendover Woods, but enough to get the teams working together.















But after a few hours out on the hill its back to our great chefs for some hot soup. What would we do without these guys.







After a hearty breakfast on Saturday morning it was a chance to really challenge those fears and get onto the high ropes course.







The facility is just great with challenges to meet all skill levels, even the leap of faith!







Sunday saw some more traditional Leadership and Command task work. This is key to making Squadron staff valuable members of the military. As our personnel will always deploy as individuals it's key that they can fit into existing teams.






Some employers would pay quite a lot for this sort of training, we are lucky that we can provide this as part of being a member of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.






The weekend finished off with a parade and medal presentation to 11 members of 606 Squadron, either for service in Afghanistan or for Long Service with the RAF Reserves. Some of these guys were being recognised for 15 years service!






A great weekend for all of those present, and lots of thought provoking activities to be used in the future.