My RTS so far

[Fwd 5]

Rizzarazzu,
If you are potentially aircrew and it is a decent PLCE type bergan I would keep it in case you end up on SH. The zip up type one issued to the RAF is pretty sh*t .

[Rizzarazzu]

Other block jobs are toilet cleaning, shower cleaning, laundry room cleaning, boot room, dryer room. In our room, you gOt to choose what job you wanted to do, so try and take your choice first. I didn't mind any job, as long as it wasn't the toilets
You will do the same job the whole time your there.

Alex

Are all these rooms part of the one building ?

I suppose the fairest way to choose who does what is draw it from a hat.

[Rizzarazzu]

Rizzarazzu,
If you are potentially aircrew and it is a decent PLCE type bergan I would keep it in case you end up on SH. The zip up type one issued to the RAF is pretty sh*t .

Okay mate, thanks. It is PLCE type, so yes i'll keep it.

Are you NCA ? If so, got any stories you'd like to share ?

[Alex Himself]

yeah all those rooms are part of the same building, also the NCO's room, spare room, breifing room, outside and surrounding area are all needed to be cleaned.

Alex

[Rizzarazzu]

Are the NCO's room, spare room, breifing room all used ?

[Alex Himself]

yes, often very messy. spare room used for kit demos, team building tasks etc...

NCO's room is where they do paper work etc... someone will be selected to make them their cups of tea.

yesterday a flight passed out and we were able to see the Harrier fly very low over head, fantastic sound and sight.

Alex

[Rizzarazzu]

Ah, i did wonder if we got a flypast on the passing parade - i knew that the officers do.

Did it do the old hovering or did it just go 'whoosh', 'gone' ?

[Alex Himself]

well we were outside the respirator testing facility when it went over so whooshed over us, don't know about the parade square. Thats the 3rd flight to have passed out since we've been there, and their only the 1st to pass out outside.

If the weather is predicted bad, or is bad, it takes place in the Indoor drill facility. This is where you do you drill training also, very echo'y, hope that ours will be outside.

Alex

[Rizzarazzu]

I'll bet it's hard to make out the words of command when it echoes like that, eh ?

Anyway mate, how many days have you got left until pass-out then ?

How much more GDT have you got to go ?

[Alex Himself]

yeah tis hard to make it out sometimes.

if all goes according to plan, passing tests, exams etc... then 14th feb will be the big day.

you get 4 weeks with the RAF Regiment in total, we've had 2 days and i've enjoyed it all so far. Tiring, but it's all new stuff. Have a couple of theory lessons a day, but i find it interesting.

People have fallen asleep in the NBC lessons, they go mental when you do. Looking forward to using a gun and going on our 4 day exercise. Not sure when we'll do this.

Alex

[Rizzarazzu]

Were you ever in the cadets mate, or is all this ironing, bulling cleaning, drill, weapons and living rough stuff new to you ?

Also, do you work all the weekends, Sat & Sun, where you don't get to go home ?

[B_H100]

I passed out of RTS on 13th September. Found GDT the best part of training - as AH says it is pretty interesting, and feels a lot more military. As for block jobs, our flight had to do all 3 floors of the building. Bottom floor had ablutions with the NCOs room and briefing room, next 2 floors have 2 rooms and ablutions.

Its worth taking different sizes of snap-seal plastic bags, you will need these to waterproof your kit during CPT (4 day exercise), also you will need kfs, a decent torch, notepad and pen, basic first aid kit. Most of this, if not all is available down at the shop on camp. They do give you a kit list during gdt however if you have some of it already then it's less to worry about!

Get a DECENT iron! I arrived having been told not to spend over a tenner on an iron by the AFCO - didn't replace it until I'd passed out and looking back it made life much more difficult having a shit iron - almost failed day 51 and recieved a couple of verbal warnings down at pt because I couldnt get as good creases.

Another handy item to take is a set of hanging shelves, (the fabric ones you can get from argos for about a tenner). These are great for storing civvie clothes and general items in your civvie locker. The neater it looks the better!

As for saturdays/sundays, after the Hendon trip we had every weekend to do as we wish. We were not allowed to drive home after CPT however, which pissed a few people off, all to do with duty of care, the RAF does not want it's recruits falling asleep at the wheel it seems!

People falling asleep in GDT was common, especially during NBC and First Aid lectures. We were often speed marching or marking time to the Corporals commands during the small breaks we had, have some v.funny memories (scared to laugh at the time!).

Am on my first day of xmas leave at the mo and this info may seem a bit random or irrelevant - I am trying to pick out specific things but I could go on all day.

If you have any questions then give me a shout and I promise I'll get back to you.

Good Luck!

[Alex Himself]

hi rizza, no i never was i the cadet, so all this is new to me.

As B_100 said after the Hnedon trip, very very good museam, you get weekends off. Subject to block inspections being good. The first couple of weeks, for me and most of the lads, went slowly, but once you get to GDT the days go quicker.

B_H100, have you done you decontaminisation drill in the RTF? How did it go, and were you made to put a tic-tac into your mouth?

I agree with the iron bit, i got a pretty crap iron, and have already burnt a shirt, not badly, but slightly, and your shirts, pt tshirts will all need shit hot creases in them.

i was going to buy one the other day, but then my mum told me father Christmas may be bringing me one.

I am going to take my hanging shelve from home, they are very useful, and a couple of boxes or shoe boxes to put crap into.

Alex

[Rizzarazzu]

Cheers fellas - all this info. will never go to waste as far as i'm concerned.

I can't think of any specific questions to ask, but i'll repeat what i've been saying - if you're bored in front of your computer and something pops into your head and you have even the slightest feeling that it may be helpful to me or anyone joining RTS then please just scribble it down in here. It will be appreciated, i promise.

I think i'm sorted with the iron - being an ex-cadet instructor i know how tough the uniform can be and how a decent bit of steam can work wonders so i've prepared for that. I have most of the other GDT kit, but i don't think i'll take it up with me initially, not until i start GDT anyway.

That's a bummer about not being allowed home after the CPT - that'll be the time you most want to go home, FFS, surely ! Are you not allowed to go home for the whole weekend or are you just not allowed to drive on the Friday night ?

I must invest in one of these hanging shelves as well - i've heard that from loads of people.

Edited - sorry mate - i've just read what you are in the other thread.

Thanks again, guys.

[B_H100]

Yes everyone does the decontamination drill, it is one of the training objectives I think. When we did it there was one NCO either side of the RTF, facing outwards, 5 of us either side. They will say things like `carry out the first part blah blah...` then they MAY skip some parts, probably depends on the NCO though. Could you PM me the NCOs you have, would be interested to know if they are the same ones I had?

And yes, you must eat a Tic-Tac (NAPS)

You can go home on the saturday morning as far as im aware, they just want to make sure you have had a certain amount of sleep.