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has anyone recently joined the atc as my neice has and her uniform that she was issued with was dreadful there were holes in her shoes and the general apperence of it was not very good not like when i was in it we were issued with brand new uniforms so i am taking her to waddington airshow to get some replacement items for her .

Craig, what exactly are you thinking of swapping her for?

Get the proper uniform form cadets. There is no point spending money on uniform and then giving it back when she leaves. Sort them out if they are giving uniform which is in very bad condition.

The best way to get a good uniform is to volunteer for a wing event. Then the squadron will give you a decent uniform as they don't want to look like scruff bags at a big event. To be honest though the uniform isn't going to look great when you first get it, but once you have ironed it a fair few times and worn it in, it will look better.

thanks for the info you are an but i will still be taking her to waddington as there are loads of army surpless stalls there selling raf equipment so i am bound to find her somthing there

Waddington is good, but I still advise the Wing event. I have never been to a wing event, so my uniform is tatty, I have trousers to fit an elephant and my jumper has one massive hole in the front from where someone attempted to make a drawstring. I do have decent shoes, but I had to buy them (for £15)!

I'm glad your name is Craig and not Chris Mason, he's our AWO and it would be scary to talk to him on here!

Thanks,

Mr. Cdt [for the minitue at least :'(]

WHAT squadron are you in my niece is in the 1890 dronfield squadron 0X

Im in the ATC at the moment, been in 3years now.

Luckily our Sqn is unlike most other ATC squadrons and we are VERY green, only to be seen in blues at wing events or other stuff (such as ANZAC/Rememberance Parades/Wings Appeal).

Best bet for Blue kit mate is to get pally with the stores JNCO on sqn, and dive in their one breaktime, and have a good rummage, thats what I did and all my kit is now the best they have to offer (which isnt of a great standard...but still!, beats buying it ).


Ok, i would attatch a picture, but cant find anywhere to host it (any offers? )....anyways, very green. Constantly doing MFT and excersises, weekend tabs, etc etc...i love it.

I joined as a muppet "I want to be an RAF Pilot...ONLY!".....now in a way i still do, but, i have lost all interest in RAF stuff really, and have my heart set on a green beret, I want to go Royal. The squyadron really has opened my eyes, shame other ATC units arnt the same, So, if any ATC folks ever hear of an invite to Sennybridge with 649Sqn, jump at it!, Ive been for 3yrs now (twice a year), and am now on the training team, it'll hurt, but its very rewarding


Cpl Mumford
649 Durlsey Sqn, Air Training Corps

We've had this issue on our squadron before. We've also discovered some unfortunate facts out whilst we've been investigating better/faster ways of getting kit.

1. The ATC isn't entitled to issue shoes/boots to cadets anymore. They are meant to be provided by the cadet themselves. Not sure when that became policy, but most squadrons have still got stocks of shoes/boots lying around which they issue to probationers.

2. You are no longer permitted to issue second hand close which can be worn next to the skin (health and safety reasons!)- i.e. every new cadet can demand new shirts, berets, trousers, rather than having second hand kit. This is a severe issue with our unit since with over 50 cadets, wed have to get in bucket loads of kit as and when it was needed - cadets allready have to wait lots time to get a new set of trousers!!!

3. DPMs are not issue. Squadrons issue DPMs at their own discretetion, but they haven't got an entitlement for them with their parent RAF Station. The only way we get hold of them is via a friendly stores chap who writes a bag off as U/S everytime we go there

I aggree that this is a sorry state of affairs - and wish that somebody would pull their finger out! Its not fair on anybody involved!!!

Ive bin in the cadet corps for 7 years & in all that time Ive found that the best way to get any kit is to envoke the 3 second rule, after all, if a cdt can not look after their own kit an AWO will find it and keep it any way!

CWO_NCH wrote:envoke the 3 second rule!

Hell yeah! Bring it on CWO!!!

I "acquired" a lot of kit that way to start with... then my CO found out... then i found him piking too, so nothing more was said!!! Ha-Ha!!!

Batfink wrote:
1. The ATC isn't entitled to issue shoes/boots to cadets anymore. They are meant to be provided by the cadet themselves. Not sure when that became policy, but most squadrons have still got stocks of shoes/boots lying around which they issue to probationers.

!

AFAIK Boots n shoes have never been on issue for Air cadets , when I was in we used to wear doc martin boots and raf shoes if we could afford em, at the time the RAF was still wearing DMS boots which were god awful things , and that was in the 80's

Best idea is to try and 'liberate' any kit you need when the NCO i/c stores is busy doing something else. This can be done very easily during cleaning details and break times. If you're friendly with an NCO (or an NCO yourself) it's even easier, as NCOs are generally more friendly and relaxed with eachother than they are with cadets, and can therefore 'acquire' things from stores more easily.

I say possession is nine tenths of the law so get hold of as much kit as you can and in the eyes of the law it automatically becomes yours!!!!!!