The long wait

Just a brief update on where I am with my RAF application.

My official dates for training have come through and I'm not off to Halton until Feb 17th. Bit of a long wait but I'm told this is due to a sudden influx of recruits so there's not alot that can be done except to wait for it now.

For the next 6 months my plan is to find temporary work so that I'm not bored and obviously to keep my fitness up. The plus side of the wait being that I can play ice hockey for a while longer.

I have my Pre Recruit Training Course on the 3rd and 4th of December so I will make sure I post a blog covering my 2 days at Halton.

Between now and then I'm not sure if I'll have much to blog so all my readers shall have to bear with me. May do a questions and answers blog if the interest is there.

I am officially fit

2 months ago, when i started this whole process, I was unfit. So unfit that i struggled to think about running, let alone actualy do it. So I was more than a little paniced when I was told at my interview that I'd have 4 weeks to prepare.

My training basically consisted of quitting smoking, eating a lot more, lots of weights for my lower body and lots and lots and lots of running. The press ups and situps are easy. So training to do those is q bit of a waste unless you're a weed.

To reach 2.4 km in 12 minutes you need to average 12 km per hour on the treadmill. You can do this however you like at you own pace. I worked out that I could split the run up with 8kmph walks if I ran a little faster and threw in a 30 second sprint every so often. My theory was watertight and great for training. It definately helped to change my program every time I ran as I quickly got used to running at various speeds and lengths of time.

Weights I didn't push it too much with but you shouldn't wimp out. They still need to be built up for running. I also did a fair bit of other cardio stuff aswell but I usually just ran. I find cardio workouts very boring, but neccessary.

The night before my test I was quite worried. Although I'd improved alot over the 2 months, injury, illness and a week of drinking and smoking took it's toll on my fitness and my progress began to slow off. My final gym session before my test ended at a disappointing 2.2 km in 12 minutes so I was more than a bit wary over failing. I ended the night early with a muscle soaking bath and a good nights sleep to recover properly.

Things weren't much better when I first arrived at the test though as I was told you're not allowed to listen to an iPod or anything. You just had to run.

After doing all the medical forms and the usual crap that must be done before you can use a gym, I was left to warm up and stretch. Something I don't often do but probably should. And then it was just a case of getting down to it.

I started running at 12.5 kmph as I had planned previously but after the 4 minutes I usually run for I just decided to keep going steady. The trainer counting every minute that passed was a big help. When I got to 9 minutes I was almost there so slowed down to my walk for about 30 seconds to grab a drink of water and wipe my face and then pushed on again. I gave the last 50 metres a final sprint and finished in 11 minutes 27 seconds. Which is a solid result since I've been struggling until now.

You have an hour from the moment you start you run to complete the entire test. So after a 5 minute cooldown I still had quite a while before my minute of pressups and situps had to be started. But why wait? I chose to just jump straight in and do it. 10 pressups and 18 situps is nothing so I did 16 and 20 in about 30 seconds each. Not really wanting to do too many even though I could. Lets face it, there's not really much point at this stage.

After the assessors congratulaions and getting my paperwork back it was all over. I celebrated with a fag whilst I phoned the AFCO to tell them. Now it's just a case of waiting for my joining dates and then I get to go sign my contract.

With all that over, I'm off to play a spot of ice hockey tonight and get injured in celebration.

Not the doctors!

As I have my fitness test tomorrow it's probably about time I wrote about the medical. There's not much to say really as, to be honest, it was a pretty big waste of time.

To start off, I hate the doctors, of any kind. So I was more nervous about the medical then I was about the AST and interview put together. To make matters worse there was a confusion over how to read at the AFCO on the day of my medical. I received a phone call asking where I was and then telling me (at 1410hrs) that I was late for my appointment. Upon telling the bloke my appointment wasn't until 1440hrs he responded with "20 past 2 yes, but you need to be here 15 minutes early"

After explaining to Mr RAF how to tell the time he appologised for the confusion and told me that despite what my letter from them said, the medical was a little way from the office itself but I still needed to go there to pick up my paperwork. So unorganised this lot.

So I get to the office at 25 past, bang on time, and the bloke that has to sign me in has gone out for lunch. It must be such a hard job buzzing people through that door. To make matters worse, whilst I'm trying to phone, some woman appears, says to me "isn't it annoying when they do this?", swipes herself in and closes the door behind her, leaving me downstairs still.

When I eventually get hold of the AFCO to let them know I'm downstairs a man appears with my paperwork and a map showing me where to go to get to the doctors, and off I go.

My hatred of doctors worsens as I walk through the door and some delivery boy is talking rubbish whilst I'm waiting to sign in. Then I'm told to pee in this little sample bottle. I went to the toilet before I came dammit! And the stupid thing is too small anyway. My frustration at this point is beginning to boil over.

I sat in the waiting room for all of 30 seconds before noticing the funny looks. There was 3 pregnant women sat in the waiting room, another about to sign in and another just appearing from one of the doctors rooms. I, with my fancy BlackBerry and holding RAF paperwork, was takig up valuble doctor time on pregnant lady day. The nurse couldn't have come sooner.

The medical itself was dull. She tested my urine sample for something, weighed me, took my height (2cm shorter than I am at any other time, ever) and began with the real thing. Questions. That's all it was. Have you had this? Have you had that? Blah blah blah. I'm sure these questions were on he application form! Then I had a sight test, even though I had a prescription from a real optician that was only a week old. And some hearing test which bored me half to death.

After that it's upstairs to Dr Feelgood for the pysical check up. Yes you appear to have a heartbeat. Oh you can breathe, wonderful. No bones missing? All done. He checks my prescription (which the nurse didn't), writes "fit for RAF service", signs it and hands it back.

And off I go to the AFCO to give it to them and it's a done deal. And I hate doctors even more now

Timescales

Just a quick update on time scales so you have some idea of how long the process takes.

I started my process in April with my initial visit to the AFCO. I didn't apply at the time as I was interested in an NCO aircrew job but slightly cautious about where it might lead in later life (hint: not far). I went back in a couple of weeks to apply for the Aircraft Tech.

When I went in the second time and said I would be applying, I was booked in for my AST for mid-may. That gives you between a month and 6 weeks from deciding to apply and the process really kicking off. What happens next depends on your choice of trade. If it is currently unavailable (as my first choice was) you must either wait for recruiting to reopen for that position, or choose one that is currently open.

Choosing to wait may take a long time. I currently know someone that started the application before I did and now has to wait til April before her trade choice opens up. So be prepared for that wait. Pick a trade thats open however, and you'll get straight on with it. My formal interview was within a week of my AST.

After my interview, my medical was within two weeks and my fitness booked for mid-june. Meaning to this point, initial appointment to fitness test was two months. Sadly I was injured so my fitness test had to be re-booked.

Some trades have a 'specialist interview' to make sure you're completely suitable for the job at hand, but then that's your lot. All thats left is waiting for your 'offer of service' and your dates for going to Halton (someone recently accepted has her start date end of October so still a little bit of time)

Unfortunately, I only have experiance in the enlisted airman/airwoman process so for anyone going officer or NCO aircrew, you'll have to find someone who's done it or rely on the 'several months' the RAF careers site mentions.

Any questions, let me know =)

That quick?

I left my AST appointment with a selection of job discriptions for the various technical trades that were recruiting, but still thinking about Aircraft Tecnician as my trade of choice. The only others i could really choose were Avionics Tech (avionics are far too fiddley and boring) or ICT Tech (which sounded like the guy at the end of the technical support phoneline)so I'd already pretty much decided to wait it out.

My mother had other ideas. Being a careers advisor she gave me the 'look into all your options before you decide' talk and so I had to actually read though the information I was given. Avionics Tech still look like a crappy job so I tossed it aside.

ICT Tech on the other hand, started to look quite good. I won't go into the boring detail of the job or anything, but it was the bit that said about going into areas before the rest of the troops to set up RADAR and communications. Sounds like the kinda job where I could see some action to me.

Anyway, a couple of days after my AST, I had just made my mind up to go for the ICT Tech job when i received a phone call from the AFCO themselves. That was Tuesday night. I told the careers guy I wanted to apply for the job and he arranged an interview for me....... for Thursday morning.

This is where those notes I told you to take come in. Unlike me you should have been reading them from the moment you got them so you're prepared for a rush interview like this. Luckily from all my experiance from cadets and knowing a great deal about the forces and RAF, I got through it fine with a bit of blagging. That said there were a few things I really should have remembered and would have if I had read my notes.

The interview is not hard. Mostly it's questions about you and your life, family, school, holidays, hobbys etc etc. so just relax and be confident about your answers. The only bit you have to think about really is the bit about your chosen trade and why you want to join the RAF. Remember the RISE (Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence) thing, its always good to have as an answer, as is the role of the RAF.

One thing not to do, is tell them you originally wanted to do a different trade, or thought about officer. As far as the interviewer is concerned this trade is your first choice and mentioning other trades leads to more questions that you really have to blag your way out of. I fell into this trap and had to explain why ICT Tech was not 'second best' to Aircraft Tech and once again that joining as enlisted ranks was not second best to having a commission. Believe me, even for a seasoned blagged like I am, it's not easy.

At the end of the interview you'll be told how you got on. It's not official but your interviewer will either recomend you for RAF service or not, simply as that. They'll also go over any points bought up in your interview, mainly bad points.

You'll also be given one final piece of good news. You now have to have your medical done within 14 days and your fitness done within 14 days after that. That gives you a total of 4 weeks to get your fitness together so if you haven't already joined a gym and started running on a treadmill (it look some learning for me) you might want to think about it now.

Test time

After weeks of putting it aside, i finally got around to filling in the RAF application form...... the night before my AST.

The forms greatly confused me. Some of the questions were quite vague and the supplementary booklet basically reworded the questions instead of explaining them. Guess that the form is the first step to finding out if you're a complete idiot or not. Thankfully, I think I did ok.

So off I trot to the AFCO on the day of my test with my application form proudly filled in and an A4 wallet full of documents and certificates that I didn't actually need at all. I found myself in a room with the biggest bunch of numpties I've ever met. One girl had a tattoo on her neck which she was trying to keep hidden ( not gonna work at the medical love ) and one of the guys turned up in a tracksuit. Idiots.

Anyway, after handing over our forms, certificates, ID and whatnot we were herded upstairs to the dreaded 'test room'. Despite the careers guys kind words and encouragement, nobody except me could remember how their vocal cords worked so we just gave up and got on with the test.

The test itself is pretty simple. If you have yet to take it, don't worry about it just relax and don't rush yourself. It's all multiple choice and just a case of understanding the example and then making sure you read each question properly. You don't need huge scores for any trade so just do your best (corny bit over)

After the test we were all sent out for a fag/drink/fresh air and then gather back into the test room for a presentation all about the RAF and the sorts of things you'll need to know for your interview.

TAKE NOTES. It sounds simple but if they tell you that you're going to need a certain piece of information, you are going to need it. Don't ignore the professionals or you deserve to fail the interview.

And feel free to respond to the questions and stuff when the guys are talking to you, I was the only one talking in our presentation and had a very good laugh with the bloke taking it.

I am told that the presentation is sometimes given to you before you take the test, on a different day, whatever. But the gist is still the same so it's all relevant.

The final part of the day is the results. One by one we were called out of the test room into a little room where the two sergeants had all the results and other paperwork we handed in and some good news or some bad news. Or maybe a bit of both in my case.

I scored a whopping score of 97. The best they had ever seen in their time at the AFCO. The bad news, however, was that currently the recruitment for Aircraft Technician (mechanical) was closed and I was instead faced with a choice. Choose another trade from the list of available ones, or wait it out until my chosen trade was available again before carrying on with the applicaation.