Tech-tonics
LAC
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OK,
to start with, I joined in 1986 at the time is was the 1.5 mile that was used as the fitness test, with individuals having to achieve this in under 11 mins. From then I was tested annually until I left the RAF at the start of this year. I did fail some tests but mostly I passed. I was not a sport billy, nor was I a couch potato, just a reasonably active individual.
Now during that 22 years I was pretty much always on squadrons as an engineer. As squadrons generally deploy together you are always working with people you know. In all that time one thing I recall especially in the more recent years is that when going some-where hot the one's who suffer the worst are the 'fatties', by saying fatties I mean those who were unable or unwilling to pass their fitness test. I knew many physically oversize people who did pass the test and also coped with heat well and I did not call them fatties.
In my final few years as a snec again the Squadron would deploy as a whole regardless of fitness test 'pass/fail' status of individuals. In these last few years without fail every year some people would be off sick with heat related illness when deployed. Without fail it was always those who had failed thier fitness tests that ended up ill.
Now drawing from this I'm guessing that fitter people are better able to cope with heat. Physiologically the heart copes better as does the rest of the body. Could this be why with so many hot detachments on the go the RAF and Army and Navy want fit individuals.
I hated the fitness test but it is a standard and one that must be passed. If you don't like your 'Terms and Conditions of Employment' do like I , and so many others have done and leave. However if you choose to leave be warned, while civil employers may not fitness test you if you perform in the lackadaisical manner so many seemed happy to while I was in the mob, you won't have a job for long. The old joke 'I'm off to work for a living' is no joke, enjoy what you have while you have it.
During my 22 years I failed to find any section that really was maxed out from the minute they arrived to the minute they left, or that couldn't get a brew almost constantly or all those other things we forget out way the inconveniences of a fitness test.
Finally has any-one thought that the fitness test may now be twice a year as it gives people a reminder of the need to train rather than putting it off till the annual event and then failing. Given a few cycles of the bi-annual test I believe failure figures will drop as people focus on the need to have at least a basic level of fitness.
tt
to start with, I joined in 1986 at the time is was the 1.5 mile that was used as the fitness test, with individuals having to achieve this in under 11 mins. From then I was tested annually until I left the RAF at the start of this year. I did fail some tests but mostly I passed. I was not a sport billy, nor was I a couch potato, just a reasonably active individual.
Now during that 22 years I was pretty much always on squadrons as an engineer. As squadrons generally deploy together you are always working with people you know. In all that time one thing I recall especially in the more recent years is that when going some-where hot the one's who suffer the worst are the 'fatties', by saying fatties I mean those who were unable or unwilling to pass their fitness test. I knew many physically oversize people who did pass the test and also coped with heat well and I did not call them fatties.
In my final few years as a snec again the Squadron would deploy as a whole regardless of fitness test 'pass/fail' status of individuals. In these last few years without fail every year some people would be off sick with heat related illness when deployed. Without fail it was always those who had failed thier fitness tests that ended up ill.
Now drawing from this I'm guessing that fitter people are better able to cope with heat. Physiologically the heart copes better as does the rest of the body. Could this be why with so many hot detachments on the go the RAF and Army and Navy want fit individuals.
I hated the fitness test but it is a standard and one that must be passed. If you don't like your 'Terms and Conditions of Employment' do like I , and so many others have done and leave. However if you choose to leave be warned, while civil employers may not fitness test you if you perform in the lackadaisical manner so many seemed happy to while I was in the mob, you won't have a job for long. The old joke 'I'm off to work for a living' is no joke, enjoy what you have while you have it.
During my 22 years I failed to find any section that really was maxed out from the minute they arrived to the minute they left, or that couldn't get a brew almost constantly or all those other things we forget out way the inconveniences of a fitness test.
Finally has any-one thought that the fitness test may now be twice a year as it gives people a reminder of the need to train rather than putting it off till the annual event and then failing. Given a few cycles of the bi-annual test I believe failure figures will drop as people focus on the need to have at least a basic level of fitness.
tt
DT_Xtremez_14:
