Supergrad, Cranwell 29 April

[Captain Kirk]

Watched the grad today to see my lad do his Halton square bashing 2 years late.
There were a few that collapsed, but two seemed completely out and were stretchered.
Could someone who knows let on if the 2 serious ones are ok please?
Last grad I was at was my own 36 years ago, but boy do you feel for them, when they had to wait 2 years and then they don’t make it and their poor families have to see the stretchers.

 

[Rugby-Jock-Lad]

Congrats to your lad!!! :- )

 

[stormwell]

Watched the grad today to see my lad do his Halton square bashing 2 years late.
There were a few that collapsed, but two seemed completely out and were stretchered.
Could someone who knows let on if the 2 serious ones are ok please?
Last grad I was at was my own 36 years ago, but boy do you feel for them, when they had to wait 2 years and then they don’t make it and their poor families have to see the stretchers.

I had to stretcher off the one on the left hand side, he was pretty much out of it and bit of a shame since he had almost made it to the end of the parade.

The lass who'd collapsed first on the other side had recovered, saw that she was seated when we brought the other guy in.

Spotted myself in a couple of news photos, though not the most flattering of pics.

 

[Captain Kirk]

I had to stretcher off the one on the left hand side, he was pretty much out of it and bit of a shame since he had almost made it to the end of the parade.

The lass who'd collapsed first on the other side had recovered, saw that she was seated when we brought the other guy in.

Spotted myself in a couple of news photos, though not the most flattering of pics.

Thank you for the update, the lad on the left- do you know if he came round and got to meet his family for the very nice free lunch?
I‘m gutted for them to have gone through a week of drill, then to have family there and that happen.
In the stands it was shaded and baltic, but my lad said it was boiling in the sun, in No 1s, and probably buzzed up.

 

[Spearmint]

Don't they teach folk to not lock their knees out and periodically but surreptitiously flex to keep the blood pumping round?

 

[stormwell]

Thank you for the update, the lad on the left- do you know if he came round and got to meet his family for the very nice free lunch?
I‘m gutted for them to have gone through a week of drill, then to have family there and that happen.
In the stands it was shaded and baltic, but my lad said it was boiling in the sun, in No 1s, and probably buzzed up.

I'm not sure I'm afraid, we left the lad in the care of the medics before hurrying outside again.

Don't they teach folk to not lock their knees out and periodically but surreptitiously flex to keep the blood pumping round?

I know it was a thing the DIs hammered on about after one lad passed out earlier in the week, witnessed that one as I heard the rifle hitting the ground before hearing the lad do the same.

 

[Stevienics]

Don't they teach folk to not lock their knees out and periodically but surreptitiously flex to keep the blood pumping round?

As an appo we had preparation parades where the single most valuable task was to stand still for long periods of time. I don't think the youth have that in them any more - it's probably cruel in some publication and its avoidance the subject of annual on-line training on DLE somewhere.

 

[Stevienics]

In other news, I'm mixed on the whle supergrad business. Passing out and grad should be among ones peers and no-one else, but I can see the value of the message.

 

[Oldstacker]

As an appo we had preparation parades where the single most valuable task was to stand still for long periods of time. I don't think the youth have that in them any more - it's probably cruel in some publication and its avoidance the subject of annual on-line training on DLE somewhere.

I agree with the bit about the youth not having it in them anymore. I attend the local war memorial every Remembrance Sunday and the local cadet & youth organisations always parade. You can pretty much guarantee that 6 - 7 of them will go down during the parade & service - more than from the vets contingent. The daft thing is the total length of the parade element is 30 mins tops, the weather is not normally too warm and, lets be honest, if the cadets wriggle a bit instead of being rigidly at attention then no-one cares much.

 

[Captain Kirk]

Looks like there’s a bit of scoffing at the youngsters!! Pretty sad, because without conscription they’re all we have.
It was a hot day in the sun, Royalty was late and the parade was just short of 2 hours.
I know ‘they’ve never had it so good’ and they’ve had it easier than ‘we had it’, but are we so perfect?
If people want to scoff and laugh at someone else’s kid not exactly enjoying what should be an enjoyable time for them and their families, I think it’s time to ask if you want association with the mob you left. Seems a bit high and mighty!
The first kid I see setting out deliberately to have a shit day will be the first.

 

[Talk Wrench]

Looks like there’s a bit of scoffing at the youngsters!! Pretty sad, because without conscription they’re all we have.
It was a hot day in the sun, Royalty was late and the parade was just short of 2 hours.
I know ‘they’ve never had it so good’ and they’ve had it easier than ‘we had it’, but are we so perfect?
If people want to scoff and laugh at someone else’s kid not exactly enjoying what should be an enjoyable time for them and their families, I think it’s time to ask if you want association with the mob you left. Seems a bit high and mighty!
The first kid I see setting out deliberately to have a shit day will be the first.

I've been reading @stormwell , our resident civilian to recruit, recruit to graduate and now graduate to trainee's writings over the past year. A very interesting perspective and yes, very different to my own experiences and anyone who gets that far gets my respect for sticking at it.

Having spoken recently to some young aircraft techs, I was impressed with their drive, their brightness and ability to see beyond their own present and see their potential futures. And yeah, we might take the mickey out of them and their youthful follies, but I guess most of us secretly wish we were doing it all over again.

 

[Tin basher]

People fainting, passing out, collapsing in an untidy heap on parade is not a new thing.

St Athan 1982 AOC's after many practice sessions came the day of the parade. A full square of a couple of hundred folk, very hot day, VIP's delayed, at least 4 bodies face planting that I recall. So no its not new and yes even some us, now oldies, used to fall over in our younger days if left standing out in the sun for long enough.

 

[Oldstacker]

Looks like there’s a bit of scoffing at the youngsters!! Pretty sad, because without conscription they’re all we have.
It was a hot day in the sun, Royalty was late and the parade was just short of 2 hours.
I know ‘they’ve never had it so good’ and they’ve had it easier than ‘we had it’, but are we so perfect?
If people want to scoff and laugh at someone else’s kid not exactly enjoying what should be an enjoyable time for them and their families, I think it’s time to ask if you want association with the mob you left. Seems a bit high and mighty!
The first kid I see setting out deliberately to have a shit day will be the first.

I don't think we were scoffing at those who went down at all. If it was a warm day for a long parade, filled with pride and a desire to be the very best flooding through the veins then it is inevitable that some may go down. There is, I think, a knack to getting through such events unscathed though and suspect that people don't get enough practice at them to stand comfortably and surreptitiously flex muscles when possible instead of being too rigid all the time and to mentally relax at the right times.

Whatever, I genuinely offer my congratulations to all who graduated, they can be justifiably proud of having achieved the right to be there.

 

[stormwell]

I've been reading @stormwell , our resident civilian to recruit, recruit to graduate and now graduate to trainee's writings over the past year. A very interesting perspective and yes, very different to my own experiences and anyone who gets that far gets my respect for sticking at it.

Having spoken recently to some young aircraft techs, I was impressed with their drive, their brightness and ability to see beyond their own present and see their potential futures. And yeah, we might take the mickey out of them and their youthful follies, but I guess most of us secretly wish we were doing it all over again.

I think an issue in the past couple of years is people getting through to BRTC when they would've been picked out at a face-to-face interview at the AFCO.

Heard a story from staff at Halton of one lad who shouldn't have been there and ended up being declared 'Unfit for Military Service' and I personally met one guy who'll probably go the same way as he was constantly getting re-flighted. Then again, heard talk that it might also be a numbers thing of getting people through the door.

 

[Oldstacker]

I think an issue in the past couple of years is people getting through to BRTC when they would've been picked out at a face-to-face interview at the AFCO.

Heard a story from staff at Halton of one lad who shouldn't have been there and ended up being declared 'Unfit for Military Service' and I personally met one guy who'll probably go the same way as he was constantly getting re-flighted. Then again, heard talk that it might also be a numbers thing of getting people through the door.

I have certainly heard from my contacts in the phase 2 training world that Capita are incentivised to get people through the recruiting process and into training but face no comebacks if the recruits subsequently fail to make the grade and get through training. Unlike the old days (pull up a sandbag...) where recruiters were likely to go back into the 'normal' air force and might have to work with 'their' recruits there is now no vested interest (other than Capita's income) in ensuring the right calibre of recruits get through the process.

 

[Stevienics]

Looks like there’s a bit of scoffing at the youngsters!!

No. There isn't. Scoffing at a system that isn't prepared to do the right thing and prepare kids for just how unpleasant certain elements of service life can be - there is.