What Happens in Basic Training Today?

[vim_fuego]

One of our number, PhantomPickle, has had some success in his application to join and is now one step closer.

From the still serving members...what survives in basic training?

Is it still bulled shoes or just highly polished?

Does the bed pack survive in its old, cantankerous form or do you roll up a duvet smartly?

Are floors still buffed with those ridiculous machines?

What's he got ahead of him in terms of those basics tasks that fill out your time?

 

[Obi Wan]

One of our number, PhantomPickle, has had some success in his application to join and is now one step closer.

From the still serving members...what survives in basic training?

Is it still bulled shoes or just highly polished?

Does the bed pack survive in its old, cantankerous form or do you roll up a duvet smartly?

Are floors still buffed with those ridiculous machines?

What's he got ahead of him in terms of those basics tasks that fill out your time?

Machines???????? what happened to the steam driven buffer (pushing for the use of)
and I bet even the button sticks are plastic now

 

[gray]

Machines???????? what happened to the steam driven buffer (pushing for the use of)
and I bet even the button sticks are plastic now

We had the buffing machines when I joined up (1988) but found the blocks on sticks, with a bit of blanket underneath, gave a better finish after machining.... good old Swinders

 

[Cooheed]

We had the buffing machines when I joined up (1988) but found the blocks on sticks, with a bit of blanket underneath, gave a better finish after machining.... good old Swinders

Just let the youngsters reply u pair of old fuds

 

[Omerta]

I think the floors are hovered nowadays, although 20 years ago the hoovers were a waste of time and we used to use tape wrapped around your hand.

 

[Madeinstoke]

One of our number, PhantomPickle, has had some success in his application to join and is now one step closer.

From the still serving members...what survives in basic training?

Is it still bulled shoes or just highly polished?

Does the bed pack survive in its old, cantankerous form or do you roll up a duvet smartly?

Are floors still buffed with those ridiculous machines?

What's he got ahead of him in terms of those basics tasks that fill out your time?

No2 shoes, bulled toe caps, No1's, bulled all over.

No bed packs any more, their duvets need to be folded in a certain way but they will receive instruction on standards.

There is new Henry Hoovers in most of the blocks now as the rooms are all carpeted.

To get ahead of the game they should go through the 'Trenchard Module'. It is an on-line tool that they should have access to on acceptance for service.

The most important thing is to arrive being able to pass the fitness test and with a good attitude to training. The instructors role is to enable a recruit to pass the course, not to act a some sort of gatekeeper to wheedle out people they deem not to be suitable.

Happy to answer any more questions if required.

 

[norfolkred1]

'No bed packs any more, their duvets need to be folded'

Will they fit out of the window

 

[secretstacker]

'No bed packs any more, their duvets need to be folded'

Will they fit out of the window

Only with the assistance of your boots following them.

 

[PraiseBacon]

The most important thing is to arrive being able to pass the fitness test and with a good attitude to training. The instructors role is to enable a recruit to pass the course, not to act a some sort of gatekeeper to wheedle out people they deem not to be suitable.

This is probably the biggest change from the early 80's, and one I am glad to see. There was some really bullying that used to go on at Swinderby - especially where a recruit was deemed 'unworthy', some the instructors seems to take it on themselves to hound some people until they dropped out.. (I saw recruits pulled round by their hair for it being too long during weapons training, or kneed in the gonads for being a 'weak link' - oddly, it all seemed 'normal' at the time!

Doesn't mean I think recruit training should be tea and biscuits, dat from it - i believe it should take a lot of effort, with encouragement / cajoling to meet the standard required.

Good luck to PhantonPickle though, hope you apply yourself and enjoy the experience

 

[vim_fuego]

This is probably the biggest change from the early 80's, and one I am glad to see. There was some really bullying that used to go on at Swinderby - especially where a recruit was deemed 'unworthy', some the instructors seems to take it on themselves to hound some people until they dropped out.. (I saw recruits pulled round by their hair for it being too long during weapons training, or kneed in the gonads for being a 'weak link' - oddly, it all seemed 'normal' at the time!

Doesn't mean I think recruit training should be tea and biscuits, dat from it - i believe it should take a lot of effort, with encouragement / cajoling to meet the standard required.

Good luck to PhantonPickle though, hope you apply yourself and enjoy the experience

Never saw that type of behaviour and I went through in Feb 86>. I saw people who perhaps not meant for a life in light blue given every chance, way beyond what I thought was reasonable or good for their mental health...some of them needed the metaphorical bullet in the head to be put out of their own misery and sent home.

 

[fourteen2two]

I never saw any bullying by staff in 71. Many loud bollockings were issued, bedpacks pulled apart if no good.
Lots of drill and shouting. You got extra press ups etc from pti if you mucked about or were slack in pt.

 

[Spearmint]

The worst I saw (98) was one lad getting is legs taken from under him by the Flight Staff in charge, for tick tocking and being unable to correct it......lad went down like a sack of shit.

Other than that a two footed tackle from a rock into the upper body / swede of an individual who was in the prone position on the shooting range, turned around to ask a question but stupidly brung his weapon system right round and could quite easily of brassed up some of his flight.....

 

[Oldstacker]

Can't say I saw any physical violence in '76 either - plenty of airborne kit & bedpacks, DI screaming into your face from 6 inches maybe, but nothing to bruise anyone. Certainly nothing that would stop you being on friendly terms with the staff if you ran into them on subsequent postings.

Sounds like APom went through when there was a poorly controlled regime there.....

 

[GD on Wheels]

During trade training at St Athans early '85 there was a UT copper who had left Swinderby a few years before due to the bullying. Not sure if he was a witness or a victim. And he was no youngster either.

 

[stereolab]

This is probably the biggest change from the early 80's, and one I am glad to see. There was some really bullying that used to go on at Swinderby - especially where a recruit was deemed 'unworthy', some the instructors seems to take it on themselves to hound some people until they dropped out.. (I saw recruits pulled round by their hair for it being too long during weapons training, or kneed in the gonads for being a 'weak link' - oddly, it all seemed 'normal' at the time!

Doesn't mean I think recruit training should be tea and biscuits, dat from it - i believe it should take a lot of effort, with encouragement / cajoling to meet the standard required.

Good luck to PhantonPickle though, hope you apply yourself and enjoy the experience

I was “knee’d” twice by the same Rock Cpl when I screwed up marching behind the most ungainly recruit ever, his legs and arms were all over the place and affected me badly. This was sorted by making me right hand marker. The same Cpl threw an SLR at me , in the classroom, it hit the poor sod next to me. I had turned away from the lecture , for a second, to sneeze, but it threw the Cpl into a hissy fit.

 

[PraiseBacon]

I didn't want to derail the thread,,, but there was a surprising amount of bullying that went on in the early-mid 80's.. I ran into one of the DI's several years later, and we did have a couple of beers - he mentioned that during the Falkland's the RAF were found to be, as a rule, the most physically unfit of the three services. There was also a big spike in recruitment in late 82 though about 85. Partially as a backlash from the Falkland's dispute, and partly as they were running back to back full courses for years at a time (with the additional strain) there was an increase in bullying around that time , mostly from the rocks, but some of the DI's were going to far as well. There was also a lot of swindles and con's going on at the time for extra beer money - how many recruits has to chip in to buy better cleaning supplies etc..

And no, i don't mean bullying in the sense of being shouted at, or bedpacks out the window - that is par for the course. I meant the ones who were knee'd in the bollocks, punched by DI staff, or hounded until they gave up as there were seen as week links (I get there has to be a way to fail people, i guess hounding until they quit was the old way.

I wonder what the attrition rate in training is now compared to the early 80's

 

[ERT]

One of our number, PhantomPickle, has had some success in his application to join and is now one step closer.

From the still serving members...what survives in basic training?

Is it still bulled shoes or just highly polished?

Does the bed pack survive in its old, cantankerous form or do you roll up a duvet smartly?

Are floors still buffed with those ridiculous machines?

What's he got ahead of him in terms of those basics tasks that fill out your time?

How did PhantomPickle get on?

This thread was started in 2016, and someone brought it back to life above..

Probably a Cpl now eh?

 

[Lux_deluxe]

I didn't want to derail the thread,,, but there was a surprising amount of bullying that went on in the early-mid 80's.. I ran into one of the DI's several years later, and we did have a couple of beers - he mentioned that during the Falkland's the RAF were found to be, as a rule, the most physically unfit of the three services. There was also a big spike in recruitment in late 82 though about 85. Partially as a backlash from the Falkland's dispute, and partly as they were running back to back full courses for years at a time (with the additional strain) there was an increase in bullying around that time , mostly from the rocks, but some of the DI's were going to far as well. There was also a lot of swindles and con's going on at the time for extra beer money - how many recruits has to chip in to buy better cleaning supplies etc..

And no, i don't mean bullying in the sense of being shouted at, or bedpacks out the window - that is par for the course. I meant the ones who were knee'd in the bollocks, punched by DI staff, or hounded until they gave up as there were seen as week links (I get there has to be a way to fail people, i guess hounding until they quit was the old way.

I wonder what the attrition rate in training is now compared to the early 80's

I joined in 1982 and whilst I wouldn't say there was any bullying, there was certainly violence. I recall one time when a recruit 3 or 4 down in the row from me on parade was kneed in the groin by the Sgt. All I heard was him hit the floor as he dropped to the ground. It was others closer to him that later gave the detail of what had happened. Often recruits were pushed to the floor and even spat at. I was on mark one day marching along and drifting off to the right slightly. All I heard was the clatter of shoes behind as I was smacked to the floor and a severe bollocking. The Cpl was OK though, a bit of a bastard but at least fair. The Sgt, however, was pure evil.

Out of 51 recruits, only 35 passed out from my flight - 11 of those were back flighted for not being able to do the run in under 11 minutes (either unfit or injured). The rest were either hounded out or just gave up.

 

[GD on Wheels]

Sounds very much like my first flight, 8 flight 2 Squadron. They passed out the week before with half the number who started. So much so the flight OC had to report to the Squadron CO to explain the high attrition rate.

 

[Barch]

March 1976, I never saw or heard of any physical or verbal assaults.

We got shouted at for not marching properly or getting arms drill wrong but no nose to nose stuff.
The occasional bed pack went flying but never out of a window.

Our flight corporal was an RAF Regiment Fireman that shouted and swore a lot and the sergeant (Taylor IIRC) was a quietly spoken man that I can't ever remember looking angry.

All in all it sounds like we had it a lot better than those in the 80s.