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Who is for a chat

A

anglo

LAC
23
0
0
Hello to you all,
I'm a new bloke on here, [don't know where to start] Ok! I sign on in 1960 for 9 then 22,left after 15
[my wife died had to get out ] trade GF elect, Must say I enjoyed the air force and had a great time plus the top rate
training. I have read Egoat with much interest some of the terminology I don't get.
I would like to see if possible how much the RAF has changed, for instance how long does promotion through the
ranks take?
 
G

gray

Sergeant
732
14
18
anglo said:
Hello to you all,
I'm a new bloke on here, [don't know where to start] Ok! I sign on in 1960 for 9 then 22,left after 15
[my wife died had to get out ] trade GF elect, Must say I enjoyed the air force and had a great time plus the top rate
training. I have read Egoat with much interest some of the terminology I don't get.
I would like to see if possible how much the RAF has changed, for instance how long does promotion through the
ranks take?
Click to expand...

Depends on trade, luck of the draw, and El Nino ! :)
Took me 16 yrs Cpl to Sgt ....

Too many TLAs ? :pDT_Xtremez_14:
 
vim_fuego

vim_fuego

Hung Like a Baboon.
Staff member
Administrator
Subscriber
1000+ Posts
12,273
460
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Welcome to the Goat!

It's horses for courses. Back in the day there was a lot more time promotion about...these days it's almost if not totally merit based.
 
A

anglo

LAC
23
0
0
Vim_Fuego said:
Welcome to the Goat!

It's horses for courses. Back in the day there was a lot more time promotion about...these days it's almost if not totally merit based.
Click to expand...

That's not very good, doesn't give you much to aim for does it, my time it was ----
To get a fitters course you had to sign for 9 years, you could get course within 3 years of your mechs course,
Then jn/tech to cpl/tech 3 years, cpl/tech to snr/tech 4 years,snr/tech to chiefy round about 7 years.
to get to flt/sgt you had to hope someone died at the right time. There was a master/tech, I met one in all my time in the mob, a little on the rare side was a master/tech.
How do you get on with training courses after you join up, ie how long between courses, how long is the fiters course now
 
vim_fuego

vim_fuego

Hung Like a Baboon.
Staff member
Administrator
Subscriber
1000+ Posts
12,273
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Fitters Course was around 11 months for a Sumpy when I went through it a very long time ago. I think the thing you must grip here is that things have changed...its more a job than a career now on the whole.
 
T

tornadofairy

LAC
14
5
3
As an air coms guy in the late 70’s/80’s, it was the standard year to SAC, 2 years approx. at second line to my fitters course, the around 3 years at third line to Cpl. Then at my only first line posting they found I had asthma (all that soldering I had done?) and I got medically downgraded... So did my 12 and got out!
 
Rigga

Rigga

Licensed Aircraft Engineer
1000+ Posts
Licensed A/C Eng
2,163
122
63
I signed on for 9+3 in 1975 and my airframe mechs course was 3 months, LAC to SAC was on time promotion (1 year in rank) - I got a fitters course in 4 years and that was 8 months long (1979-80).
Because I accepted my Fitter's Course I lost time promotion (?) so I was actually doing "Duty Airman" on the day I should have been promoted to Cpl. However, I was promoted to Cpl within that same year. It took another 9 years to get to Sgt and a further 11 year to NOT get to C/T before I left...1999.
My understand is that all aircraft trades join as mechanics (LAC-SAC) and the better ones get fitters courses between 2 and 4 years and a Mechanical (Airframe/engine/electrical) course is about 18months. They start their courses a SAC Mechanics and end as SAC Technicians (no J/T's anymore)
 
Billy Whizz

Billy Whizz

Flight Sergeant
1000+ Posts
1,386
19
38
Rigga said:
I signed on for 9+3 in 1975 and my airframe mechs course was 3 months, LAC to SAC was on time promotion (1 year in rank) - I got a fitters course in 4 years and that was 8 months long (1979-80).
Because I accepted my Fitter's Course I lost time promotion (?) so I was actually doing "Duty Airman" on the day I should have been promoted to Cpl. However, I was promoted to Cpl within that same year. It took another 9 years to get to Sgt and a further 11 year to NOT get to C/T before I left...1999.
My understand is that all aircraft trades join as mechanics (LAC-SAC) and the better ones get fitters courses between 2 and 4 years and a Mechanical (Airframe/engine/electrical) course is about 18months. They start their courses a SAC Mechanics and end as SAC Technicians (no J/T's anymore)
Click to expand...
All change - no return to Cosford any more!
 
Spearmint

Spearmint

Ex-Harrier Mafia Member
1000+ Posts
3,458
269
83
Vim_Fuego said:
It's horses for courses. Back in the day there was a lot more time promotion about...these days it's almost if not totally merit based.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately in some instances that Merit'd promotion is unfairly given. There's a new rank inbetween SAC and Sgt which is 'Mate'.
 
Rigga

Rigga

Licensed Aircraft Engineer
1000+ Posts
Licensed A/C Eng
2,163
122
63
I never went to Cosford! (Except for periodic rifle firing) and the only training I did at St Athan was HGVs
 
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