Royal Air Force - RAF - Ground Defense Training - Skill at Arms (1996)

[@matthewpowell6516]

I remember the noddy suit gas,gas,gas.

[@moodyguymick]

Me too 😂😂😂

[@philstothard8333]

Its a difference of practice and emphasis , as both an Airman and infantry in the past I know that airmens waepon handling was not as slick and practised as the army , on the other hand. NBC drills were much slicker and better than and army unit I ever saw ,

[@WizardOfCheese]

runways get bombed, we have to assume chemical agent with any bombardment

[@modifidious666]

is the raf regiment like special forces?

[@matthewward8292]

No definitley not

[@josephturner4047]

Tasked with guarding air bases whether permanent or temporary.

[@modifidious666]

@@matthewward8292 speshul needs then haha

[@theharold6703]

Very, very, very special

[@skylongskylong1982]

There is no other organisation in NATO that takes more abuse. Sad thing is that in the U.K. the ones who take the p**s ,are complete failures, and have never served in the regular or reserve Armed Forces. Not RAF Regt but respect they volunteered to serve their Country. Did you ?

[@happygolucky8245]

Same old sa80 stoppage lol

[@patdennison4508]

I cringed when he had a stoppage, didn't get down fast enough to go through the Drills and then said my "Gun"! Is jammed. Wft!

[@JohnSmith-ei2pz]

You sound like a military cabbage!

[@disgruntledvet4849]

Five miles of death hahahahaha 🤣

[@quagmirewasere]

Never seen an iron that gear there wearing

[@JammyDodger45]

And why would it? It's field kit.

[@JohnSmith-ei2pz]

It's the RAF not chocolate box soldiers!

[@WizardOfCheese]

surprised you can see the creases at such low resolution, sgt.

[@JohnMcMahon.]

The thumbnail looks like something I used to see standing in my garden every other morning in Belfast.. The bastards. 😁

[@romeo9017]

Need to get them to march properly first methinks…

[@JohnSmith-ei2pz]

Not chocolate soldiers guarding royalty! These are tradesman!

[@dingerbell100]

Wow. RAF Regt turning simple basic skills & drills that were carried out by Soldiers & Marines in Northern Ireland into a black art as they always do because they are so “Speshul”

[@JammyDodger45]

Catch up ... they're teaching RAF Tradesmen a completely new skillset, this isn't taught to the blue RAF in basic training.

[@dingerbell100]

@@JammyDodger45 don’t “Tradesmen do guard duties? Don’t “Tradesmen” get taught how to load & unload the service rifle? Typical of the Light Blue. The archetypical self licking lollipop/self licking ice cream. Securing ones own real estate whether at home in the British Isles or in Germany or elsewhere. It’s part of life for those who wear Khaki or Lovat Green.

[@JammyDodger45]

@@dingerbell100 - - RAF Tradesmen get basic WHT/TOETS on the service rifle but nothing more. The station RAF Regt flight then teach enhanced skills on a yearly basis. What they learn now is very different to this video which is clearly marked as 25yrs old and therefore from the Bosnia conflict era which I'm sure you can appreciate is a different world to that which we occupy now! As to your thoughts on the Crabs securing their own ground ... that is utterly ridiculous in concept. A Typhoon Sqn (for example) is predominantly comprised of technicians, they are not duplicated roles so if you take someone out of their primary role to carry out guard they lose a skillset completely (1 Tech usually covers multiple aircraft). This isn't like a REME Tech servicing a Wildcat or a 105 gun, a fast jet is hugely complicated and a massive force multiplier in a way another system isn't. As a Bootneck of 20yrs service I don't want that asset being serviced by a bloke who's been doing guard for 6hrs of their rest. I want an asset ready to go with a crew in top condition. Whether the army likes it or not one of their roles is to protect air assets, layered defence puts the RAF Regt operating outside the wire covering the flight paths. Who is best skilled to fill in the rest? As a real world example Bastion had a footprint the same size as the town of Reading, a Regt Sqn is a Company+ in size, so roughly 175 people with about 135 of them being 'bayonets'. Take 1/3 of them away for QRF, Stand-down, R&R etc and you have 90 blokes covering Reading 24/7, so 45 by day and 45 by night. Do you really think that's possible of sensible? Would you want your Fast Air or MERTs left that exposed just to make some stupid single service point that army do more things than RAF!? Pure madness. Like you I was very down on the RAF for years but then I had the pleasure of working closely with them (2yrs on the Air Delivery Trials unit at Brize) and my eyes were opened very wide indeed. Since leaving the Corps a few years ago I've been a RAF Reservist for 4yrs and trust me on this, they are a much more sorted force that I believed and the other services could learn a lot from them (their retention is the highest of any service, they commission more through the ranks than the other services combined, their troops gain more 'civilianised' quals than any other service, they have the highest uptake of in-service degrees and their troops tend to serve far longer than the other services). Thoughts like yours, although understandable, are hugely outdated and based on a position of ignorance not knowledge. Here endeth the lesson!

[@skylongskylong1982]

@@JammyDodger45 I enjoyed your comments, and enjoyed my time in the R AUX AF. The sad thing is thousands of pounds was spent training me, and others, but after fifty five, you are put out to pasture. I would love to still do a couple of weekends a year to keep my common core skills up to speed, but there is no Home Guard style organisation in the U.K. Being a CFAV does not appeal to me, due the egos involved. All the best.

[@JammyDodger45]

@@skylongskylong1982- thanks, I do like to correct misconceptions when I can. The Auggies are a cracking organisation, I'm not suprised you enjoyed your time, it's definitely a case of the more you put in the more you get out. I've got a few years left and then like you'll I'll be put out to pasture.

[@neilkeepingitreal]

Very corny.. 😅 this is hilarious 😂