View Full Version : NCO to Officer
I know there was a thread recently regarding Hairies but one question I have is, do they do the full 30 week course now? In my day they did the full 18 weeks but do they really have to go through the whole shebang now?
SNCOs - yes, last time I checked.
WOs - no, they just do a 5 day "cse" which is mainly drill and protocol before being given the FLt Lt tapes.
Wader2
9th Feb 2009, 13:06
WOs - no, they just do a 5 day "cse" which is mainly drill and protocol before being given the FLt Lt tapes.
Are you sure about that? Last time I checked it was by selection against quota. If you were not so annointed then you had to do the full 9 yards. I knew a MACR who applied and was told that he would have to do the whole thing.
scarecrow450
9th Feb 2009, 15:17
F/Sgt I work with at mo has to do the full course, said if he had a bit more seniority or was a WO he would only have to do the short course. :ok:
WOs only do the short course if they are commissioned through the "fast track" scheme; all others, including WOs, will do the whole course.
And the practical point of streaming by slots and numbers, not by leadership experience and capability is ?...........
Pontius Navigator
9th Feb 2009, 15:47
And the practical point of streaming by slots and numbers, not by leadership experience and capability is ?...........
I think you will find that the reason they get fast-track is entirely because they have leadership experience and capability. They are then streamed into the few slots and numbers.
Rather like flt lt to sqn ldr etc?
While you may have a point Pontious, I would have thought after years of confidential reports and practical experience guiding junior officers in their development that someone would have enough information to make a definitive decision on leadership qualities without needing to see an old man run round Thetford with pine poles on his shoulders in the company of callow youths, or whatever they do nowadays...
Out of three SNCO's on my IOT flight, one an ageing WO binned it early and went back to a peaceful life, one, an army helicopter crossover had to add insult to injury by an extended stay with R Squadron, for the sin of wearing RAF wings (had toured with RAF as a QHI) when most of the DS were missing that particular badge ("attitude problems"), and the last one graduated with his knees so knackered he had to give up ski-ing.
Even as a nineteen year old who had only just started shaving, I didn't quite see the logic ..................still don't quite see it now either.