Originally Posted by
POBJOY
It seems that a drill rifle went walkabout from a Squadron and due to case's (not ATC) of deactivated sometimes getting reactivated there was a big knee jerk, or should I say another knee jerk. All part of the great 'do nothing' syndrome so we are fireproof. As we have seen from the great Non Gliding scenario once you go down this route it is very difficult to reverse the situation. I think the 'fairly frequent flying' may also be a bit optimistic.
As someone who benefitted from the golden days of the Cadets it saddens me to see how we have reduced its aviation, and large bore shooting element, and I shudder at the thought of us being asked to fill shopping bags at a supermarket.
We have seen what happened when the Gliders paperwork was suspect (it has effectively killed off the system as we knew it) I can not imagine 'upgrading' rifle storage will be a happy experience. Of course there will be an opening for a 'virtual range', and as with the PTT that will become the norm.
When I took over as OC 1811 (Marlow) Sqdn I found that I had a huge ex TA drill hall complete with 20 yd small bore range. A WSO visit a few months previously resulted in the range being closed, even though it had been safely used for small bore shooting for nearly 100 years, because it didn't comply with then current regs.(there was a glass window near the butts)
I managed to get it approved for air rifle shooting but it will take a lot of jumping though hoops to get it re-instated for small bore (.22 cal)