Originally Posted by
BEagle
Thanks, BV!
Haraka - the only problem with the '99 pre-university' scheme you and I went through was that it needed all those excellent education officers at Whittle and Trenchard to support the academics. The Junior Entry year was indeed demanding and we lost a few (one chap didn't even stay for the first night) along the way who couldn't hack a whole year of that Flt Cdt training. But at least we had a real band to accompany Johnny G's drill instructions and the sight and sound of all those Jet Provosts to keep us motivated. Would today's snowflakes tolerate 'minor, majors, 'strikers'' etc.? Knocker and Ferris weren't holidays and King Rock most certainly wasn't! As for flying, I sandbagged a couple of hours in a Chipmunk, but did some Sunday gliding and that was it. At the end of the year we were all very fit and disciplined - it used to amuse the ULAS QFIs to see the ex-Flt Cdts marching in step over to morning briefing from the accommodation block opposite at White Waltham when we made it to University!
Personally I thought that our Flt and Sqn Cdrs in Flt Cdt days were of much higher quality than some of the people we had in GE days - but then the Senior Entry probably did much of the Flt Cdt Cdrs work for them, I suppose.
However, I agree that the Junior Entry year at the age of 17 -18 was a darn good intro!
"Would today's snowflakes tolerate 'minor, majors, 'strikers'' etc.?" - Not a chance.