Originally Posted by
Petet
Going back to some of our previous discussions, I am still struggling to establish when BTR was formally introduced and whether there was a name / term for its forerunner .... but I am still working on that one
It all keeps me out of mischief!.
Looking at my Log Book I was Select Star on the 31st Dec 65. My next rating was Combat on 1st Jul 66 and Senior on 1st Jan 67. I think it safe to say that the new system of BTR was introduced on 1st Jan 66. A similar progression was true on my 2nd tour where we were Combat at the end of the first 6 months. There was certainly a name for the system before BTRs but I have no record of it.
The training criteria was similar between the two systems with each crew member required to complete a number of evolutions in that period. Some were not logical.
Of the bombing stats, which of course concerned my directly, the early system was based on a 50% score from a minimum number of attacks. If you failed to get, say, 2 out of 4 inside the 50% accuracy you simply continued and dropped a few more to correct that.
Under the new system you still had an accuracy level but one not based on 50% but a specific number within the zone. For instance it might be 6 out of 8 within 400 yards. Now if you got 2 out followed by 6 in that was sufficient. However if you got only 6 out of 9 you had to continue until you had a 6 out or 8 tally. One crew in Cyprus wee determined to achieve Command status (they did in the end) but had to make some 16 attacks to get the magic sequence. That rather defeated but the BTR and the Command system.
The early system was based around an annual allowance of 300 hours but new crews could expect to get extra sorties to around 320 and the Select Star crews maybe 280 or less. Under the BTR system it followed that the minimum continuation training requirement, say one simulated double engine failure after take-off (DEFATO) had to be done by all crews regardless of experience. Hours were therefore allocated equally.