My experience joining RAAF as a DEO Pilot candidate
Hey everybody I am a current officer in the RAAF who recently completed OTS and am awaiting posting to 1FTS. Throughout my recruitment/training process, there were a lot of things that I wish I had known beforehand so I could have been better prepared unfortunately there is not a lot of information that is readily available to help with this. So I have decided I will share my experience going through OTS to help prospects going into OA or in any other Officer capacity in the RAAF. Additionally, there are a lot of uncertainties revolving around training due to the recent changes to OTS going from 17 weeks down to 12 weeks. I will also include some personal tips that you can consider for your benefit.
*DISCLAIMER* I am not authorised by either the RAAF or the ADF to share this information so I will not be revealing any detail that will hinder the training process of the Officer's Training school. These are just my accounts of my training and some things that I genuinely believe would have helped me had I known before enlisting to be better prepared for training. I understand if others might disagree or have different opinions compared to mine. I intend to just try and better inform new officer trainees so they would not have to walk into training completely unaware of the requirements. While some of the information provided might be specific to officer aviation/pilot candidates. I still believe most of the information is relevant to all specs.
This post might be fairly long so I will divide them up into the following sections if people wish to only read particular sections.
1. ASP ( Aviation Screening Program)
2. OTS Phases (New Structure)
3. Field Phase
4. PFT (Physical fitness test)
5. Swim Test (Aircrew)
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1) ASP(Aviation Screening Program)
If you have made it to this stage of your recruitment well done! you have already displayed good aptitude and possess the skills required to be OA. Now notice I say OA this will be a trend across this post. Remember until you are completely qualified and actively working in a role you are not guaranteed anything. This is something you will notice you are constantly reminded of once you are in Defence reason is that the training for all roles especially aviation-related roles is arduous and if you are not aware pass rates are really low. There are two reasons why I have said this :
1. So you can keep your options open as you will find out after your ASP you will gain a greater appreciation for all the roles available (who knows you might end up picking a role that you had never even thought of before)
2. This happens a lot with pilot candidates including myself until I was educated by a senior NCO you do not want to come off arrogant no role in the ADF is beneath another. All roles play a crucial task in the wider defence and just because you got offered a position as a pilot does not guarantee you will graduate your pilot training. So be humble and try not to brag about being a pilot while you are still a trainee.
Now that we got that out of the way onto the main ASP testing. I did my ASP in 2021 and while most of this information will be relevant it might not be the same for your testing.
You will be flown to East Sale for 4 days and the ASP testing component is run over 2 days. Testing is broken up into 2 x 4-hour blocks. Leaving the other 2 days for travelling to and from East Sale.
Day 1 of testing would include being shown around the facility as well as a static display of a PC21. My group was lucky enough to have some time in the PC21 Sims however I have heard that recently they have stopped doing that. After some briefings about different roles and what to expect in aviation in all the services by a rep from each service, you will do the first half of your testing. You will not receive a score or any indication of your performance after the first test.
Day 2 of testing you go straight into testing after breakfast. After your testing, you get taken around to the school of air traffic control as well as the air mission training school if you did not do that on day 1. Once you have completed you get called in individually to debrief with one of the advocates and they usually run you through how you performed in each section of the testing what your overall result is and if you are being offered the role you wanted.
Things to consider
While 90% of candidates coming to ASP want to be pilots not everyone will be offered a spot. This does not mean you are done for life sometimes it might just mean you will have to try the ASP one more time if you want the pilot spot. Otherwise, there are plenty of other roles in all 3 services that you might be eligible for and might be interested in post-ASP experience. ASP is designed in a way so you get exposure to all aviation roles available and more than often people who did not get pilot opt to choose something else that they have a newfound appreciation for due to the exposure they received while at ASP. Once again keep your options open.
If you do not get the role that you want there are most likely due to 3 reasons. You either did not obtain the minimum score required for your role, or you obtained the minimum score but the score was not competitive enough for you to receive an offer, or you do not meet the academic standards for the role. I will use examples from my ASP to better explain this one of the guys who was in my group met the minimum requirements for a pilot however was not offered a spot because they compared his scores to everyone who had passed an ASP for pilot that year to see where he ranked among them and they had deemed that he is not competitive enough to receive an offer letter hence he was not progressed as a pilot. Another was the officer who was in his interim posting escorting us he was not offered a spot initially even though he had a competitive ASP score due to not having a good Academic grade in year 12. He had to then go finish uni and get a competitive GPA before he was offered the spot.
Remember ASP scores are valid for 2 years and you get to attempt it twice in your lifetime.
Helpful tips
Get the CBAT app it is available on Android and IOS it costs about 5 bucks but it is worth it. This app will give you a basic idea of what to expect in ASP in addition to other things that you can find on Google.
While there is no specific requirement for you to be dressed a certain way as most of the time you are at ASP you will be in a flight suit. Just remember this is still a military base and you will be eating in the officer's mess please dress appropriately. You are not expected to be in a 3-piece suit with a tie however if you are a guy wear a shirt with a collar, pants and enclosed footwear. Business casual is considered appropriate.
Be respectful of everyone especially those in uniform, officers and enlisted alike you will never know who you are going to encounter in your career or recruitment later on. Address people by Sir and Ma'am they are not your mates remember that. It is not just due to the fear of repercussion it is just a good habit for your training later on.
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2) OTS Phases (New Structure)
Now if you have made it to OTS congratulations! This is already a great accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself. However, this is just the start and you have your work cut out for you. The new OTS is 12 weeks and is broken up into 3 phases. I will break down each phase and give a little bit of insight as to what can be expected and what you can do to better prepare yourself for this. Unfortunately, while the duration of OTS has reduced significantly the content you have to go through has not changed from the 17-week course bar some activities which we no longer do. This means you have less time to learn a lot.
Phase 1 Military Training (weeks 1- 4): This is the phase where you learn all your basic military skills like ironing, living in the barracks, bedmaking, drill etc. If you have no experience with cadets like me you will be in for a rude shock. While a lot of the people I spoke to before OTS were convinced Air Force training is a lot easier than other services rest assured it is by no means EASY. It is still the military and you will be treated like military personnel from day 1.
Things to consider
You will be in phase 1 restrictions for this period. This includes but is not limited to:
-Not being able to leave the base
-Only being allowed to use your mobile phones from 7 pm to 9 pm every day including weekends (the rest of the time everyone's phone will be locked away in a box).
-Not being able to wear civilian attire outside the barracks.
So I would make arrangements as necessary beforehand with loved ones to make sure they are available at the time you can contact them.
Additionally, pack light you will rarely wear civilian clothing throughout OTS there is a very limited opportunity to wear it. So aside from your nightwear, I would not recommend more than 2 formal wear and 2 casual wear to make your life easy while moving and packing. However, this is the dealer's choice I wish I had known about this before I started OTS.
There will also be regular inspections and the more stuff you have that is additional things you have to worry about.
Tips to help you during this phase
Be friendly I cannot stress this enough the relationships you make during this phase will make or break your OTS journey. This is the phase where you are all living together in barracks sharing communal showers and toilets. If you are the one to go picking fights with people for trivial matters you will not be very popular.
This phase is almost set in a way to bring people together in the face of adversity you will be given tasks a lot of them and sometimes things will escalate among people but get good at either disengaging or de-escalating situations as infighting during this phase will help no one.
Additionally, you will notice very early on that some people are just naturally good at certain things you will hear a term called SME a lot in defence (subject matter expert). These people are generally really good at certain things so if you can identify someone to be one get their help. For example, if someone is good at bedmaking and you are struggling ask them to show you how to do it or ask them to help you with it and you can do their ironing for them. Learn to be resourceful and make yourself useful.
Also if you are someone who is good at everything and happens to be ahead of task do not be that person and go to sleep as soon as you are done offer to help others who are struggling trust me there might be a time you are struggling and people will remember what you did for them and come to your aid.
Prioritise sleep try and get at least 5 hours of sleep per night. You will be spending a lot of time in classrooms for this phase and you will not be allowed beverages in the classroom during this phase so to help you stay awake get adequate rest at night.
Phase 2 Field/weapons training ( weeks 5 - 9)
This is the phase where you learn how to use and handle the service weapon system. You will be introduced to the ADGs ( Airfield Defence Guards) They take over your training until the end of the battle block. This is where the dynamic will change slightly the ADGs are preparing you for the field so they will be very upfront and straightforward with you especially when you are handling weapons. Ultimately what they are doing is to help you so just do as you are told and this phase will be fun. I will dive a little bit deeper into the field component in particular in a separate section in this post.
Things to consider/tips
This phase is to condition you for field training. The field is not fun it is hard and it is serious while you might still want to have some fun with your mates when you need to be serious buckle down and focus. Otherwise, you will feel the wrath of the ADG and rightfully so as they do not want to be dealing with jokesters or people mucking around when you are handling complex weapon systems and live ammunitions.
It might be worth noting that this phase is where most people in OTS get backcoursed due to a lack of weapon handling proficiency. The intent of my sharing this is to not scare you but to give you a better understanding of what is expected in this phase. If you are unsure about something question them this is not a figure it out as you go stage you need to be 100% competent to progress further. Spend time practicing if you have someone in your group who might have been qualified in the weapon already ask them to help you out. Do what you must to make sure you are comfortable with the weapon system.
While all this is happening the good thing with Phase 2 is that you get your Phase 2 privileges
-which includes you get to keep your mobile phones
-you get to leave base on weekends and during the week for essentials only
-you can bring beverages into classrooms.
-you are also no longer in barracks you will be in LIA (living in accommodation) where you have your own room and a shared ensuite with another person.
Phase 3 military management/grad prep (weeks 10 - 12)
On return from the field phase, you move to phase 3 where you are learning a lot about the admin/management side of things that comes with being an officer as well as prepping for your grad parade. This phase also includes a few assessments however other than that the primary focus is to push towards graduation.
Phase 3 privileges include
being able to go out during the week.
Things to remember/tips
there is not a lot of advice for this phase other than you are almost there so just keep pushing and you will be finally done with your training.
An overall thing to consider as well do not go around flaunting or abusing your privileges just because you have been given them does not mean they cannot take it back. Trust me it will happen if you test it. You will hear from the course directors a lot about this Sale is a very small town almost everyone will instantly recognise you as RAAF so if you go out to town this is not the time or place to get drunk and misbehave because it will get reported and the entire course will have to pay for your actions.
The ADF will instil a one in all in policy into you from the beginning so whenever you choose to do something think twice as it will not just impact you it will also impact everyone around you.
3) Field Phase
The field phase is something you know is coming and you think you are prepared for it but it still hits you like a brick wall. That being said some of my most fond memories about OTS were from field. So in that regard, I suppose field will only be as fun as you make it.
OTS field phase was broken into 2 halves. The length of field will vary based on the size of the course however you can expect the entire field phase to be 2 weeks in length approx.
The first half is the Airfield defence phase where you will be defending your position. I will not give any further detail regarding this however this activity will push you to your physical and psychological limits. The best tip I can give in terms of preparation for this is to trust and commit during your training leading up to the activity. A lot of things that you might do during your PT lessons will seem useless or invalid at the time however trust me it is conditioning you for what's to come. Commit 100% of your effort every time while you are PT and you will be well prepared for field.
Just please do not be the person who slacks off and does not pull their weight. There were plenty of people who were like this in my cohort trust me they were not well-liked at all. You will be forever remembered as a person who let your friends hurt away while you took the easy way out which does not set a good precedent for a leader. The defence community is very close-knit and people will hear about your character and the last thing you want is to set a bad reputation for yourself. Reputation aside these are your mates and colleagues and it is a betrayal to them if you choose to take the easy way through field.
The second half of field is a leadership exercise. This phase will assess your leadership and followership skills. The main thing to remember throughout OTS is as much as emphasis is laid on leadership followership is a key component. When you are in a team and the leader tells you something your job is to follow you can offer suggestions but do not railroad their task because you could end up costing their assessment as they might be found not satisfactory in their task because you stepped out of line. Additionally, you will also be found not satisfactory in followership. So keep that in mind when undertaking assessments.
4) PFT (Physical fitness test)
You will have 3 PT sessions a week for your entire time at OTS that will be aimed at preparing you for your Physical fitness test so if you do not think you will be able to pass the PFT right now do not worry you will be able to do it very easily by the end of OTS. Just remember to commit to your training and push yourself every session it is the only way to improve.
However, there is a considerable gap between the entry PFA that you have to do for your recruitment and the fitness required before OTS which is not addressed very well during recruitment.
the PFA (physical fitness assessment done via DFR) requirements for the RAAF are as follows for a male non-specialist i.e. not PTI.
25 situps
6.1 in the beep test
as you can probably tell this is not a huge ask for even a relatively unfit person.
The PFT for RAAF has different requirements based on age groups and sex. I will use male under 25 as an example the requirements are as follows:
30 sec flex hang or 25 pushups to cadence.
30 sit ups feet unheld to cadence or 65 situps feet held to cadence.
2.4km run in under 12 minutes.
While you are not required to complete the PFT on day 1 of OTS as you can see there is a significant difference in fitness levels. So I would highly recommend practising with the PFT as your reference and target goals.
Tips to help you
Aside from fitness nutrition is a big thing that will affect you during OTS. While you are fed well most times there is a significant lack of protein. So I would advise bringing protein supplements or snacks to help you maintain muscle mass. Pre-workouts while not necessary always help as well. Additionally, you will be given an option at the start to get double rations if you think you are only getting just the right amount of food sign up for double rations because as the training continues you will need a lot more food. Unfortunately for some reason, if you miss the original deadline for double rations you do not get another opportunity to sign up for it later on in the course.
5) Swim Test (Aircrew)
Now this was a bit of a curveball for me. You could also call me naive for not knowing this but if you are Aircrew i.e. Pilot/mission. This is not advertised very well on the roles on the careers website after searching for a bit there is a very tiny note under the navy pilot role however definitely not under the RAAF pilot.
However, rest assured you are required to pass this swim test if you are aircrew. For mission, everyone who is not flying which I believe would be ATC and OPSO does not need to pass this test. However, you will not find that out until you finish Mission Elementary so at this stage everyone in mission and pilots need to pass this swim test.
The swim test consists of the following events:
NOTE: These events are done while in cams (no socks or boots) and are done with no more than 3-minute intervals between each event.
- A Safety jump ( This will be demonstrated)
- A 200 m swim - The first 150 m of the swim are forward-facing strokes either freestyle, breaststroke, sidestroke or a combination of them all. The last 50 m is survival backstroke where your limbs cannot break the surface of the water.
- Feet astride jump into the water (your head needs to remain above water) after which you are to from a treading water position duck dive and swim underwater for 15 m. No part of your body can break the surface of the water during the underwater component.
- swim to a capsised raft (A foam mat is used for this) flip the raft and climb on top of it.
- enter the water with your head remaining above water swim 20 metres to a casualty ( one of your mates) without breaking visual contact and then tow them back 20 metres.
- Enter the water dive down pick up a 5kg weight swim back up to the surface hold up the weight then dive down and put it back.
- Tread water for 10 minutes within a 5m radius.
Tips to help you
Practice! a lot especially if you are not a strong swimmer like me but even if you are still practice. You do not get any training for this while at OTS you are expected to just do the test after one practice session. You will not be allowed to start your flying phase as a pilot if you have not passed this test and the same thing with mission.
While you might have an opportunity to do this test outside of OTS you never know whether you will have time between OTS and your training. Once you are in FTS or AMTS this is not something that you should be focusing on so get it done in OTS if you can.
If you were never in cadets chances of you having cams are unlikely and chances of your local pool letting you wear them are even more unlikely. So the best you can do is practice and try and achieve more than what is required in the test because trust me the cams will weigh you down so much and create a lot of drag.
surprisingly the 15m underwater is what everyone gets caught on. While it does not sound that daunting it is incredibly difficult to do in cams. My recommendation for this is to get good at breaststroke there are plenty of YouTube videos on how to swim better underwater practice a lot.
There is also an app called Freediving Trainer which can help with your lung capacity.
Pace yourself it is not a race you are not timed in the 200m swim you want to keep your energy for the other events.
That sums up my experience/ recommendation so far. I hope this helps future applicants. Feel free to ask any questions or clarification on anything I have said so far. I will try my best to answer 
Good luck!