QPQ,
How on earth are insurgents ever going to get anywhere near aircrew in Basrah, since when we're on det there:
1. We don't go out on patrol
2. We don't go anywhere in convoys
3. In fact, we don't leave the base at all
Come to think of it, when are:
1. Mine clearance drills
2. Barbed wire fence laying
3. Guarding and checkpoint procedures
4. Putting up a 12x12
.....EVER going to be of any use to crews deployed in BSR?
The whole show is a complete waste of time IMHO - an exercise in empire building by an obsolete branch. All the other stuff droned on about at these extravaganzas is simple common sense, which should be endemic to aircrew, and general stuff associated with operating OOA, which we in the AT world do all the time (nature of the job). The useful parts, like theatre-specific briefs, can be taken care of in an afternoon, or even a couple of hours, leaving us time to jump through all the other ever-narrowing hoops we have to in preparation for these dets - oh yes, and the small matter of training in our primary duty, getting the ticks and quals required for the det. Being able to operate the aircraft on ops is obviously secondary to knowing how to put up a 12x12 without scraping a nail.
Complete and utter, premier league, gold-plated bollox. And they wonder why people want to leave......
16B