I held there in the mid 1970s, working on the Ops desk prior to BFTS. I was given very little training at all, just left to it, all by myself, after a couple of shifts.
Sorry to say I had never met such a grumpy bunch in all my life, with one or two exceptions, such as Paul Robertshaw and Steve Noble (sadly, Steve was killed during a Red Arrows' Gnat accident, not long afterwards).
I'll never forget the "squawk box" going on my first solo ops shift. A Wg Cdr upstairs (not his real name, it began with "P" ) bellowing something along the lines of: "Book me a LEPUS and TOSS at Jurby - and tell them I want full Goosenecks..click"
I didn't have the first idea what he was talking about! I hadn't been briefed on any aircraft weapons, attack profiles or even where the ranges were or what they were called, so there were at least four terms in there I'd never heard of before
I picked up my pencil and paper, buzzed back, apologised and asked him to repeat the message.
After the immediate almighty bollocking I received, I never made the mistake of asking the old fart anything again
I soon resolved I most definitely did NOT want ever to return to 237 OCU in any capacity.
