Aaah, CCS. Joy of joys. As one of HM's O Corps, I make sure that I set the example in CCS. Yes, its a nause, but a few short minutes revising what *should not* be new information to you will pay dividends. The tick test isnt exactly difficult and handling a weapon, well, again, it isnt the most taxing hting in the world. But if it is, we have all still got our CCS Aide Memoirs, havent we chaps?
To be fair to the Rocks that have to go through this EVERY SINGLE WEEK, give them their dues. In my experience, they have all been pretty good at the teaching and lecturing. How many other people out there manage to put a smile and laugh into the same old presentation about the same old stuff week in, week out. It makes what is a very prescriptive and occasionally irksome day bearable. Do you really think that they enjoy having a bunch of uninterested numb nuts rock up and sit there blankly for a day?
It is time, though, that the system changed. We all do CCS every year, or are supposed to. Many also do IRT at least once a year. Many of the topics are the same, so why not combine them? Have a 2, 5, or 10 day course depending on your unit or war role, go and do the training and get all the ticks in the boxes, including getting gassed properly - hurrah - and live shooting. None of this practice the NBC drills and stand around talking about it cos the Gas Chambers broke, and SAT range because range time and bullets are too expensive.
If we are going to do it, then do it properly and prepare people properly to go on ops without making them do stuff twice. Currency on IRT can be gained by doing a 1 or 2 day refresher every year. That way there is no need to faff around getting IRT courses booked when you get a no notice deployment or have to do yet more CCS style MST in the Falklands when you've already done CCS and IRT and know which bit goes bang and have a green bit of paper to say so.
AA - liked the new CCS plan. It might just work. Cheers also for the TVAM GW vid. Spot on!
cheers. -GW-