Pardon my absence, I know you've been expecting me, but I have just returned from a very pleasant week in The Algarve! I'm afraid, also, that I am slightly disinclined to read all 5 pages assiduously but, since my alma mater has come in for some considerable bashing once again (oh, BEagle, just get over it), I feel it only appropriate to make some form of comment in order to explain, perhaps, the training rationale for any (not just 237) OCU in MHO! My experience is, I'm afraid, based on only 2 types however: that of the Buccaneer and my own personal passage through TTTE and TWCU somewhat later (and more experienced) in life.
Let me give you some background first. I was very fortunate to be the first ever RAF first-tourist navigator to be trained by 237 OCU when it formed. The course was designed and run by RAF types with RN types on the staff to assist and train those new RN types who no longer had 736 Sqn available at Lossie to convert them to the Bucc and, particularly, to deck landing practice. The 237 OCU course (long or short) was very much based on the previous 736 Sqn course where all previous RAF Bucc aircrew had been trained in the 60s. So, for whoever it was who asked that question the answer is dead easy - 237 OCU, when it formed in 1971 and in the main, adopted the syllabus and style of its dark blue predecessors initially.
I managed to 'navigate' all the hurdles required of me to reach a sufficient standard on my OCU course to meet its exit standard which, by any TNA and course design philosophy, is always the entry standard as laid down by the receiving command; in the case of the Buccaneer that was by HQ STC for crews destined for 12 Sqn (at the time) and by HQ RAFG for those, like me, destined for XV Sqn (at the time). This is, always has been and always will be the role of any OCU! I admit, that I wasn't a perfect student on my OCU course but I did meet the output standard and, as my driving examiner said when I passed my driving test at the first attempt, when I left for Germany I knew that I had passed but that I had a lot to learn! That learning was undertaken as part of the squadron work-up process to get crews qualified LCR (ie into Strike QRA) and CR, which took approximately another 6 months.
All that stated, the Buccaneer was renowned as a very difficult aircraft to operate, particularly off and to the deck, where many of my RAF contemporaries went to bolster the reducing RN FJ numbers (as also happened on the F4 OCU). The Bucc was even more deadly in the circuit as I learned when I was invited, as a 237 OCU staff navigator now on my third Bucc tour (1978-81 - did we meet BEagle?), to climb aboard with a student pilot on his 2nd ever trip on the jet, he having flown only one trip with a QFI beforehand (remember the Bucc has never ever had a second stick!).
Thus, the attitude and environment on the Bucc Force (not just the OCU) whether it was RN, RAF or even SAAF (many of whom I know personally) was that of a hard school. There was no room for training risks and there was certainly no room for underachievers! We flew the Bucc hard, low and at the edge of its envelope. Debriefs were harsh, personal, rankless (within limits as I learned to my cost when I criticised the Boss publicly for leading a six-ship, in a descent, through 8/8ths low cloud, in close formation to attack a ship in The Minch - I say led - only his 2 wingmen followed him as my pilot and I, leading the 2nd 3-ship, decided to close no further for the attack as the 3 up front disappeared through cloud!). But there was never ever any animosity after the debrief and we executed them in such a way to ensure that we all learned of the many pitfalls for the unwary when flying the Bucc - we always repaired to the bar to ensure that any flesh wounds might quickly heal! So, in short, the standard on the squadron was high, no prisoners were ever taken and the OCU reflected that in ensuring that the exit standard of it matched the entry standard for the squadrons.
We flew hard, we fought hard and we played hard. We were (and I make no apology for this next statement) members of a very small and exclusive club who were, certainly in the RAF, regarded as second-class citizens - remember, we had replaced the cancelled F-111, which had been planned to replace the TSR-2 (maybe we were third class citizens). We often had to fight for our very existence against their airships who publicly stated that we were 'an interim' measure - an interim measure that served the RAF for 25 years! So, if our exclusivity meant that if your face didn't fit then we showed you the door then, whilst that might seem harsh, from my end of the telescope it was the right decision. I have 485 surviving members of the Buccaneer Aircrew Association on my books that tell me that we made the right choices. Many of these people meet regularly for dinner biennially and, annually, significant numbers gather in London to bond once more at The Blitz. We keep together with a biannual 20 page glossy newsletter and own XX901 and more air-to-surface weapons than perhaps the RAF has on its books today - certainly more by sample if not total quantity - we even possess our own WE177C (you can see them all at YAM)! Not many aircraft can boast such fellowship!
Right, I've banged on long enough. For those who stuck with it, thanks for listening! For those who gave up at Foldie's wailings, you will never know what it was really like to be a Bucc Man!
Foldie
PS. I suspect that many OCUs and squadrons were similar too it was just that we weren't, perhaps, quite so tactful for those whose skin was just a little softer than the rest! C'est la Vie!
