Is the current RAF system overkill (the Hercules has around 50+ Basic Training Requirements to keep current) or is it a good way to ensure competency is maintained?
They were changed a few years ago to Basic
Currency Requirements to reflect the fact that they were tick chasing rather than training.....!
That there are so many BCRs for the C130 reflect the fact that the crews are trained for many more roles than their counterparts in the civil world - all the various airdrop, low-level, NVG, NSO etc roles. For non-tac crews there are substantially fewer BCRs although even the strat crews will cover extra skills such as NVG TALT.
As crews are getting relatively few hours these days (although not uniformly, some are getting in excess of 400 per annum) then the BCRs ensure that they remain current in all the skills, so it's not over-kill.