Originally Posted by
charliegolf
surely, one HAD to 'fit in', in such an environment; so what happened to 'square pegs'? It must have happened.
CG
Crews formed up informally while attending the survival course at Mountbatten before they even got to the OCU. Usually it worked.
Occasionally where it didn't, and this seemed pretty rare, exchanges as people were posted could happen. At the time however the Air Sec's Department would 'hand over' aircrew to Bomber Command P-staff for 5 years and double tours were not unusual. On my first sqn one crew had come complete from the Valiant with their co-pilot become the captain John B-Y's crew.
There were also 'hard' changes too
One particular crew did not get on with their AEO. During once exercise scramble the AEO was the first to get off the 32-seater coach. From the platform he jumped before the bus had stopped moving, but no one warned him that he was facing the wrong way. He broke his thigh. I believe the crew still achieved cockpit readiness without the AEO.