What should be included in the new IOT syllabus?

[bigley]

From one of the posts here, I notice that the IOT (and therefore the AAITC) syllabus is about to change. Apart from Ballroom dancing, what do you think should be included in the new Course?

[allan907]

From past experience as an IOT flt cdr and viewing some of the posts on this site I would say that a 4 year remedial English course preparatory to the main course would be the order of the day:D

Chin chin!

[DH98]

Leadership, man management. Also remove that pretentious and pompous soudo colonial attitude that so many seem to adopt on attending Sleaford Tech..............:E

[BEagle]

English, written and spoken......

In fact why not come up with a 2 1/2 year course which includes education, military studies, physical training, leadership, field exercises, ground defence training - and, for ALL pilots, Basic Flying Training.....

Something like the old Cranwell Cadet scheme, in fact!

But I suppose they'd have to add Political Correctness, Investment in People, Equal Opportunities and all the other non-military claptrap so beloved of our huggy-fluffies.....:yuk:

[allan907]

DH 98..........

pseudo

1 False, counterfeit, pretended, spurious.

2 Intellectually or socially pretentious; insincere, affected; meaningless.


See also my comments above re remedial English
:ok:

PS: I think soudo might be the name of a Japanese sumo wrestler!

[Whipping Boy's SATCO]

As someone who has ran a Phase 2 trg sqn, how about

Self discipline
Willingness to accept constructive criticism
Integrity
Decisiveness
Problem ownership

Oh, and how to figure out when and how a gaggle of JOs should salute. (this comment actually coming from a large number of airmen)

:ugh:

[DuckDodgers]

Given the type of Ops we have been doing recently a credible, more advanced Ground Defence Trg syllabus would be in order i think. Concur entirely with the remedial English package, let us go further and completely revamp defence writing into a form of interpretable English. Defence studies indepth would be an excellent idea, oh as a thought, given that we are an AIR FORCE, teach all how aircraft actually fly perhaps?

Thought we had Admin Traniers to sought this type of thing out?

[fidae]

How about something relevant like;

Basic computer operation, Word, Excel and Powerpoint training. 8 years into my RAF career and no-one has actually given my any formal training or more importantly, the time to go the TD Flight.

How to use Uniter, GPTN

There's a couple more,

Met one of the guys writing the new syllabus on a lunch stop at Coningsby, a top bloke, so expecting good things to come out of the review. They'd very sensibly left Cranwell to stop being interrupted and indoctrinated

[DuckDodgers]

Rather worrying in this day and age if people need to be instructed on how to use a computer and more shockingly a telephone for crying out loud! Not exactly rocket science is it!!

[PPRuNe Radar]

How to fill in your tax return ?? :)

[Whipping Boy's SATCO]

How to follow this link:

http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/redundancy/payments-pl808.htm

:p

[fidae]

Duckdodgers,

It would be a bit worrying if someone had survived all the way through their RAF career without operating a computer( there is one!...ex-vulcan display pilot and absolute legend), however, suppose hypothetically speaking, one worked on a squadron where one had to generate an electronic copy of a student study guide. It might be handy to have some training in how to generate generic 3-D images of air combat on computer

That might seem a strange analogy.....well beyong the realm of teaching someone how to use Word or Excel. But we don't expect any of our direct entrants to know how to fly our aircraft when they join. So why should we expect our OCU QWIs,QFIs,QTI to have exemplary knowledge of Microsoft programming so they can format the teaching tools when there is no structured computer or IT training. Digging my vibe now dude?

Ta for now

[BEagle]

The Apple Spitting Gibbon found that, to him, things like toasters and credit cards were examples of baffling modern technology - let alone computers!

[L J R]

.

Maybe the instructional staff syllabus should be looked at in order to teach proper communication to students!!.

Maybe the instructional staff syllabus should be looked at to INSTRUCT....

Agree to get rid of the the pompous attitude.


Bring the course into the '80s air force (as a minimum) - & out of the '30s. Who was sick of the phrase 'the real airforce does this and that, but while here at Cranwell, we do this and that..... '

[DH98]

allan907,

Thanks for that and please accept my apologies for crap spelling. Had a brain fart and so clearly must now go to the back of the class.:uhoh:

[STANDTO]

Teach the men and women to be professional ladies and gentlemen, dealing with professional ladies and gentlemen.


Hang on, these spectacles don't work!!

[Feneris]

How about instilling a shred of professionalism or self-discipline to start with. I have first hand experience of both RAFC Cranwell and BRNC Dartmouth; there is absolutely no comparison between the two when it comes to the end product.

The average overall level of professionalism and self-discipline of a Young Officer at BRNC after 7 weeks training exceeds that of your average Student Officer or Officer Cadet graduating from IOT. This is a result of a much longer and harder working day, much increased individual responsibility and a focus on self-discipline rather than regimentation. A large part of the role carried out by Flt Cdrs during IOT (room inspections, kit inspections, weekly meetings etc), at BRNC is carried out by senior cadets who've been at BRNC 21 weeks+. This is indicative of the maturity/professionalism of the cadets before they leave BRNC.

IOT uses regimentation through and through, cadets act like clones during the working day when under scrutiny, however when not being watched or at the end of the day they act like school children with a bad attitude. The problem is compounded by the arrogant and self-righteous up-their-own-@rse manner and nature of your standard Flight Commander. At BRNC there is a much 'shallower gradient' of seniority / superiority between the cadet and Divisional Officer, leading to a much more professional relationship.

A further significant aspect of the training carried out by BRNC which really breeds the professionalism is Initial Sea Training. This is 6 weeks spent working onboard a ship alongside junior ratings, seeing both sides of the commissioned/non commissioned working environment. The cadets get all the really sh!t jobs, live/work with the ratings, and personally develop far more than just learning about the ship or life as a rating. During IOT there is almost no contact between cadets and the personnel they are soon to lead.

At RAFC Cranwell when the best Sqn Ldr I have yet encountered arrives on the scene (OCD 193,196 IOT), he is harshly criticised by both staff and cadets who would prefer to stick to their gash holiday camp ideas on how the training should be carried out. OCD's implementation of increased PT, improved standards of personal appearance and standard of room presentation were not greeted in a positive manner. I believe he described the graduating 193 IOT cadets as "physically and mentally weak" during his very concise speech at their dining in night.

I hope that for the 'new' IOT course the cadets are made to work longer, harder, the amount of regimentation is reduced, responsibility is significantly increased, and most importantly the cadets are treated like mature adults and officers rather than children. This would go a long way to improving the course.

F

[Impiger]

Teach them to have a sense of humour (they'll need it later)

Oh and how to construct a multiple choice question where the subject is some form of cock-up or misdemeanour and the answer is always d.:D

[BEagle]

Strangely enough, the format you advocate sounds rather like the OT I went through. A first year as a Flt Cdt at RAFC on 99 Entry which indeed involved long hours, bull, hut inspections, PT, drill etc etc - and some considerable supervision by the Senior Entry.... Then 4 years at University as an APO and Plt Off and UAS before being treated in an adult manner on 14 GE as a Fg Off but still with the added value of lugging pine poles around Northumberland - all topped off with Basic Flying Training.

I still think that the old Flight Cadet scheme AND the Graduate Entry system of the 1973/4 era have a lot to offer - and some formal research into their sylabi wouldn't go amiss.

As regards Flt Cdrs, the 1 Sqn Ldr, 2 Flt Cdrs, 1 Flt Sgt and 1 Sgt who ran each Flight Cadet Sqn relied heavily on the 'system' and the Senior Entry SUO, UOs and SFCs. Whereas in the GE world there was still a Sqn Cdr, but a larger no of Flt Cdrs per sqn - none of whom were a patch on the Flt Cdt era officers....