RAF Officer & NCA Suggested Reading

[joe2812]

Hey again all,

On my quest to get that commission i've been given a list of suggested reading which i'm looking into. Does anyone own or has read:

Jane's 'All the worlds aircraft'
Military Balance (International Institute of Strategic Studies)
RAF Air Power Today - Gething & Peacock (Warbird)
Fighter Pilot - C. Strong (BBC)
Modern Air Combat - Gunston (Salamander)
Air Defence of Great Britain - Bushby
Air Pictorial
The RAF Today and Tomorrow - R.A. Mason (Ian Allen)
Strike Command Bulletins (I believe these were on the RAF site however I cannot find them. Am I right in assuming there is a hard copy?)

I've had a browse of the local libraries with no joy, and after a quick search on Amazon and Google have discovered that Jane's will set me back about £1000 and the others out of stock. Also most publications seem to be pre-1990, will this render them useless?

Any help or suggestions appreciated as ever.

Thanks,
Joe

[Another St Ivian]

Not trying to betray my current job here...but ask your library about something calling an inter-library loan. They should be able to get hold of most things for you, might take a while though.

ASI

[littleme]

Joe,

If I remember correctly, you are applying to OASC??

Why are you researching all of these magazines?? When you go to OASC, they are looking for someone who wants a commission, not someone who is a 'gimp' on all of the listing's you have been given. Sure, they are extra info. to read into, but if you are preparing properly, you should have so many notes you don't know what to do with them! Seriously, I am applying for ground branches and I have so many pieces of paper, I don't know where to start. Jane's etc will give you info on stuff you already (should) know about but in so much depth they won't even have time to ask you in the interview. They will be of no real use to you.

Concentrate on what you are applying for and make sure you know it all off by heart. That will be enough....trust me...

LM

[airborne_artist]

Hope you are also getting stuck into the current affairs side - The Economist would be a good start.

[BEagle]

Well, for me it was:

The Boy's Book of the RAF
Various 'Battler Britton' comics
Lots of Ian Allan aeroplane books
The odd Air Clues and Recce journals donated by a Hunter pilot chum of my father
RAF Flying Review
A few bits and pieces from the papers

But in those days you just had to want to fly jets and serve the realm. You didn't have to be some Air Power pseud or know WTF the difference was between NATO and the UN......

[Biggus]

To give you an idea of the depth and difficulty of questions you could be faced with, here is one that was asked of someone I know who went to OASC recently.

"What is special about the Merlin helicopter?"

The answer the "staff" were looking for is that it has 3 engines!!

The question was put to a chap applying for an aircrew trade, but was asked by some scribbly/supplier staff member who knew nothing at all about the Merlin himself, he was just looking for the candidate to provide the answer written on his magic script!!


Nuff said!!!!



P.S Ah BEagle, I spent much of my youth reading 'Battler Brittan' stories, purchased with my hard won and limited pocket money, you almost brought a tear to an old mans eye. What do the youff of today read I wonder?

[BEagle]

Not 1/- 'Air Ace Picture Library' stories, I'll bet!

Here's some nostalgia for you, Biggus: http://www.bookpalace.com/PicLibs/AirAce/index.htm

(Mods - Note that it isn't advertising as they are not selling all the items shown - it's just a picture of all the titles of the comics we used to read in the 1960s!)

Used to be a great little shop in my local town which sold model aeroplanes, 'War Picture Library' comics, air gun pellets, tobacco......and 'Parade', 'H&E' and those other soft porn publications of the day. Perfect for keeping his customers from about 4 yrs old until about 18!

No doubt all would be banned nowadays - either on grounds of health and effi.., sorry, safety, political correctness or some other nanny-state ruling from the huggy-fluffies......

By the way, keep up with the Defence pages in 'Flight'.


PS - Regards to Incontinentia!!

[Pontius Navigator]

I know someone very well who is aiming at OASC. Just cause she's a girlie and a blanket stacker don't be fooled. Her thesis was on air power in Mespotamia and the Sudan. What do you want to know about weapon/target matching or targetting?

AT and MPA are also specialities.

Oh, and cooking, house building, rock climbing, scuba diving etc

But more personnally \'I flew with Braddock\' which was still going the rounds on 201 Sqn in the 70s, Biggles of course, and all the POW and WW2 books.

[BEagle]

What would one like to know from such a blanket-stacking babe?

When are clothing stores getting more size 8 flying gloves in stock, for a start!



:p

[Vage Rot]

Joe,

Not got acces now but when I was with MoD, Janes etc was available on the intranet. Might be available through the RAF intranet service if you can get access

[dogstar2]

Don't try to pull the wool over their eyes. If you read the Daily Mail, then be honest and tell them. Try to make out, though, that you have a broad mind and read all sorts of things.
Don't lose sight of what you are joining. You are not planning on being an academic, you are joining HM Forces and are joining to go and lead people into combat. They will and should ask you tricky questions about your motivations..make sure that you really have thought about such issues. :ok:

[Zoom]

Flight and Aviation Week are 2 useful aviation mags to get your head into. Also read some decent newspapers; the DT probably contains the most military news, although I can no longer vouch for its authenticity.

[santiago15]

An officer could do worse than read and digest 'Eats Shoots and Leaves' by Lynne Truss

[Pontius Navigator]

Beags, you would need to talk to the DLO about gloves. OTOH if you want 10 tonne of avtur she's your girl.

[Melchett01]

Joe

That little lot will give you more than you need on the technicalities of the air force - how fast things go, how many people they can kill by dropping the stale doughnuts suplied by catering from 25,000ft etc.

You might want to think in more broad brush terms as well - without going too deep, you wouldn't totally waste your time reading up on leadership aspects. After all it is rather dry, and your future IOT Flt Cdr will having nothing to enthrall you with if you've read it all before you go!

But in all seriouseness, you might want to consider what the RAF considers leadership to be, how it differs from management , what role do NCOs play etc etc. It's all very dry compared to stories of bombing fuzzy-wuzzies and zipping down a valley scaring little old ladies but it may crop up. Well it did when I went through. Oh and a copy of Air Power Doctrine (AP3000) would be worthwhile looking up - I think you can get it in the main libraries or HMSO. And if you don't get in, it makes a good beer mat - well it's got to be good for something, because as an interesting read it's bloody awful!!!:ok:

[BigGrecian]

Normally the reading list that has been listed is given before joining IOT not before OASC. I had the same reading list and read about half of the books - as did most of my peers on my IOT. (In honesty I know of several Officers who read none of them.) Some of the books are more interesting than others. I suggest you use a bit of that old potential officer iniative and select which books your going to read.

[joe2812]

BigGrecian, they are the ones i've selected, the list is a wee bit bigger :ok:

[BigGrecian]

Is Thunder & Lightning still on the list, as well as the Falklands books? I would recommend reading the books based on operations, much more intersting than reading doctrine etc!

[joe2812]

The current list recommended for OASC is... *takes a deep breath*

Broadsheet Newspapers
Air Clues
Air Extras
Air International
Air Pictorial
Defence
Armed Forces
The Economist
Flight International
Interavia
International Defence Review
Military Balance (IISS)
NATO Handbook
NATO Review
Newsweek
RAF News
RUSI & Brassey's Defence Yearbook
RUSI Quarterly
Statement on Defence estimates (HMSO)
Strategic Curvery (IISS)
War & Peace (ORBIS)
Jane's 'All the World's Aircraft'
The RAF Today and Tomorrow (RA Mason)
Fighter Pilot (C Strong)
RAF Air Power Today (Gething & Peacock)
Modern Air Combat (Gunston)
Air Defence of Great Britain (Bushby)
The Intelligence War (Salamander)
Supplying Way (M van Crefeld)

IISS - International Institude of Strategic Studies
RUSI - Royal United Services Institute

Which of these exciting reads do people suggest for budding aircrew/EngO then?? It did surprise me just how many doctrine-types there are! :p

[Melchett01]

Joe, I take it that you were given that list by the AFCO? Well, I'm sure it would be nice to have time to plough through that lot, but unless you have a photographic memory and if you're like the vast majority of applicants, I'd suggest going for a quality rather than quantity approach.

Select a few, read them, understand them and understand how they fit in today's RAF and the operations we are involved in. Any muppet can read a library and then regurgitate it at interview. If you read a few well chosen publications and can discuss the issues raised in them, it will be much more impressive than knowing how many rivets are in an average Tonka wing or who the president of Umbongo-bongo land was 53 years ago.

My advice would be something along the lines of:

1. A quality daily rag eg Times, Telegraph, Independent - or the Guardian if you can't get hold of the others:E

2. The Economist and Newsweek or Time

3. Flight International & Air Force Monthly - give you an idea of what's going on in the general air & air force communities around the world

4. RAF News - if only to hear what the C-17 fleet have been upto that week

5. Most books by AVM Tony Mason are a good bet for general air power and more specific RAF themes eg Air Power (general) or the one mentioned in your list (I'll take my commission in used tenners sir!)

6. Have a look on the net at the govt sites or get hold of a copy of the latest defence reviews to see where we are going and have been (and when you find out, please inform Buffoon as I don't think he knows )

7. Anything that may give you an insight into pilot/nav/engo roles and training.

8. AP3000 - Air Power Doctrine will give you an idea of the how the RAF does air power and how it all fits together on ops.

9. Research into the major campaigns the RAF has been involved in.

I honestly wouldn't bother too much with all the real heavy duty RUSI / IISS type publications. They are all very very heavy, mostly theoretical and I don't even know too many of my own colleagues that have read them - ever.

The key is to be selective, understand the topics and develop a depth and breadth of general military / air power / RAF understanding. Show you can apply what you have read to fast ball questions, and show an enthusiasm for the subject. If you are at school / uni etc and are taking degree or other exams, the board will know that you have plenty of other reading to occupy your time and will make allowances. No point in knowing everything there is to know about the air force, but at the expense of your degree / a-levels, because then you'll really be up a creek without a paddle. They are looking for a genuine interest, almost passion, for something that could take up most of the rest of your working life, and you can't learn that.

PM me if you have any major burning issues.

[Flugplatz]

1. Any of the "Flashman" books by George McDonald Fraser - can't go wrong.

2. Alternatively you can try and impress the selectors by expressing your desire to emulate some of the present 'higher-ups' in he defence establishment: "I want to have the integrity and leadership skills of Geof Hoon". (should do the trick)

[Well Travelled Nav]

Your knowledge of military affairs is of minor importance compared to your ability to:

communicate well and clearly
whether you are confident or timid
composed or nervous
make a positive impact by having a strong character and respond well to the pressure etc.

ie Personality is much more important than swotting up on military or current affairs - you can be taught that. You will find it much harder to change you natural personality or the way you communicate.

Discuss