Holding Posts in the RAF

[caspertheghost]

As many of you out there will have had to fill a holding post during your training, I was wondering what the worst/best ones in the RAF are.
Anyone got any funny stories about how they very nearly grounded an entire Sqn of mud movers due to their own incompetence etc?

[StopStart]

Ah holding..........there was an invaluable 3 years of my life...

4 months School of PT, Cosford - dogsbody
8 months Red Arrows - spotter host and dogsbody
3 months HQ RAF Support Command - Resident MS Excel expert
1 month 78 Sqn FI - clipboard holder
3 months Shawbury - chopped idle layabout
5 months Lyneham - Ops Cpl's little helper
3 months HQ 11/18 Gp Northwood - File sorter and drawer emptier
3 months MoD Main Building - stuff with helicopters, stats and big maps.
3 months CAA Airspace Dept - can't really remember...something to do with Secondary Radar and the Popular Flying Association....or was it the People's Front of Judea...? I forget...


Obviously, during this time I didn't have my wings so was therefore considered unqualified filth and so wasn't allowed to do ISS or any other useful courses. Time was spent, on the whole, making tea and photocopier servicing. Any skills I did learn in these various posts count for nothing now anyway so never mind.

No funny stories because it was all, on the whole, pants except for the Main Building and CAA jobs which were actually quite interesting and meant getting hammered in London most evenings.

All in all a magnificent waste of time.
To be fair, at least I was paid to sleep in 'til 10 most days and take 8 day weekends most weeks. Suppose they could've just sacked us all :rolleyes:

[9.81m/s/s]

Ahhhh holding! No funny stories I'm afraid because there's nothing funny about holding!! Imagine an employer in civvi street saying they can't seperate their arse from their elbow and find you anything constructive to do so p1ss off to some **** job and annoy someone else!!!!! It makes me laugh to think that civvis imagine the forces to be run in a ' military manner ' - regimented, focused and purposeful!!! Oh no I'm becoming bitter and twisted - soon I'll be telling people to p1ss off and annoy someone else if they have nothing constructive to do !

V UNIMPRESSED. But a good thread casper - I'm sure there's bound to be some good stories - I do know someone who managed to get himself done for drink driving whilst on hold! He was v popular with his boss!

The grown ups will tell you it's character building and a good intro to the Air Force - but how many intros last a year?

My response to them is : DON'T P1SS DOWN MY BACK AND TELL ME IT'S RAINING!!!!!!

[Chalkstripe]

I was on a holding flight at Finnington (the Jewel of the North) and we were told to do a FOD plod around the Nav School! Oh we were such happy campers that day!

Another choice holding job was to carry the brevets from stores to the mess for the graduation ceremony, for the course that I had just been chopped from. Good thing that no one was kicking me while I was down. (Although I was tempted to half-inch one for myself - I'm sure that no one would have noticed!)

Baaaah.

Bitter and twisted from London! :rolleyes:

[canberra]

as an ex ops cpl to had to hold the hand of many a holding officer i must say that most of them were great. i still think the best sort of holding officer post is the battle of britain office at leuchars. although the airshow manager(sqn ldr retired martin barnett) dropped a major bollock, he sent a signal to command wanting 6 holding officers like yesterday,the blokes turned up pdq and he sent them all on 14 days leave! to cap it all he sent the signal under the station commanders name!

[CrabInCab]

100Sqn / JFACTSU, best hold going by miles, more hawk hours than you could ever wish for. Didn't help at valley though, buqqer!

[Autorev]

Now I don't beleive that there can be a better way of pissing a whole year up the wall than by being sent back to university to do a Masters degree on Flt Lt pay. Greenshielders we may have been, but as we all know, student chicks dig blokes with loads of dosh!
My flatmate was a Jengo at the time and used to moan about us both getting the same pay but for him to work 23.5 hrs a day, and for me to spend 23.5 hrs a day in bed. I did agree that it was awful, but obviously just had to point out that he didn't get flying pay.....

Ah Happy Daze!:cool:

[caspertheghost]

I managed to wangle myself a good one at Bruggen as it was closing down. 3 months of closing down parties, Wobbly, nights out in Roermond, Pistol Petes ribs etc.
Ahhh, they were the days.......
Beats working for a living!;)

[Hugh Been'ad]

I held at the BoB office at Leuchars after leaving IOT. In the aftermath of a successful airshow we buckled down to the tedium of sorting out next years show. Towards the end of the day one of my holding collegues borrowed the organisers computer to do a bit of work. On completion of his typing my fellow holding bod closed the computer down and was greeted with a "do you wish to save changes?" message. As he was (a) finished his work and had printed out the results and (b) not very computer aware he clicked "no".

Everything was fine until the said organiser arrived back at his desk in a fluster after racing around the station. When he switched his computer on he found that his file which he had been working on all day was no longer there!!! He had spent all of that time compiling the National and International requests for next years airshow and the deadline for submission of the requests was now in about 30 minutes. Being a bit careless he had neglected to save his work during the day and it was soon clear he had paid the price. To put it mildly he went HARPIC. He ranted and raved until he found my technophobe collegue cowering in our office. After a short one way "discussion" my collegue was sent home without any tea or cookies and the rest of the "sympathetic" collegues chortled quietly in the corner at his misfortune.

Things were never the same in the office again and the said holding officer was banished from using the computers again.

[reynoldsno1]

I actually volunteered for a holding post in Berlin (when the wall was still up) - had been there before so couldn't understand why no-one else wanted to go!

Had to organise an Airlift Anniversary air show - good fun, and the social life was fantastic. Only one major glitch was when I had to chaperone a bus visit to East Berlin. Coming back through Checkpoint Charlie, we had kept the bus doors open as it was a very hot day. One zealous East German guard decided this was a security risk and stepped onto the bus to cover the open exit......

....meanwhile the other five guards thought their mate was making for the West, and there was a cacophony of Kalashnikovs cocking. Much rapid German followed, but the general sense seemed to be that the one on the bus's explanation had been greeted by a universal "Yeah, right" by the other five.

Of course, Berlin was officially an occupied city and the East Germans were not recognised, so I had to ask for a Russian officer who duly appeared after 10 minutes or so, with a wry smile on his face. We made it back across the checkpoint a little while later...

Oh, and the bus was full of wives from the Provost Branch....!!! Yes, a lot of paperwork...

[DrSyn]

Clearly, the Powers That Be recognised StopStart's eminent suitability for future high command. It was their way of trying to persuade him that there were far more enjoyable activities outside the boring world of flying. Thank heaven you ignored the temptation and fought your way into aviation, mate!

My holding experience was more fortunate. Only 5 months, and all as requested.

After BFTS, 3 months 1AEF Manston, residing at nearish parental home. Flying Chippies when the winter WX permitted - always enjoyable, but not many cadet visits at that time of year. Ferry flights to West Malling for maintenance. Most of the time was spent flying around "on patrol" with the recently civilianised SAR unit, all of whom were ex-22 chaps on the same Whirlwind but with better wages. Landing on the sands of Pegwell Bay where the winchman obtained bait from one of the numerous lugworm diggers. Flying out to the Goodwin wrecks whilst loading said bait on to multi-hook lines "down below". Locating football-sized orange buoys, using Decca and tide tables (seriously good SAR practice, believe me). Winching down the crewman to recover the buoys and attached lines, with succulent codlings attached. Dropping fresh buoy and line, noting Decca position for return visit. Similar procedure for crab pots etc. Much seafoood was eaten at the Syn family seat that winter.

I should add that I was occasionally dumped on dry land if the mission went live. This was my first real intro to the rotary world and I have remained an admirer ever since. It was also where I first learned the expression "lemmings", as applied to tourists who rush to the coast in their thousands and throw themselves over cliffs.

After BFTS, 2 months ATC Camp liaison, Leeming. Great fun. First learnt about the pleasure of "giving something back" to the enthusiasts following behind. Plenty of SCT in the JP with those QFIs who had forgiven me for graduating from their BFTS a year earlier!

I don't know what chioce is available these days, casper, but if you're an aviator (your profile is a bit empty) try and get to an active flying station. This is my 35th year in the game and no ground tours to date.