Weapon Systems Operator (Crewman)
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Weapon Systems Operator (Crewman)
Hey, really sorry if this is on the wrong page or anything, but it seems like the best place to come.
I'm hopefully off to OASC in the summer, having decided to join as NCA and I was wondering what kind of specific qualities the RAF looked for when deciding whether to stream candidates for Crewman as opposed to Electronic Warfare etc?
Cheers
I'm hopefully off to OASC in the summer, having decided to join as NCA and I was wondering what kind of specific qualities the RAF looked for when deciding whether to stream candidates for Crewman as opposed to Electronic Warfare etc?
Cheers
Join Date: Jan 2006
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Hey Bluesteel705,
I'm going through the same process at the moment (allbeit from a different angle as I'm already a serving ranker). Get youself down to the local AFCO and ask for all the WSOp paperwork, it includes a guide to what the RAF are looking for and what the guys at OASC will be looking for in your interview. If you cant or they dont give you it, PM me and I'll send you a copy of all the stuff i have by post.
Good Luck!
Fantaman
I'm going through the same process at the moment (allbeit from a different angle as I'm already a serving ranker). Get youself down to the local AFCO and ask for all the WSOp paperwork, it includes a guide to what the RAF are looking for and what the guys at OASC will be looking for in your interview. If you cant or they dont give you it, PM me and I'll send you a copy of all the stuff i have by post.
Good Luck!
Fantaman
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You have to go through the generic WSOp training and it depends upon a streaming board who look at your results and character and its also the numbers game (numbers required by each trade). Dont go in with the idea of "if I dont do well at RADAR they will stream me Crewman" as you could fail the course. The higher majority do go WSOp ALM at the moment (and its probably going to stay that way for some time) but you could end up fixed wing OR rotary. If you can, you ought to try and get a visit to either Shawbury, Odiham, Benson, Brize, Lyneham or as many as you can to pick up some further background info re ALM.
Good luck with your application
Its good fun
Wasaloadie
Good luck with your application
Its good fun
Wasaloadie
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The bottom line is that you cannot formally apply for, or be accepted for, any particular role/stream before you enter training. During the initial common phase training you will be asked for your preferences. The Board will then decide which specialisation you will join.
Regarding personal qualities for the various roles, your personality is what you have and despite any effort to display an uncharacteristic aptitude for any desired role, it will not work. The staff will find out what you are made of and they will recommend the appropriate stream. In all cases, you need maturity, teamwork, humour and stoicism.
Best of luck. I hope you get what you want.
Regarding personal qualities for the various roles, your personality is what you have and despite any effort to display an uncharacteristic aptitude for any desired role, it will not work. The staff will find out what you are made of and they will recommend the appropriate stream. In all cases, you need maturity, teamwork, humour and stoicism.
Best of luck. I hope you get what you want.
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The short answer is simple - If the RAF is short of AEOps then you will be streamed AEOp. If they are short of Crewman you will head to the crewman world.
Its all to do with numbers needed on sqns. However the good news is that most seem to be going crewman at the minute.
Its all to do with numbers needed on sqns. However the good news is that most seem to be going crewman at the minute.
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An ickle bird told me of the 30 bods on the last generic initial course, 30 wanted to go ALM and of those 30, 30 wanted to go rotary, and of those 30, 30 wanted Chinook. Lots of disappointed bunnies including a few who withdrew from training the very next day having clearly failed to read the small print 
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Talking Radalt
Maybe they did read the smallprint but joined with the view to binning it if they weren't streamed as they wished.
Some may say this is the wrong attitude to have, others that they have conviction and the strength of character to tell the RAF to ram it if they don't get what they want. Unlike most of us, they are in the enviable position to be able to do so.
Right or wrong, this is the kind of attitude the modern military is garnering towards recruitment. Guys coming in these days do see it more as a job and that's how they're being treated. NCA recruitment was always going to suffer this kind of thing if they went down the "recruit you as a WSOp then tell you what your job will be 18 months later" road. It means the coarse selection is done at OASC, finer filtering done at OACTU (
) - the ITC to you and me - then the finest filtering is done at 55 Sqn post streaming. The generic trg system was implemented to save money, but if this kind of thing becomes commonplace, then those savings will surely be eroded.
Bluesteel
Good luck me old china plate. You will have to make the decisions as you go along. If all you want is loadie/crewman then you may have to run this risk of being streamed AEOp and then telling them to ram it.
Of course, if you do get streamed to the AEOp spec, you can always transfer to alm at a later date...
And they won't put it all the way in...
Maybe they did read the smallprint but joined with the view to binning it if they weren't streamed as they wished.
Some may say this is the wrong attitude to have, others that they have conviction and the strength of character to tell the RAF to ram it if they don't get what they want. Unlike most of us, they are in the enviable position to be able to do so.
Right or wrong, this is the kind of attitude the modern military is garnering towards recruitment. Guys coming in these days do see it more as a job and that's how they're being treated. NCA recruitment was always going to suffer this kind of thing if they went down the "recruit you as a WSOp then tell you what your job will be 18 months later" road. It means the coarse selection is done at OASC, finer filtering done at OACTU (
) - the ITC to you and me - then the finest filtering is done at 55 Sqn post streaming. The generic trg system was implemented to save money, but if this kind of thing becomes commonplace, then those savings will surely be eroded.Bluesteel
Good luck me old china plate. You will have to make the decisions as you go along. If all you want is loadie/crewman then you may have to run this risk of being streamed AEOp and then telling them to ram it.
Of course, if you do get streamed to the AEOp spec, you can always transfer to alm at a later date...
And they won't put it all the way in...
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Originally Posted by ProfessionalStudent
Maybe they did read the smallprint but joined with the view to binning it if they weren't streamed as they wished.
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bluesteel,
I am currently in the process of applying for wsop aswell, and to be honest i feel like i would be lucky to be selected for any of the branches but of course i have a preference to what i would like to be doing (rotary crewman first choice though, obviously!!), but my point is that i was in the RAF as an airman for 5 years, and in that time was lucky enough to tag along in missions/jolly along with the different rearcrew trades, ie, aeops on the nimrods and loadies on the hercs, and can tell you that both jobs are challenging and exciting in their own unique ways, so dont consider getting streamed AE or EW as the end of the world, because at the end of the day your still flying, going round the world and being paid quite well for it too!
PS. you also get treated a damn sight better than a ground trade airman (sac's gripe ended!)
I am currently in the process of applying for wsop aswell, and to be honest i feel like i would be lucky to be selected for any of the branches but of course i have a preference to what i would like to be doing (rotary crewman first choice though, obviously!!), but my point is that i was in the RAF as an airman for 5 years, and in that time was lucky enough to tag along in missions/jolly along with the different rearcrew trades, ie, aeops on the nimrods and loadies on the hercs, and can tell you that both jobs are challenging and exciting in their own unique ways, so dont consider getting streamed AE or EW as the end of the world, because at the end of the day your still flying, going round the world and being paid quite well for it too!
PS. you also get treated a damn sight better than a ground trade airman (sac's gripe ended!)
Last edited by rock_dove; 8th May 2006 at 18:41.
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Mate,
If you are successful then you have a good chance of going crewman at the present time. But as previously stated the RAF will put you were it wants you. From my angle being a WSOp EW or AEOp is the longer course therefore more chance to re-stream if you fancy it. Also the course before the streaming phase is short so purposely failing somethuing to try and edge in another direction is only doing your chances harm. PS the chaps at 55 are really great although as a student you may look from a different light if you have a family reason per say to go south and there are other candidates who are as good as you then just speak to them they wont bite as I am sure they will tell you.
GOOD LUCK
If you are successful then you have a good chance of going crewman at the present time. But as previously stated the RAF will put you were it wants you. From my angle being a WSOp EW or AEOp is the longer course therefore more chance to re-stream if you fancy it. Also the course before the streaming phase is short so purposely failing somethuing to try and edge in another direction is only doing your chances harm. PS the chaps at 55 are really great although as a student you may look from a different light if you have a family reason per say to go south and there are other candidates who are as good as you then just speak to them they wont bite as I am sure they will tell you.
GOOD LUCK
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Talking Radalt you're talking shi**e. Icklie birdie is feeding you crumbs of disinformation. Students on the Generic courses have not all wanted to go ALM rotary. Indeed the choice of most students on recent courses has been split almost 50/50 for ALM and AEOp. On the last few boards most students have got what they wanted with only a few exceptions, and some of them were not streamed AEOp but ALM and wanted AEOp. No one has PVRd and all that I have worked with, once they start their specialist training, have knuckled down to the training and are looking forward to their future careers.
