Language and Rank
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Language and Rank
In the course of identifying what I thought was an error in protocol during the recent ceremonies in The Netherlands I found that RCAF enlisted personnel formerly called Aircraftmen, and later Privates, of various grades are now called Aviators. WTH??
What is happening to our language?
OBTW I was wrong about the protocol error but still, Aviator?
After an excellent landing etc...
What is happening to our language?
OBTW I was wrong about the protocol error but still, Aviator?
After an excellent landing etc...
Last edited by Flash2001; 4th May 2015 at 12:54. Reason: Egregious spelling error
In the RAF AC stood for Aircraftman (no 's' ), and still does as far as I know, but it is frequently rendered in error as Aircraftsman.
Certain logic about the rank as in the early days of the RAF many ACs (and LACs) worked on aircraft, but very few, if any, were aviators, so let's hope the RAF doesn't follow suit.
Certain logic about the rank as in the early days of the RAF many ACs (and LACs) worked on aircraft, but very few, if any, were aviators, so let's hope the RAF doesn't follow suit.
The Canadians started down the slippery slope with this aircraft..
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It all started when the forces were intergrated under an ex -corporal named Paul Helyer, he also made the uniforms green, a clasic waste of money and effort. I thank my lucky stars I was long gone by then having seen the way things were going.Since then cooler heads have returned to Blue for the RCAF, {which had been re-named under the previous government} however rank is shown by gold rings, not Blue, makes them look like hotel doormen. "If God meant the army to fly, he would have made the sky Brown!" became an oft repeated lament in the mess during this period.
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When the Canadian Forces adopted army ranks for all services, back in the '60's, the joke about the Navy was 'Now hear this, now hear this, this is your Colonel speaking!'
I remember the changeover when I was at nav school. One of our instructors, an RCAF exchange officer called Flt Lt Jaeger went home one Friday in his blue uniform and reappeared as Captain Jaeger the following Monday in his shiny new green uniform.
Heading back to Goose after some leave in Toronto, Canadian GP at Mosport followed by US GP at Watkins Glen, I had to night stop at Trenton, changed into No1 and went to the mess, someone said " Christ, a blue job!". Didn't buy a drink all night, only just made the Goose resupply RCAF C-130 the next morning.
Blue jobs....
....I had a similar reaction when I went to buy a picnic table kit at MacMaster's sawmill in Greenwood NS. The boss had been in Bomber Command I think during the war. Was given a really good deal because I was wearing "a proper Air Force" uniform. It lasted for 25 years (the table I mean).
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That makes them the only people to eat their national emblem.
and I should imagine several of these also make it to the pot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_animals