Lock-and-loadmaster
 

The Westminster Hall debate on 30th Jan included a reference to an RAF Herc loadie finding himself patrolling the streets of Iraq.

"...someone joined the RAF in a specialist role—they had been trained in packing equipment to be loaded on to Hercules aircraft for logistical purposes—and found themselves suddenly taken on a short, sharp training course to go into a peacekeeping role in Iraq on the front line...The concern raised ... was not that it was a deployable skill—they recognised that it would be deployed—but that the person was being deployed to do a peacekeeping role on the streets, on the front line, and that they were not being deployed to use their skill. The concern was that the person was being used not in an RAF regimental role but in a military role with the Army."

I'm assuming either the MP has seriously got the wrong end of the stick - no aircrew in their right mind would end up boots on ground, and no infantry unit in their right mind would welcome them - but wanted to double-check if anyone had heard of this story (raised with the MP of West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) or anything similar?

Where does it state that the person was a loadie? The description could apply equally as well to a mover. Cue yet another thread bashing movers.

"Warfighter first, Specialist second"!!:O

Who the **** would want a shiny arsed mover on patrol with them???


I'd rather have Steven Hawkins coving my 6 with a pintle mounted GPMG on his chair.

He could always make the nasty Sonny & Cher lot a nice cup of tea......

Which, in fact, would probably be a whole lot more useful than letting some steroid-chewing idiot with Rambo pretensions loose on the streets with a belt fed .50 calibre machine gun M-60 to 'assist with reconstruction'....:hmm: ?

Hows the moon from your planet Beags?? :uhoh:

Bored!
 

:rolleyes:
I must have been bored, I just spent half an hour looking on the Parliament website for more information, what a waste of time.

Best I trot off and zero my Rifle then.

ALOT. HE is Aircrew. They are not (Sentry excepted perhaps). Ground one member of a crew and you have lost that whole crew from the tasking plot.

Haven't spent much time out of the Fast Jet world, have you?

16B

Sounds like he may be a Supplier :eek:

Gents,

whilst in Afg crewing albert all crew members were trained in patrolling and CP skills prior to deploying. This was a self preservation skill.

I have to agree warfighter first-specialist second...it may be useful when you least expect it....

Garth (can't remember his name), a crewman on 72 Sqn used to go on patrols from Bessie in the 80s. For fun!
CG

Sounds like the usual ill-informed parliamentary debate on defence issues, where the MP can't be bothered to find out the facts, or thinks he knows what he's talking about without checking. He probably just means going outside of a defended location on the ground.

Patrolling 'the streets' (or any other part of Iraq or Afghanistan) is fundamentally soldier (generic) business, ie, for those who are trained for the purpose. Anyone else attempting it is asking for trouble and would probably be a liability in a contact.

I quote filthy: "whilst in Afg crewing albert all crew members were trained in patrolling and CP skills prior to deploying. This was a self preservation skill."


Have I got this right? You believe that all the Herc crews did the 2 week IRT course at Honington? Or do you mean the 1 day comedy IRT course at Lyneham?

I've done both and the 1 day course doesn't equip you one jot to patrol on the streets. The 2 week course is similarly no good at turning Officer Aircrew into junior Rambos, but it at least gives you an idea of how to stay alive so that you're not quite so much a hinderance to your escort when going into town. I'd still say that niether of these courses can promote your CCS "skills" to budding Infantryman, not by a long shot.

Oh and I DO hope that by CP skills you don't mean Close Protection?
If not please feel free to correct me as I'm not aware of any other acronym using those letters. (Genuinely).


Either way, the man in the parliamentary question would appear to be a supplier or a mover on convoy duties. A common occurence.

C130 crews do get bespoke additional trg, from their tame Rocks, to prepare them if they land somewhere less friendly than planned. It would be quite inappropriate to go into the detail of what's involved for the obvious OPSEC reasons.

WG 13

"Who the **** would want a shiny arsed mover on patrol with them???"


"I'd rather have Steven Hawkins coving my 6 with a pintle mounted GPMG on his chair."

Priceless:D It was that funny that I p1ssed myself:ok:

Thats Me !!
 

Yes I was that man nicknamed Garth, but I never did anything as mad as going on patrol on the ground in Bandit Country. However, I do recall that there were a couple of aircrew on 72 who managed to get out with the army (a tall, cricket playing scotsman by the the name of Scott was one). We thought flying in NI was dangerous then, but given the current world hotspots it paints a very different picture. Take care all you frontliners. DC

"I think what made you wee is called incontinence"

I know....Just ask your mom:E

As I mentioned on the 'arrse' thread about this very subject I reckon there has been a slight mix-up.

As many of us on here are no doubt aware the RAF operates mainly three types of pre-deployment course for folk heading somewhere hot and sandy.

The 'vicars and tarts' course, for those off to Al Udeid etc - A day in your local rock shop being told to drink lots of water when its hot (like, doh) and leave scorpions alone.

The 'you might have to stag on at Basrah' course - A week at either your local rock shop if on a large unit or somewhere like High Wycombe if from a small unit, learning how to get out of a vehicle quickly should an Iranian backed nut job manage to set up an ambush outside J1 village and spring it whilst you are heading around to buy a Subway in one of the knackered Land Rovers.

The 'you either have to fly the things we are here to support or your trade is so low down the pecking order that we have decided you are going to play target to draw attention away from the nice big fuel tanker convoy' course - For those folk who may find themselves outside the wire quite a bit, whether in the air or in the back of a stripped down Land Rover on their way to Al Amarah etc.


To me it sounds like either they are aircrew who have been given the latter course in case they should find themselves in the middle of the desert standing next to the smoking remains of a recently serviceable a/c or a mover who for some strange reason has got lost and isn't damaging a/c on the pan or losing luggage but is actually outside the wire playing target to the friendly locals.

BTW, to whoever suggested it sounds like a stacker, that can't be right because I'm sure I'm about the only one in the trade who deploys away (as they seem to come around so often)......:rolleyes:

See my post from yesterday; C130 crews receive bespoke training from the RAF Regt. This is different from the other types of Individual Reinforcement/Pre-Deployment Training.

Fire and Manouevre
 

No doubt Stevie hawkins would have the ability to win the firefight in his armoured wheelchair better than most of our blue bretheren!!

Does he have a special brake on his chariot to prevent himself being propelled backwards or does he have an action man stylee 'Sustained Fire Kick Ass Rambo Drawer of First Blood' Wheelchair?

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!!

LGOGOOTFW

ISITD

:oh: