Lets face it..no one likes marching. These boys and girls are good
 

An awful lot of 'Cow-Kicking' going on there, so no, they are not as good as you assert.

No different from any other ATC Sqdn including the one I used to command.(1811 Sqdn).
When I saw a TV programme (Masterchef I think) showing ITS at RAF Halton with regular RAF personnel, I was amazed how badly they were drilling.

Always good to see good marching & drill.

I'm told that the reason women march better than men is that they are counterbalanced.

Two questions.
How can anyone be so ridiculous as to assert "no one likes marching"? I loved it, as did most of my colleagues.
What the heck is 'cow-kicking'? It never featured in any drill I ever did.

There's a lot of satisfaction in marching when it all comes together. I'll never forget the hours of being screamed by the drill instructors on bitterly cold winter days and told we were the worst intake they'd ever seen and the gradual melding into a smart and efficient parade. The best bits were the perfect-line abreast march-past formations and the spoke of a wheel thing where the left marker was virtually marking time and the thirty or so airmen to his right marching anti-clockwise in increasingly longer steps to maintain a straight line (what was it called?)
Pretty much everyone agreed that the most-hated sessions eventually became the most enjoyable. I could probably still do it today (50 years later) in a reasonably good fashion as long as it was with SLRs. :}
Check, T,L,V, Away!

Especially when being led by a pipe band.

Drill is a completely un-natural way of moving. Thus it makes the squad members think as they act. I did it for over 40 years, first as a cadet then ATC AWO and officer. Once the cadets got used to the idea, it gave a great sense of pride and achievement, which, I'm sure you'll agree, is a great thing. I always felt under pressure not to mess thinks up and let them down. I had a piece of paper in my pocket with the orders written on it. Whilst there was no way I could get it out and read it on parade, it was a kind of 'security blanket' for me.

As others have said, watching good drill is a thing of beauty, even now1 Well done all, keep it up!

I had a sense of impending doom each time they marched toward a dead end.
I must show this to " our lot" The Sqn was depleted during covid so a good two thirds are the two intakes this year, around half being September. We have some way to go to reach this standard in two parades a week.

I have always had the aircrew disdain of Drill, why march when you can fly! QR's used to state that to be on official parades you have to be above 5ft 6inches and below 6ft 10 inches and those who know me know that I definitely fall BELOW that bracket. This was all I needed to avoid it for almost all of my career. However since I joined the ATC on retirement I have been on more parades than I ever did in regular service. The cadets in the main really enjoy it and have immense pride in themselves when they get it right. In October, Bristol & Gloucester Wing attended camp at Halton. The Drill competition was judged by the Recruit Training School Warrant Officer, who stated publicly that he wish half of todays recruits would perform as well as our cadets. And this is after 2 years of COVID with Squadrons unable to parade and a whole raft of new recruits who were new to the corps.

You newbies!! The last time I did drill with a rifle, it was a .303. Mind you, it's over 57 years

Well, it's like this.....ok, drill is part of being in the military...no escaping that but, after a (very!) short while, the novelty wears off...rapidly !....the synchronised walking bit is all very well for those who enjoy pointless wasting of time.....tended to interfere with more valid usage of time, such as a social life, or, work...if you've joined the Army and one of the Regiments for whom drill is part of their work, fine...if you've joined the RAF to maintain / fly or any RAF role for that matter, then it can be dispensed with.

Not forgetting the associated BS of cleaning / kit preparation ....more time needlessly wasted.

There was also the fact, that, those who seemed to take a lot of interest in any of the above, did so as a cover for their inabilities elsewhere.

And besides which, I have a very sensitive nature....and was called some very rude words

I fear you're out of step with the other posters.

I did that with the Army Cadet Force in the late sixties, we always got the regular army's hand-me-downs. :) I can't remember how to port arms but might still be able to strip down a Bren gun.
I got my indoor marksman's badge with a .22 but when I came to fire the .303 on the range, the kick was too much for this skinny little 14-year-old, I lost confidence and failed to qualify. :{ RAF next stop,
The Queen's (King's) Colour Squadron has got to be one of - if not the - best precision drill units in the world.

But not out of step with actual Military Aircrew...

Ah, you can't beat a good Drill session for generating a bit of personal pride in getting things right as part of a team.

In my CCF Cadet days, I went on a Drill Course with the Irish Guards at Caterham Barracks. Quite stimulating! Four squads of Cadets drilling at the same time, with 'your' squad on the opposite side of the Square hopefully receiving your commands. Some years later, at OCTU, this all helped when doing and ordering drill. Although our Sqn WO (Mr Matthews) observed "You don't need to shout quite as loudly, Mr. MPN11."

Me too, initially... with (not to be indelicate !), the butt cheeks loosened to make the necessary noises - oh, and don't forget the hob-nailed boots !
My last such occasions were differently attired, with a sword and 'protecting' the CFS colours - indoctrinated into 'twiddly shuffling' turns on the spot by the 'Rocks' at Uxbridge ! Best bit ... last on, first off ! :ok:

Certainly saved us from having to walk anywhere.

In my CCF Cadet days I also did a Drill Course with the Irish Guards at Caterham, much to the annoyance of my CO, who was most unhappy that one of his RAF Cadets wanted to do this. It was an absolutely brilliant weekend. He subsequently made me responsible for teaching the RAF section drill, something believe it or not I also enjoyed. I got a lot of satisfaction from turning the new recruits with two left feet, into a coherent and accomplished squad, who were always better than the Army section could manage.

One Easter camp at Brize Norton, we won the drill competition, which put a smile on our CO's face, but I still dont think he ever forgave me for attending that drill course at Caterham in the first place.

I returned to Caterham Barracks when I was billeted there for my gliding course at Kenly.

Happy days!

And we still don't know what 'cow-kicking' is.

Personally I thought those boys and girls were bloody good and if that was part of a competition, I hope they won it.

Agreed. Seen way worse Cranwell/Swinditz marching.

CG

And as I said at Halton but I should add this was after the brats departed to Cosford; worse still this edition of Masterchef was shown on TV a couple of years ago.

'Cow Kicking' is when the thigh is brought to the horzontal but the lower limb does not hang vertically but slants backwards.

I can understand the Aircrew not getting the marching thing - Standing up for a long period when you're used to being sat down, i appreciate must be quite difficult, but as much as i hated getting pulled in to prepare for parades a stand out moment for me involved exactly that. Following the (shambolic) USAF out onto the front at Weymouth for the 40th DDay parade, in front of all those veterans and halting as one to an outbreak of applause. All that effort paid off. Brought a tear to my eye.
Only the once though.

That looks to be the way we were taught it, often by very experienced DIs especially the one at Cosford when I was still a cadet.
So what's wrong with that? The 2 squadrons I was involved with (2204 as Adj followed by 1811 as OC) were easily equal to the one shown on the tape.

Brigade of Guards. I shall comment no further!

Because it's wrong. The lower limb should hang vertically iaw AP818.

How dare you suggest that someone is better than the Belgian military…..

Blimey! That lot would give RasPutin's mobiks a run for their ruble (assuming they ever got paid). :eek:

K&C, funnily enough I recently stumbled on this blurry video of our pass out parade, we all seemed to be in step.

They must be aircrew, Each part of the brain multitasking independently while controlling a different part of the body. :ok:

In my first tour, I was a flight commander for one of those blocks in the background, OC Block was a full time job for Apprentice Training Squadron but only a squadron secondary duty for those of us in ETS.

Precison drilling from a certain Flying Circus....


Historical hysterical, definitely non-PC and not for today's snowflakes!!

In the words of the song, "There's a first time for everything!":rolleyes:

Jack

A variation of just straight marching.

Having been a platoon commander at a training depot I used to have running battles with my platoon sergent over drill. I would always elect to do section attack and platoon attack drills or a good bit of tabbing with an 80lb began , after all in the early 1980's impressing Ivan on the Inner German Border with your marching ability wouldnt cut the mustard.

So we were....probably because it was the last time ..just think, if we hadn't spent all those wasted hours, we could have finished the course and started engineering for a living in about half the time !....nice shot of my former open plan, with panoramic views, top floor luxury spa accom though.

Yes, the centre block, F Flight if I remember. Funnily enough my son was in the same block a couple of decades later.

I was once attached to a RN Squadron. On their big annual parade (I think it was called Divisions or something), we RAF types were hid somewhere at the back, because we marched faster and the drill commands were all different. It caused chaos during the rehearsals.

Marching is for the professional pedestrians (AKA Infantry). Personally as a proud member of Canada's Navy, I considered marching the Navy's test of my ability to find ways to avoid it in favor of more rewarding pursuits.