Students Taste Life In The RAF

Fg Off Tim Roberts, OC FDTF

With the easing of COVID restrictions at the end of summer 2021, RAF Halton was desperate to once again reach out into the local community to offer an insight into military life and the unique experience of being a phase 1 recruit. The YALO team consisting of Flt Lt Charlotte Mellor, Fg Off Tim Roberts and Sgt Phil Wigglesworth were tasked with implementing a system that would open up the camp to a small selection of students from the local John Colet School. On 13 Oct 21 the team began the RAF Halton ‘Taster Day’ programme and 10 pupils who aspired to joining the RAF visited the station along with 2 of their teachers.

The day consisted of an initial welcome brief with an overview of what goes on at Halton at the Station Learning Centre. The tour began at the gym facilities for an introduction into the physical requirements of phase 1 recruits and phase 3 staff. Transiting over to the RTS Parade Square, the students watched a drill practice session from an intake that were a week away from graduation. The precision and attention to detail in the movements was inspiring to the school students who watched from the stands. Next, the students visited the Trenchard Museum where they not only got a broader historical appreciation of RAF Halton’s operational output but could put their piloting skills to the test on the aircraft simulator.

After lunch, which was held in the Trinity Centre, it was a short walk over to the Initial Force Protection Training department where the students were introduced to the more kinetic side of phase 1 training. The students donned Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear protective suits and learned the basics of decontamination and how to operate in a potentially hazardous environment. They followed this by completing life saving drills on the ‘Practi-Man CPR’ training devices. The day culminated back at the Learning Centre where they

were debriefed and given some RAF merchandise to take home. Two ‘Taster Days’ have been undertaken so far and due to its roaring success, plans to expand the frequency and numbers of students are well under way.