Raf oasc

Can anyone give me some advice regarding the OASC please?
I have my OASC fairly soon, but recently picked up a leg injury that's put me out of jogging for a few weeks now and so I'm worried that my physical fitness might not be up to scratch, would it be advisable to ask to go on a further date?
Also any other advice for the OASC is much appreciated? How can I prepare? What to expect etc...

I managed to get selected for pilot in 1976, and went to OASC Biggin Hill armed with nothing more than 5 O levels (GCSEs), a big pot of enthusiasm, a slim brochure detailing the 3 day selection procedure, a head full of current affairs and some serious RAF knowledge gleaned from membership of the CCF and 10 years of digesting every single copy of Air Pictorial and Flight International I could get my hands on. No internet, no discussions with other candidates, I went in completely cold. That's the way it was in those days, and although the aptitude testing has become computerised, the person they want today is exactly the same as the person they wanted in 1976.

A career in the RAF is worth fighting hard for, so the question is, how badly do you want it?

Good luck mate, and let us know how you get on.

Great story, I'm sure you have some brilliant tales!

I have OASC on November 9th. Anyone else on that one too?

Mines a little later, best of luck on yours.
What current affairs are you using? How are you feeling about it?

Great story, I'm sure you have some brilliant tales!

I have OASC on November 9th. Anyone else on that one too?

I have just been told I have OASC on November 8th. If I dont see you there then best of luck!

Search the forum. There's a big armed forces area where this question has been asked and answered hundreds of times.

Maybe not an this issue in this particular case, but how can potential candidates know what information is up to date and still relevant? I know it must be a ball ache to repeat yourself a million times, but searching up and ploughing through thousands of posts (all of which, must be taken with a pinch of salt), which potentially could be outdated. (A lot of posts to some of the questions I've had were pre-SDSR for example).

This is not me saying "We can't be bothered to do our research". TSR is a very useful resource, with some very nice people who take the time to give an informed response. Arrse and Pprune, not so much. This section is the sole reason I've used this forum for many years now. Under a different account a looooong time ago, I posted about becoming an RAF Pilot just after I had finished my GCSEs. Final year of degree now. Things have changed (maybe not as much as I've thought), but in this time I've seen our maritime capability scraped, a whole position (nav) scrapped, harriers scrapped, F35b - F35a back to F35b again, God knows what else. The UAS system has changed. Now it is directly a recruitment service to full time RAF. This is quoting the new guy in charge of Group 22 (I think it was him who paid a visit). To gain a third year on a UAS, you need to have an active application to the military. Otherwise, no matter how useful you were, you're out. Now they're hiring UAV pilots as a seperate role. WSO has come back in place of navigator(?)

My point is, the RAF has changed (albeit slightly from somebody on the outside) and some of the posts when you do a search go WAY back and maybe the advice given back then isn't appropriate for the applicant today.

Maybe not an this issue in this particular case, but how can potential candidates know what information is up to date and still relevant? I know it must be a ball ache to repeat yourself a million times, but searching up and ploughing through thousands of posts (all of which, must be taken with a pinch of salt), which potentially could be outdated. (A lot of posts to some of the questions I've had were pre-SDSR for example).

This is not me saying "We can't be bothered to do our research". TSR is a very useful resource, with some very nice people who take the time to give an informed response. Arrse and Pprune, not so much. This section is the sole reason I've used this forum for many years now. Under a different account a looooong time ago, I posted about becoming an RAF Pilot just after I had finished my GCSEs. Final year of degree now. Things have changed (maybe not as much as I've thought), but in this time I've seen our maritime capability scraped, a whole position (nav) scrapped, harriers scrapped, F35b - F35a back to F35b again, God knows what else. The UAS system has changed. Now it is directly a recruitment service to full time RAF. This is quoting the new guy in charge of Group 22 (I think it was him who paid a visit). To gain a third year on a UAS, you need to have an active application to the military. Otherwise, no matter how useful you were, you're out. Now they're hiring UAV pilots as a seperate role. WSO has come back in place of navigator(?)

My point is, the RAF has changed (albeit slightly from somebody on the outside) and some of the posts when you do a search go WAY back and maybe the advice given back then isn't appropriate for the applicant today.

I challenge you to find a question that isn't answered (that realistically could be answered) amongst these threads.

Yes. Some information is out of date. But a huge amount isn't. Having a bit of initiative and finding answers for yourself isn't hard and should be encouraged.

The post of mine you quote is from before this thread was moved from news and current affairs to this forum, so was highly relevant.

My question is what is it the career pipeline really like in the AAC.

Typical response here: Don't join if you want to be a pilot, that's the RAF's game, Army know nothing about aviation. You do two tours and then fly a desk. Large gaps inbetween training, no money to fly anyway etc. If you REALLY want to fly in the Army, join as NCO, they fly for longer.

I've heard differently from serving members, however, that that is not true.

Also, what does an Army Officer 'do' as opposed to an RAF Officer? The typical response here is RAF Officers are more 'specialized' or something along those lines, and hence don't need the extra 14 weeks at Cranwell that Army Officers require.

Oh yeah! Totally forgot about Google! Maybe we should close this section because everything we need to know about..well..anything is all indexed on google.

Everything you have asked about life as an RAF Officer, life as an AAC Officer, differences between RAF and AAC, diffencenes in training are all easily searched. You can from that draw lines from all the little bits of info you find.

No one is going to hold your hand because when you are an officer you are on your own.

My question is what is it the career pipeline really like in the AAC.

Typical response here: Don't join if you want to be a pilot, that's the RAF's game, Army know nothing about aviation. You do two tours and then fly a desk. Large gaps inbetween training, no money to fly anyway etc. If you REALLY want to fly in the Army, join as NCO, they fly for longer.

I've heard differently from serving members, however, that that is not true.

Also, what does an Army Officer 'do' as opposed to an RAF Officer? Army Officers get their 30 men to look after, what do RAF officers 'do' in terms of leadership/management at Flying officer level for example. The typical response here is RAF Officers are more 'specialized' or something along those lines, and hence don't need the extra 14 weeks at Cranwell that Army Officers require.

Hearing differently from members is basing it on anecdotal evidence which isn't always best. You'll always get people who do things differently to the norm, look at the professional aviator spine in the RAF - yes it's possible, but it's not the normal/average/typical route.

What is it really like? Well that depends on too many vague factors we can't decide. Does your desk officer like you? Do you pass everything first time? Do you opt for desk tours to hobknob with senior officers? We can, and have, described what it's typically like, which is by far a more realistic idea.

And again, the difference in officers, it's a vague question. I'm sure you already know that army officers join as officers without a branch, while RAF (and RN) officers join for a particular branch. The difference then in training can be broken down to that army has need for more generic skills, while the RAF allows it's officers to develop theirs during phase 2 training - an officer out of Sandhurst is ready to go, an officer out of Cranwell isn't.

So a Flying officer? Unlikely to do much in the way of direct man-management, especially if a pilot. They might lead teams but they'll be small, under 10, and with an SNCO to help them and under the fairly close supervision of a more experienced officer. Certainly that was true in my case and my branch.

I think the sarcastic posts are more geared towards your attitude, you really need to lighten up before you hit initial training or you'll be eaten alive.

Have you tried to arrange visits to units to speak to people already doing those jobs? It looks better during your application and yes, will be subjective from that individuals point of view, but may provide you more valuable information than scouring the Internet.

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