Hello all, I am sorry this issue is later than proposed but we decided we needed a holiday and went off to sunny Spain for a couple of weeks. As usual I am really looking forward to the reunion I believe the numbers coming are good once again. The newsletter is getting read by many ex PTIs (not necessarily in the Association) and the Website is proving to be very popular with viewings in 50 countries. Have you looked at the Website yet? If so if there is anything you feel should be included then please let me know. We have a long item by Gary Corkish about George Martin, unfortunately we couldn’t use the photographs.
My best wishes to you all
“The Chairman’s Award” is presented annually. A perpetual trophy is housed at the RAF School of PE Cosford on permanent display and a smaller version is presented to the recipient to keep.
The Award is given in recognition and appreciation of significant dedication, special contribution, and valuable service to the RAF PTI Association
.
Either currently serving or retired members of the Physical Training
Instructors’ Association are eligible
If you know of someone who is worthy of recognition, please send details of the person including a paragraph on why you are nominating him/her to the secretary Denise Brown dmbsquash@hotmail.com
Nominations will close 4 th April
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Geoff Waller writes that, Vic is now very poorly. His sister has just had a knee operation and she is exploring the possibility of placing Vic into respite. She has been in contact with the ‘Poppy’ home in Ripon, Yorks but they need details of his service career. Vic’s sister has asked me for some help with this but they need his service number to process the request.
Please contact Denise dmbsquash@hotmail.com
or Phil Moyse thebadge.newsletter@gmail.com
if you have any information.
Peter (Paddy) McCann Number 50 PTI Course.
I have recently joined Ex WRAF group and I'm just finding my way around.
I did my PTI training at the school of PT St Athan September 1973. Eight of us started the course (three of us were welsh girls) and six passed out. I have been trying to find them through various other sites but drawn a blank. Am hoping I have better luck with you.
Would it be too much of an imposition to ask if there's any way that maybe some of those girls are known to you. My name was Roberts back then and I was posted from Saints to Benson, in January 74, I was Jan Davies' replacement. The other girls were:-
Jacqueline Llewellyn, (originally from Swansea) posted to Cosford.
Vanda Messenger, posted to Medmenham, she was a very talented hockey player
Carol Hampson ( remustered to PTI), was posted to Wittering - married name Whalley
Judy Phillips was from Maidenhead and was posted to Hullavington Sue Tregunno who was posted to Halton.
I would be grateful for any information you might have. Gutted I can't make this years shindig, I'm sure you will all have a fantastic time and I hope I will be able to attend in the future. Marilyn Murphy
Whilst idly looking at personalised vehicle number plates that can be bought from DVLA, I came across
PTII RAF (PTI I RAF) for a mere £399. Might it be of interest to a well-heeled status-seeking instructor with that much spare cash in his or her back pocket?
Bryan Morris
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Steve Child has sadly passed away, his funeral was on Wednesday the 11 th of February in Peterborough
Crematorium. The RAF PTI Association was well represented with Dave Percy, John Weedon, Kev Redstone and Trev Down attending the funeral.
To report the passing of ex PTI Sgt Stewart Cameron BEM who retired 1973 having served 27 years including the School when located at RAF St Athan. The BEM was awarded for 1000 drops and ‘rescues’ from the North
Sea when simulating a downed pilot who had successfully ejected and was seated in his survival dingy awaiting a launch. From 1973 to 1983 at Lowestoft College, Stewart taught all North Sea oil men the art of escape from a downed and inverted helicopter in association with 202 Helicopter Rescue Sqn and the Cromer
RNLI Lifeboat.
Stewart was a shining example of devotion to the singular task where he found his niche; a devotion to duty in the best tradition of PT Instructors at large. For this endeavor he forsook opportunities for promotion and status. Rather, he enjoyed popularity with the many young pilots before they continued to advance their careers to Air Rank. He similarly impressed men he trained at Lowestoft. My credentials? I met Stewart in
1948 on our first training course, then later in the 1950 RAF Gymnastic Display Team. We then kept in social/family contact thereafter.
Stewart’s was cremated in Banbury.
Sqn Ldr John Hindmarsh RAF (retired)
I have been very interested in some of the stories coming from the unfortunate passing of some of the branches finest. Some of the acknowledgements of their achievements are in themselves remarkable and it got me to thinking about some way of paying tribute to recognising the uniqueness of the branch and those who have left their mark.
‘Born of a breed unknown to the “civilian” one of a kind, no mold the same.
He/she looks only forward, no time to reflect on glories past, new ground to find, new ground to conquer, new
challenges to face, honour the “Badge”.
Words to find to describe this unique creation of the School of PT blended of talent, skill and brawn and brains are in the annuls of the history they carve and memories they leave in the minds of those who have felt their
presence .
Their mark left in far flung corners of the globe from the deepest cavern to the highest hill, from the poorest to
Kings and Queens they all speak of them as one.
With admiration and pride of the deeds they have done, selfless and tireless they ply their skills and in turn enjoy some thrills. Pills and potions is not their style, they measure every inch of every mile and always with a
smile.
Patience Tenacity and Integrity is in the name and forever will always be in the frame. Winning is only a part
of their game.’
Tom Hardman
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Allan received the OBE in the New Year Honours list. The citation reads, "For services to Conservation in
Scotland".
Brought up in London, I joined the RAF in 1957 and served 26 years as a PTI, the later part of it in Scotland teaching aircrew survival and outdoor pursuits, mostly at RAF Grantown on Spey, and serving in the Cairngorm
Mountain Rescue Team.
On leaving the RAF in 1983 I built a recording studio in Grantown on Spey which I operated during the day while at night I would sing and play in the hotels for the dear old grannies on the bus tours, earning an Equity
Card in the process. Throughout this period I continued to spend a great deal of time in the outdoors completing the Munros and becoming ever more interested in Scotland’s wildlife.My first direct engagement with the local animals came in 1995 through badgers, primarily in connection with the newly built Strathspey
Badger Hide near Boat of Garten, but also through Scottish Badgers which is the national protection body for these animals.
At this point I met my wife to be Heather and after we married my work with wildlife gained new impetus.
This led to work with environmentalists on species such as otters, crested tits, goldeneye, red squirrels and ospreys and following that, a place on the North Committee of the Scottish Wildlife Trust leading to, in 2006, a place on the Trust’s Council. Two years later I was appointed Chairman of the Council of the Trust and I served the maximum permitted term of 6 years, vacating the Chair in September 2014. This position involved working with royalty, government officials and Ministers at both Scottish and UK levels as well as managing the governance of the Trust, sitting on the Scottish Biodiversity Committee and serving on the Council of the
Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts.
The award of the OBE is a great honour for me and my family. The award is intended to reflect my part in the achievements of the several organisations with which it has been my privilege to work over the last two decades. In particular I salute the Scottish Wildlife Trust who due to the dedication, professionalism, passion and loyalty of its staff, trustees and members has secured its place as the most effective wildlife conservation body in Scotland.
For my own part, I could not have begun to deal with the challenges of recent years without the unstinting support of my wife Heather. From the very first she believed in me, encouraged my participation at ever more senior levels and provided a solid home base for me to return to after each episode. Heather deserves to be recognised in her own right.
If I had to choose my favourite from the scores of inspiring projects with which I have been associated over the years I would choose the Scottish Beaver Trial. I was immensely proud to be chosen as the Founding
Chairman for this project which sought to lay the foundations for beavers to eventually return to Scotland on a permanent basis. And not just to Scotland, but through a knock-on effect to the rest of the UK also. An environmentalist could wish for no finer epitaph than to be recognised as having led on the reintroduction of beavers to a country.
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As to the future, I shall use the award of the OBE in every way I can to continue to work for the benefit of
Scotland’s amazing wildlife. Increasingly environmentalists and the more enlightened politicians and economists are discussing rewilding, stimulating talk of extensive forest expansion, peatland restoration and the return of large predators to Scotland such as the lynx. I shall make it my business to remain a part of that conversation.
Allan Bantick OBE
My apologies for being unable to attend the reunion. It looks like a good programme particularly the visit to the PT School which I would have appreciated. The dates clash with Rotary International (GBNI) conference in
Belfast which I`ll be attending. I send my best wishes to everyone for a successful PTI reunion and for those who are of my PTI/PJI generation (1955 -1966) I`m still breathing.
Life after the RAF has included PE teacher after attending Loughborough, followed by nearly 30 years in
Special Education which included two headships and a spell as a Social Services manager.
For the past 7 years have been a Councillor with Aberdeenshire Council and with current responsibility as Vice
Chair of the Education and Children Services Committee.
I’ve had a successful career (in my terms) since leaving the RAF which I attribute totally to my 12 years as a PTI and also PJI. Great training for life and I’m sure I’m not the only ex RAF person to make that statement, being in the RAF changed my life opportunities. Prior to joining up I worked ‘down pit’ in the Lothian Coal mines.
Best wishes to all and enjoy the reunion. Ron
McKail
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John Henderson
I have attached this photo for the
Badge magazine of myself finishing a round of Scottish hills known as
“Grahams”. The “Grahams” are
221 Scottish hills between 2000ft and 2500ft (610m – 761m). I completed the “Grahams” on 6
June 2014 on Beinn Mhor (620m),
South Uist, Other Hebrides.
I began serious hill walking in 2003, after joining a local Mountaineering
Club and managed to complete the “Munros” in 2005. There are 282 Munros and they are Scottish hills above
3000ft (as listed by Sir Hugh Munro). The next round of hills “Corbetts” were completed in 2010, and they are
221 Scottish hills between 2500ft and 3000ft (762m – 914m). The Corbetts and Grahams must have a drop all round of 150m, whereas the Munros are not governed by the same criteria. These hills are constantly remeasured for height and drop so there are additions and deletions every year.
I am currently working on another range of Scottish hills known as “Donalds”, which are hills in the Scottish
Borders, above 2000ft. There are 89 of these and I have 30 to do. They are named after Percy Donald, and he did them all in a kilt! Another much larger list for the whole of the UK are the Relative Hills of Britain
( www.rhb.org.uk
). This list of UK hills are known as “Marilyns” and include any hill that has a drop of at least
150m on all sides, regardless of distance, absolute height or topographical merit! There are 1217 in Scotland,
176 in England, 158 in Wales and 5 in the Isle of Man. The nearest one to Cosford is The Wrekin (407m).
There are currently 1556 of these hills and I have completed 980 so far. I hope to get to 1000 this summer
(when I will be 63) and the plan is to achieve this on the Island of St Kilda, 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides!
There are 6 of these hills on St Kilda, and luckily there is a fairly easy summit (Conachair 430m) on the main island of Hirta, to achieve this. A small 12 seater boat from Harris, Outer Hebrides takes 2 hours to get to St
Kilda and allows 4 hours to explore the Island before taking a trip round the impressive sea stacks. A special place which should be on your bucket list – but wait for a calm day!
John Henderson
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Do you have any photographs you would like to share ?
I recognise a few of these do you?
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On the last day of our PTI training we were all handed our RAF camps to go to and I was posted back to RAF
Swinderby in Lincoln to be a PTI at the School of recruit Training, this was in June of 1974, what a fantastic 2 years that proved to be. Aged 18 on arrival I was allocated a mentor senior PTI. This was to basically show me the ropes in my new job, His name was George Martin and sadly he is dead now but what a tremendous character and legend he turned out to be.
George was about 42 and still a Corporal? I believe he had not been promoted only because he had failed his maths level to be promoted to SGT, George was the ex RAF middleweight Judo champion and the top half of his body was enormous, but his legs were like a pigeon! He was a bit slow on the intelligence side.
The first thing I got involved in was education for 2 hours every Friday afternoon from 2pm till 4pm. To be promoted to Sgt you needed a pass in English and Maths, plus to have attended a 2 week course in a further advanced sport e.g. sub aqua, Canoeing, Badminton , Squash etc to have achieved a pass in at least three of these courses plus a pass in Expedition Leaders Instructor, another 2 week course back in Wales at Llanwryst, which qualified you to organise and take an expedition from your camp, for service personnel male and female, which I did get involved in later on in my future RAF bases.
So back to school I went every Friday with George……After about 4 lessons the maths teacher, a young male officer always asked at the end of a subject in the Maths lesson, “Does everybody understand what we have covered today?” George put his hand up every time and said he did not get it. The first 3 weeks, the teacher patiently went through what he had covered again in a simple format but George still did not get it, after the end of the fourth week the teacher lost it when George put his hand up again for the fourth time in 4 weeks when asked if everyone understood.
He said “Cpl Martin what is the problem with you not understanding the Maths curriculum? I cannot understand how this information is not going in”. Georges reply was legendry in the PTI ranks and this amongst other stories was a classic. George simply stood up from his desk and walked to the front of the class which was about 12 servicemen from all trades at the base. He removed his RAF no 2 battle dress jacket and
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took his shoes off then jumped up onto the teachers front desk and squatted down to perform an elephant lift where your whole body is suspended in the air and supported by your hands and elbows then eventually in about 5 seconds he took this lift straight up into a full handstand it was brilliant, then he half turned and flicked himself off the teachers table and landed perfectly on his feet then said to the teacher “Could you do that after I told you what to do 3 times? “ The teacher said “No Cpl certainly not” “Then try to understand SIR, that I am having problems taking your Maths info in“ Classic. I started clapping and the whole class stood up and cheered George, as he put on his shoes and jacket and walked out the class! He never attended the class again. While on the subject of the legendary George Martin I will also fill you in on a couple of other classic true accounts of his.
In my first 2 weeks at Swinderby, I just watched the classes being taken which consisted of airfield runs, circuit training, outside football, and the famous obstacle course that I mentioned earlier. George asked me to demo in the obstacle course and try to break the record held by Cliff Rowlands in 1971 and he was still at Swinderby
1minute 27 secs I think it was. After watching a couple of PTI’s perform the demo in the previous 2 weeks I made notes on where I could save precious seconds off the course to try to beat the record . It basically involved 3 wooden benches turned upside down and placed on other benches quite low off the floor and the idea was to scamper under these to start the course followed by:
-climbing up a set of wall bars to touch the top one
then a climb and leap over a vaulting high box
straddle a set of parallel bars with straight arms
then another set of benches under and over you had to travel
- then run along another upside down bench with the beam on top without falling
-followed by a monkey climb across a fixed ladder, this took the most time and if you fell off, you had to go back to the start.
The finish involved two sets of gymnastic beams (pulled out from the wall) set out at different heights which you had to climb through the centre of the first set and climb over the second set both set up at same heights, the lower beam at about waist height with the second at shoulder height. So this was the course and the record was based on two circuits of the course.
I carefully worked out that if I wore a sweat top inside out so the fluffy bits were to the outside and also wore some fluffy tracksuit bottoms I could save about 3 seconds by diving on the floor at the start and simply sliding along the floor instead of crawling. The second time saver was a through vault from the trampette over the high box instead of jumping up and running along the top. The last big time saver was if completed at the correct height, ……I would dive through the gap on the first set of bars into a forward roll on landing and a gate vault over the second set. I wanted the record and I knew I was at my highest level of fitness and would never be able to break the record after a few months as my fitness level would be reducing. On the demos from the other guys it took about 2 mins so I knew I really had to attack it. George had told me to go and warm up while he set out the course and spoke to the whole flight of recruits about 24.
What he failed to tell me was when you set the beams up for the last two jumps you have to put pegs in to keep them from sliding down to the floor plus a couple of small wooden wedges to stop them from
10

rattling. They were in place for the first time round and all the time he was shouting out the time every 15 seconds, but the bastard had rigged it up for me to fail spectacularly…….
He introduced himself, then myself and told them I was attempting the record of 1min 27secs to complete the course. He blew the whistle and I flew under the benches in my slippy outfit! At least 5 seconds saved. Up the wall bars up and over the high horse performed my second time saver with a perfect through vault , across the monkey ladder, under and over the next set of benches and finally to the last 2 sets of bars....I went straight through the gap and hit the floor with a good forward roll and I just knew I was on schedule for the record.
The first time round all went perfect and he shouted my time,“40seconds”, this fired me up to go at even harder the second time round, everything was repeated exactly the same but I was starting to feel a little out of breath.
While I was going around the course for the second time he removed the metal pins that kept up the beams!
I leaped up to the top of the last beam on second time round, my heart was pounding. George was shouting
“the record is going to go “and it slid straight to the floor with both of my hands and chest on top and I hit the floor with both of the beams smashing my knuckles between the two beams on impact. My knees crashed into the floor, I rolled over the floor in agony and George just stood there laughing! I got up with embarrassment and sheepishly walked through the finish line, my time 1min 38 seconds I was gutted. In the crew room afterwards they told me Cliff was a close friend of George and they had agreed that his record would always be up on the wall. It was still there 10 years later when I went back to Swinderby at a week-end for Volleyball training with the RAF squad.
But there was another dark side to George that I only found out when disaster struck in his life 9 months later.
His family consisted of two small boys aged 5 and 7 whom he adored and his wife Monica Martin, an attractive woman and good mother. George was a bit of a racist but in a good way eg when Roger Huskisson was posted in to Swinderby in 75 George told him he did not like “black men”, then simply walked away. Roger was quite intimidated by this but I told him to ignore him.
The following day George asked him if he was fit and how strong his abdominals were. Roger told him he was ok and his abs were fine - “Not as strong as a good fit white man” George said . “I don’t disagree with that
George and I don’t want any trouble” George said “Hit me as hard as you can then tell me who has the strongest abs”. By this time we were on our way to lunch and we all had our no 2 jackets on over our PTI vests. “I don’t want to hit you George” Roger stated quietly. George then stood in front of him and said “Now you will see who has the strongest abs, hit me here as hard as you can” and pointed down to his belly. “If you don’t, I will have to test yours out and you won’t like it”. So Roger belted George in his stomach and immediately recoiled screaming in pain! George had placed a 10 kilo weight from the circuit training area under his vest …..then we heard the same laugh that he made when I crashed onto the floor in the obstacle course.
It seemed that George was the guy who was responsible for initiating all of the new PTI’s that were posted in.
He actually got on quite well with Roger after that. So you have to bear this in mind when I was told that
Monica, George’s wife had left him with the kids and gone up to live with a black CPL from the RAF regiment in
Catterick. For 3 weeks he went very morose and quiet, then one day when I met him outside the NAFFI he was
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putting the shopping into his car a “Humber Super Snipe” with a bench seat across the front. I noticed his two boys were strapped into the seat with rolls of Para cord and their arms were tight by their side like a straight jacket, it was hilarious to see. I said “George what are you doing with your kids ?” They need to stay still while
I do the shopping and this is how we achieve it, no mummy now so we have to adapt”
Then he confided in me although I was still only 18 he had worked out how to get away with killing this Cpl from Catterick (I laughed thinking it was a joke.) “I have found out from a few medical personnel that water is the only substance that cannot be traced when used at a murder scene” he said, “I am going to use an iced arrow through the heart to get rid of this black bastard who stole my wife. I’ll make a mould for the arrow and freeze the water with electric ice (that stuff Heston Blumenthal uses in his cooking these days), then when he dies the water will melt and the only thing that would be there is some feathers from the arrow!” I just smiled and thought it was George doing his normal thing, said goodbye and said I would see him the following day.
Nothing happened for a couple of weeks, then I asked the guys at lunchtime if they had seen George, they told me he was out on the airfield. I went out and there about 400m away in the middle of the airfield was a lone figure, so I walked over to him and as I got closer I noticed he had a bow and one arrow and was practicing, this gave me a shock as I never thought he was serious about killing this guy. I arrived and noticed him sat there smoking one of his roll ups, he just sat there smiling at me and on the floor was a metal bin lid with an arrow on top and a bow which he had taken from the sports store. I said “George where is the target?” meaning the straw round target from the sports store - “Catterick, Sat night 12am when he comes out from the disco, he walks home along the side of the medical centre and that’s when he dies” He replied. “Ok, I said you are not going to ruin your life and the future of the two boys by getting court martialled and put away for attempted murder surely not?” “Yep”. “What’s the bin lid for George” I asked?” He stood up and gave me that laugh again and I thought to myself, whenever I hear that laugh there is trouble brewing. He picked up the bow and loaded the arrow, pointed it straight up into the sky and fired it, then he picked up the bin lid and placed it on his head and laughed again. I froze with panic and dived down at his feet, he kicked me away and carried on laughing, then after about 20 seconds I heard a thud into the ground about 8 yards away where the arrow landed, and I just ran off back to the gym petrified! I went straight into our boss’s office who was having his lunch with his boxer dog called “Major” his name was Sqn Ldr Danny Hennessey. I told him everything and that I was worried about the state of George’s mind. He told me not to worry and he had a long meeting with George next morning. I believe we saved George’s future that day, as he had a few appointments with a psychologist who managed to talk him out of the murder attempt. He did not believe me at first but accepted there was a problem when I insisted his intentions were serious.
A few months later he told me he had sold the Humber Sceptre for scrap, and was taking the car to the yard at
4pm that day and that he was going to wind up the PT staff over lunchtime. This was another classic George
Martin moment. He went to the Engineering squadron and borrowed a pair of bolt croppers plus a lump hammer and chisel. We sat in the crew room and were talking about the heat as it was July, George said “I think it’s a good time to put a sunroof in the Sceptre” A few guys said it would cost too much and by the time he paid for it his car would be too old.
He then said “it’s going to cost nothing and it could be done over lunch hour today” everybody laughed so he said “I’m going to do it now” They said “who? “ He replied “me”. I stood up and we went outside and he drove
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away in his car. He only drove round the back of the hangar where I met him, he had already ripped away the interior roof material with a Stanley knife when I arrived. He was now chiseling a hole across the front of his roof away with the lump hammer. After about 30mins we had done it and he took a crow bar and started to bend the metal back like opening a sardine tin, he then managed to get the bolt croppers into the roof at each side of the metal. The final stage was using the crow bar connected to his roof to peel back the metal roof so it curled back along the top. We were both in stitches while we were doing this as only us two knew he had sold the car for scrap for £30 and that afternoon he was driving it to the scrap yard.
When we finished the job he sent me back to tell all the PTI section that he had the sunroof done and was on the way back and it had cost nothing. We all went outside to see George who had put some cushions on the bench seat, so his head was stuck out of the roof. He drove up to the gym and beeped his horn, it was an amazing sight and one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I was crying with laughter at the faces of the
PTI’s that were outside looking at each other in shock. Thinking he is crazy, what happens when it starts to rain? So funny!!
Garry Corkish
Enquiries email Ronan Archbold COS-BSWSofPTTSFDesign1@mod.uk
Size and weight formats for UK mail
The amount you pay depends simply on the size and weight of the item you’re sending. Use the table below to work out which format your item falls into.
Format Examples Max
Weight
Max length
Max width
Max depth
Letter Greetings cards, personal letters, postcards, bills
100g 24cm 16.5cm 5mm
Large letter A4 documents, certificates, magazines, CD or DVD in case, some large greeting cards with badges
750g 35.3cm 25cm 2.5cm
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Small parcel Ladies boots, portable speakers, winter puffa coat, desk lamp
Medium parcel Gifts, shoes, heavy or bulky items
2kg 45cm 35cm 16cm
20 kg 61cm 46cm 46cm
Large parcels
Parcels greater in size than 61cm x 46cm x 46cm or heavier than 20kg can be sent using Parcelforce services which include tracking and are guaranteed
Tie Weight Category UK
Standard
1 st class
UK
Standard
2 nd class
UK
Confirmed
1 st class
UK confirmed
2 nd class
Cufflinks Large letter
93p 73p £2.03 £1.83
Wall Plaque 300g £3.20 £2.80 £4.30 £3.90
Tankard `300g
Small parcel
Medium parcel
£5.65 £5.20 £6.75 £6.30
Blazer badge
Lapel pin
Statue
Tie
1.4kg
Large letter
Large letter
Medium parcel
Large letter
93p
93p
£8.90
93p
73p
73p
£8.00
73p
£2.03
£2.03
£10.00
£2.03
£1.83
£1.83
£9.10
£1.83
Prices correct as at Dec 2014
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UK Standard delivery includes compensation up to £20
UK Confirmed delivery includes compensation up to £50
INITIAL MILITARY FITNESS (IMF) AT RAF HALTON
RAF Halton Recruit Training Squadron
(RTS) Physical Training staff has introduced a new form of Physical
Training (PT) for Phase 1. The main aim of Initial Military Fitness (IMF) is to assist in achieving the transformation of a recruit from the civilian world to a disciplined, fit and robust airman.
Initially IMF was used by the Royal
Marines. However, there is a similar requirement for the highest levels of physical fitness and the need for a form of PT to instil discipline, strength and conditioning into a group of
Airmen in their initial stages of military training. As proven by the Royal Marines this Swedish system fulfils this role admirably, by providing an excellent foundation on which to build physical fitness progressively.
Apart from being physically demanding and achieving all the physical training objectives, mental efficiency is improved as the cadence of PT is increased by the staff delivery and words of command. The recruits concentration and therefore discipline, bearing and standard of performance are expected to be maintained during successive lessons despite the accumulation of fatigue. The ability to remain alert and capable of performing skilful, body-weight tasks is a pre-requisite ability for all airmen operating for prolonged periods under stressful and arduous conditions.
The PEd staff has enjoyed creating the new way of delivery and has forged a strong relationship with the Royal
Navy, led by one of the exchange instructors, Petty Officer Stu Brown. By taking some of the Royal Navy’s ideas but tweaking the content to incorporate the RAF Core Values makes the end result undoubtedly fit for
RAF purposes.
Warrant Officer Tony Martin, said “The feedback from students has been very positive, allowing them to experience something unique and not available to them in the civilian fitness sector. They believe it has met their expectations of how they thought Military PT would be before they enlisted. Recruits believe it has
15

helped them integrate into Service life, preparing them well for the physical and psychological demands of both drill, and Exercise Blue Warrior (the 4-day field exercise phase of the Basic Recruit Training Course
(BRTC).
As students progress through a 10-week PT programme, the lessons develop into pursuits such as boxercise, spinning and sports competitions, whilst ensuring that cardio-vascular fitness and muscular strength improve through training.”
Sqn Ldr Matt Tope, Officer Commanding RTS, is thoroughly impressed with the programme, commenting “As well as being a thorough workout, it points up the recruits’ need to work in unison, and there is nowhere to hide…… it reaches across to drill and to the Force Protection phase to help produce fitter, more agile and capable airmen and women”.
WO Tony Martin
George Whitecross George.Whitecross@moray.gov.uk
Scotland
Wales:
London & SE
North West
North East
West Midlands
East Midlands
South West
East Anglia
Overseas
Geoff Diggle
Ian Swindale
John Gallagher
John Doran
John Weedon
Chris Williams
Martin Burnell
Terry Hagan diggle43@googlemail.com
ianswindale@ntlworld.com
gallagher227@gmail.com
jpdrn@hotmail.com
jweedonsnr@aol.com
barneysmob@aol.com
burnelli@sky.com
terence.hagan@talktalk.net
Sue Zwart-Woodward suezw@hotmail.com
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Please send any newsworthy items for the next edition of The Badge to me at
thebadge.newsletter@gmail.com
Phil Moyse creator and Editor of The Badge newsletter
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