RAF

[Sarka]

The RAF came to our school today and did a presentation and I must say, what a bunch of jerks.

I am not anti-war or anything, infact I am in support of th eIraq war, but these guys make me so mad. They basically came i and said three things, obviously it was sprawled out into 40 minutes. The things they said were:


You don't have to work hard in school to be in the RAF
You can get paid to play sports or climb mountains
You get loads of cash from when you start


Since the presentation everyone has been going are asking whether you'll be joining. If you say on, like me, they'll say why not. The RAF are very persuasive at making people think that if you do nothing at school you can still get into a high paying job that you don't have to pay much tax on and do thingst hat you want to do.

ARG!

[Haver]

I didn't listen in on the troupe themselves, but I certainly heard their ungainly aircraft.

[soag]

What do you expect, the goverment wants you to join so you can go get yourself killed in some unholy war.

Its called brainwashing, and damn they are good at it, stay strong and block out any of that crap they throw at you.

[Platty]

my mum was in the WRAF and i was thinking about joining the RAF at one point but never. its definitely the one out of the 3 main forces i would join. I wish we still had national service as i would have loved to gone into the RAF maybe i will when i get bored of my current job who knows.

[gaggle64]

They're the RAF reps, wadda you expect them to say? "Well, you COULD join up if you really wanna', but it's a bit naff, the food's rubbish and you can get some crappy postings. If i were you I'd go for that computing degree in your local tech college instead." Besides it's not just pilots they're after - cooks, engineers, security personelle, technicans, maitanence staff, computer nerds etc. We do need an airforce you know.

[Raining_again]

my dad was in the raf...he worked damn hard.

hes goin to be deaf by the time hes 65 cause he worked on plane engines.

[the_tornado]

What is RAF? I never heard about that...

[rizz]

My cousin is in the RAF, as a pilot instructor I believe, I think he does other stuff though. Moved around the country a lot, and even got stationed in France. I think he's been permanently stationed now though. Personally, I don't think the RAF is something I would do, but just maybe :P

edit - the tornado, tis the Royal Air Force

[Blackfox]

The RAF are super cool. Yes, they bomb places but they also do lots of humanitarian work - like rescuing people from the floods in Mozambique.

Also, fast planes are awesome.

[Raining_again]

What is RAF? I never heard about that...

royal air force. also heard they closing a few of the stations my dad was in, in the north of scotland

[Sarka]

Ok, it's fine that alot of peopele's realatives are in the RAF but the message they're sending is horrible and comepletely corrupt.

[Raining_again]

they sent my dad to the gulf war. and i was 4 years old. :(

[Blackfox]

Ok, it's fine that alot of peopele's realatives are in the RAF but the message they're sending is horrible and comepletely corrupt.

Bad choice of words. They don't lie to you, they just maek a hard job sound glamorous with its benefits.

[Sarka]

I never said they lie to you. They advertise the job in a corrupt way, that's my main anger with them. The spokesguy barely mentioned actually working, he spoke about doing sports, going abroad to fancy hot nice places and getting paid loads of money.

[Ramar]

Oh because if the guy started talking about how you get to blow the crap out of people, sometimes innocent civilians, seeing friends die and potentially being killed yourself. He's really gone have the crowd hooked.

I'm a supporter of the armed forces, not something I would personally do myself.

[the_tornado]

royal air force. also heard they closing a few of the stations my dad was in, in the north of scotland

hmm royal air force, 'tis in england, amybe something if I really wanted to be pilot, which I don't so...

[dukkadukka]

we had the army visit our school when i was there, i noticed the same manipulation as you but it didn't make me particularly angry, we just laughed at them sugar-coating the fact that you're being trained to kill with little snippets like "ooh, you get to see the world!" and "you'll earn even more than the minimum wage!".

[Raining_again]

hmm royal air force, 'tis in england, amybe something if I really wanted to be pilot, which I don't so...

if you want to be a pilot you have to be in absolute PERFECT health..no glasses, no hearing probs, etc. someone i know wanted to be a pilot but couldnt cause he had a history of a collapsed lung

[Platty]

"ooh, you get to see the world!" and "you'll earn even more than the minimum wage!".

yeah you do get to see the world and you do earn more than minimum wage and there are lots of other perks.

the service isnt for everyone but a lot of people enjoy doing something for their country (even tho nowadays its hardly worth it the mess its in) but yeah its a good career in what ever you choose to do in whatever force.

[Raining_again]

there are lots of other perks.

such as a pension. once u quit the forces u get a pension even if you work somewhere else.

[dukkadukka]

if you say so. can't say i agree with you.

[Platty]

if you say so. can't say i agree with you.

you dont have to, we all have our own opinions on things, its just a shame that some of you look upon the forces in such a way tho.

[rizz]

if you want to be a pilot you have to be in absolute PERFECT health..no glasses, no hearing probs, etc. someone i know wanted to be a pilot but couldnt cause he had a history of a collapsed lung

Indeed, I remember my cousin having problems getting in because he has a metal plate in his head, of course, he's in now.

[dukkadukka]

you dont have to, we all have our own opinions on things, its just a shame that some of you look upon the forces in such a way tho.
it's not the people, it's what the forces represent that i object to.

[Oli1983uk]

cant get in if ur colour blind either! and many more jobs are now stating that if your colour blind they will no give u a job!

[Sarka]

I am all for the forces, just the way they advertise their jobs could simply put someone off learning all together. Plus their doing this but they need to recruit less people than are applying so you do have to work hard to get in!

[Platty]

it's not the people, it's what the forces represent that i object to.

oh right? im interested what do you object about ?

[Raining_again]

from what you say it seems like a sham. my dad hardley got paid anythin when he first started and it was seriously tough. lots of his colleague/comrades(??) committed suicide cause they couldnt handle it. he also went with the mountain rescue. picking up dead body parts from a cliff...nice.

maybe it was just in them days they didnt get paid a lot

[dukkadukka]

oh right? im interested what do you object about ?
take a wild guess...

[Platty]

take a wild guess...

im guessing war ? like most people no one likes war but when you got duty you do it, i know you said its not the people its what they stand for but they dont stand for war, they stand for protecting queen & country and all that is good in the world. Unfortunately it does bring some duties such as going to iraq etc

but what about all the times the forces have surved this country well and pretty much saved its arse ?

im probably not a good person to talk to on this issue as i pretty much side with the forces, police etc most of the time i was just interested in your opinion and why it is that from someone who is still young.

[Blackfox]

That's an interesting point. We would all be under the nazi jackboot by now if our veterans hadn't defended our country. Many paid the ultimate price. I know that times have changed, but these people signed up to protect us. Eventhough Iraq was a shitty mistake with hindsight. However, we should give them support in order to do their jobs properly - its a tough job.

[dukkadukka]

i admit that i do have quite extreme views on this. i think our country should disarm, and i don't think we should have an army at all. i do appreciate the police force though, i think we should protect and nurture our country on the inside. but the whole idea of the armed forces makes me very uncomfortable, i don't know if i could ever be completely happy with the concept of britain having its' own army.

[gaggle64]

Three things
1.The RAF is a millitary fighting force - what are people expecting? They're not forcing you to join anyway.

2.I hear the RAF offers some good benifits now - full training, decent pay, minimum 5-yr contract

3. I don't agree with complete disamament, but I'm totally opposed to UK nuclear weapons arsenal - we just don't need it in this day and age, and it costs a truckload money.

[Charlie]

if you want to be a pilot you have to be in absolute PERFECT health..no glasses, no hearing probs, etc. someone i know wanted to be a pilot but couldnt cause he had a history of a collapsed lung

You have to be the perfect size as well, otherwise you can't fit in the cockpit. Not sure how small it is though.

I've thought about joining the army. My dad was in it, my grandpa was, and my 2 uncles (not my dads brothers) are in it too...

[Link]

I'm so happy to be Canadian. We don't worry about all this stuff over here.

[Lammie]

Ok, it's fine that alot of peopele's realatives are in the RAF but the message they're sending is horrible and comepletely corrupt.

I wouldn't say corrupt, it's just a better way of recruiting people than telling them that they're going to be paid a healthy amount of money to be cannon fodder the next time you go to war.

And it's not like they're promoting people to be shit at school, you have to be pretty damn smart to fly fighter jets, or any plane for that matter.

[Noodleman]

I wanted to be a pilot when I was younger but the fact I wear glasses put a stop to that. :(

[Ramar]

i admit that i do have quite extreme views on this. i think our country should disarm, and i don't think we should have an army at all. i do appreciate the police force though, i think we should protect and nurture our country on the inside. but the whole idea of the armed forces makes me very uncomfortable, i don't know if i could ever be completely happy with the concept of britain having its' own army.

No offence but that is just fucking stupid. If we disarmed, who the hell will potect us when some spako starts to invade? We need our armed forces not only to protect us, but to help other countries. Lots of our forces are stationed abroad, helping other countries rebuild a future, Iraq is just an example.

Britain and army go together hand in hand, always have and always will.

[Zakatu]

i considered going into the RAF or Army, glad i diddn't.

I don't have a problem with going to a war that is just, and some wars are. They are about self-defence. Or Kosovo where there was ethnic cleansing.

But the iraq war has made my mind up, if the government can do that, they can do it again. and i'm not being forced to fight in an unjust war. I'm not putting my life on the line unless i believe in the cause.

[Ryan]

My dad was in the RAF..big deal, he didn't make it out to be so bad as what you are saying. Grow up..

[the_tornado]

if you want to be a pilot you have to be in absolute PERFECT health..no glasses, no hearing probs, etc. someone i know wanted to be a pilot but couldnt cause he had a history of a collapsed lung


I know and there comes the problem, I wear glasses, so goodbye dream, but maybe I'm going to some more techinichs.

[Raining_again]

i think its cause they spend so much money and risk so much on a pilot that they have to eliminate all possibilities that a pilot could get into trouble in the air. they also have to be really clever, i think. well an aircraft can't exactly be easy to fly :heh:

[Jack]

i think its cause they spend so much money and risk so much on a pilot that they have to eliminate all possibilities that a pilot could get into trouble in the air. they also have to be really clever, i think. well an aircraft can't exactly be easy to fly :heh:
I've flown two planes before. A Grob Tutor and a Bulldog when I was in the Air Cadets. It's a lot of fun.

[Raining_again]

seriously? id love to! but im terrified of heights lol

[Jack]

Yeah, seriously. It's fucking awesome. I did loops, rolls and all kinds of stuff. The Air Cadets is great fun.

[Raining_again]

Yeah, seriously. It's fucking awesome. I did loops, rolls and all kinds of stuff. The Air Cadets is great fun.

wow.... are they difficult to fly, the planes you were in? did u have anybody assisting you or with you or anythin?

how class. im so jealous :(

[Jack]

It's not that difficult. I had a Flight Lieutenant assisting me the first time at (I think) Catterick. I can't remember the guy's name right off the bat, but he had a jolly, plummy old voice and the classic waxed tip moustache. That was in the Bulldog. Second time was at RAF Leuchars, in the newer Grob Tutor. I can't remember the guy's rank or name for that time, but it was just as much fun.

[Raining_again]

I think thats why being a pilot would be so awesome if u ever get the chance. I have astigmatism and other various ailments which means id never get to be a pilot.

[Schpickles]

I wanted to be a pilot for a very long time. I only changed my mind when I discovered that I could make computer games ^_^ I did heaps of air experience flying at school, did a couple of CCF camps at RAF bases (Wittering, Northholt), did orienteering, fired L98 rifles, flew in a Sea King, sat in a Harrier and did engine checks... all sorts

The RAF's a great life and a great career for certain people. An RAF recruitment team is no different to a lawyers firm, fast food chain or a telesales company coming to try and recruit people... they're just trying to get new recruits by making the prospect appealing.

[RATM_4_EVA]

i admit that i do have quite extreme views on this. i think our country should disarm, and i don't think we should have an army at all. i do appreciate the police force though, i think we should protect and nurture our country on the inside. but the whole idea of the armed forces makes me very uncomfortable, i don't know if i could ever be completely happy with the concept of britain having its' own army.
are you kidding me :( :hmm:

[Haver]

I was a fucking scout. I've done my duty.

[Raining_again]

thousands of people would be out of a job

and any random country could bomb us :/

[dukkadukka]

are you kidding me :( :hmm:
no i'm not and i'd appreciate it if you didn't so bluntly ridicule me for having a different opinion to yourself.

[RATM_4_EVA]

no i'm not and i'd appreciate it if you didn't so bluntly ridicule me for having a different opinion to yourself.
one question. how would Britan protect its self? i mean, that just baffles me.

[dukkadukka]

one question. how would Britan protect its self? i mean, that just baffles me.
sending our troops into iraq has made us a lot less safe than if we'd had no army at all. and even if worst came to worst, we have plenty of allies who would protect us.

[Haver]

http://i.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/041206/16419__john_l.jpg

The ultimate one-man army.

[Wesley]

What do you expect, the goverment wants you to join so you can go get yourself killed in some unholy war.

What's the problem with it being unholy?

Surely that would be better than it being a Holy war?

[Noodleman]

http://i.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/041206/16419__john_l.jpg

The ultimate one-man army.

pfft whatever

http://www.hhrf.org/ifi/200111/rambo.jpg

[Haver]

You will regret that as John holds your beating heart in his palm.

[Shorty]

I was in the ATC and went to do faux 'missions' on base, they were never like that then.

[RATM_4_EVA]

http://i.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/041206/16419__john_l.jpg

The ultimate one-man army.
HELL YEAH :D Lock ill kick some ass