Air cadet stable belt

Hi guys i want to know if thats alright for me as a cadet to buy RAF stable belt (blue & red stiped) to wear on my green uniform and to be used for my skirt without buying separate belts as i dont want waste my money. Shame my squadron dont issue belts and they told me to buy it myself. :frowning:

Simple answer is yes Dress Regs allow all cadets to wear them. In DPM can only be worn in barrack dress mode but not in the field ie not when doing fieldcraft shooting etc. They are an expensive optional item and I for one would also never buy them for all my cadets.

The regs regarding stable belt with No 3 (combats) say that it can be worn any time other than “when in the field, on exercise”.
So it’s perfectly fine to wear for skill at arms (weapons training or shooting), car parking, etc. The only time it can’t be worn is when on exercise.

You’re not alone. Nobody, not even the RAF get stable belts for free.
They are one of a number of ‘optional items’ that are private purchase only.
You can wear either the current pattern with the chrome locket buckle; or the old pattern which had two leather buckles instead.

Keep an eye on eBay. There are a few fair deals on there at the moment, but every now and then there’s a seller who turns up selling them for about £4 brand new.
I have one and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them.

Just be sure that you get the standard RAF belt, not the RAF Regiment or RAF Police belts which look similar but have different locket buckles.

[quote=“wdimagineer2b” post=18574]The regs regarding stable belt with No 3 (combats) say that it can be worn any time other than “when in the field, on exercise”.
[/quote]

i disagree…or rather the regs do

[quote]Stable Belt can be worn as barrack / unit dress and for non physical activities.
Green belt must be worn at all other times.[/quote]

as i read that only “in the classroom” so car parking, although not an “exercise” is not within “barracks” (Squadron)

as a rule i simply dont wear mine in greens. there are too many occasions when it shouldnt be worn than it should be so easier not to bother for me

To be fair, the regulations don’t disagree, only you do. You’ve just said so:

That may be how you read it, but that’s not what it says.
What it says is that it can be “worn as barrack / unit dress” AND “for non physical activities”

Here’s what else the regulations have to say about it:

There is nothing which says they may only be worn ‘in the classroom’, or ‘only on the Squadron i.e. in barracks’.

In fact, the previous Commandant went so far as to issue orders to say that the Stable belt should ideally be worn whenever possible in No 3 to help push the corporate identity. So car parking would be a prime example of when it should be worn.

It wouldn’t be worn for exercises in the field; or for notably physical activities such as obstacle courses, climbing/abseiling, &c.

Well that’s fair enough. If you do lots of fieldcraft/AT/physical stuff then it makes sense not to keep switching.
If I’m in greens, the majority of the time it’s for SAA training, or other non-physical activities such as the old car parking/marshalling routines where my stable belt is perfectly acceptable. And I like the splash of colour.

This probably seems a bit of a stupid question, but how is the old stable belt worn? Like where do the buckles go? I’ve got hold of one (its my dads old one) and I won’t be down at Sqn for a while to ask.

The buckle goes over the left hip. Doesn’t matter where the metal adjuster ends up. Blue stripe upwards

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