I think it largely depends where you are and what is available on the station, locally and through the staff you have available, which unlike when I was a cadet and my early staff days, are severely limited, which cuts down on what people you have and the qualifications they possess. The RCO on my sqn went to 3 camps last year for a couple of days each just to run the ranges.
Having been in all the main chairs on camps and spent endless hours on phones and doorstepping to get things jacked up, it is a thankless task. Iâve come home looking forward to going to work for a rest!!
Overall I find that annual camps are nothing like they used to be, as we donât have an air force to speak of in terms of kit and people and the people there are although they will do the best they can are worked ragged. Iâve organised things the day before and whoever was going to do it hasnât been in and weâve had to go to plan B or C. A few years ago they were either on deployment, getting ready to go or on RnR having returned not long since, so not many in the right frame of mind for cadet visits There are times weâve been on stations and you almost feel as if it wasnât for us they could pack up.
As for Wing camps these seem to try and maintain the folly of some sort of military mindset (more for the shouty staff than anyone else IMO) being a place to wear âgreenâ, despite being no more than the sort of activity residentials our kids went on at primary school.
I suggested when the subject of camps came up at a COs meeting of just using a station like a B&B (like it seemed when I went on German camps as a cadet), lots of âcultural / educationalâ things and only one or two days doing the rounds on the station. On one German camp we wore uniform for the photo and station brief, even when we went shooting we were in civvies. The WWO got excited as you when would you drill or uniform inspectons. If thatâs a reason for going to camp, give me strength.
It is extremely disapponting that RACs never realised there full potential. They could have become places to use as a base for annual camps.
Whatâs it got to with the WWO? If you are the Camp Com itâs upto you what you do. (Although if you want to do AT you need to put an application in via the WATTO).
I donât understand people who whinge about Annual Camp Programmes, you are in charge if you donât like what the station provides tear it up and do what you want.
We donât really run Wing Camps per se, we do have camps run at Wing level but they are normally Squadron run affairs that are larger and therefor fall under the Wing Umbrella. (Such as the one I mentioned above, which started out as a 2 Squadron affair and expanded as I needed staff with qualifications so expanded the camp to accommodate them).
I think it is a reasonable concern - if it is a blues camp you might be expected to wear blues for a lot of the time and greens for a lot of the other time. Not everything needs to be in uniform and overseas camps to tend to be a bit slack, but Iâm not sure the balance was right if Angusâs statement is fact.
If the intention of the camp is to do the whole âRAF livingâ thing and include the stock drill comp and inspections (you know, military stuff) it is a fair comment. If it is a holiday in Germany disguised as a summer camp then maybe less so.
As for the camp com being the one who decides what to do, there are limits to that as the ACLO will have worked on a programme and perhaps actually arranged some things and it would be extremely rude to throw that in the bin and treat it as a free-form holiday on an RAF station.
I was at a camp at Wittering when the SWO was the ACLO and he had very clear (negative) views on any camp com deviating from his planned programme. Unfortunately his belief in his organisation and abilities seemed to have little basis in fact and it was one of the worst organised camps Iâve been on, including some camps with no ACLO and last yearâs programme! There was a programme but most sections seemed unaware of it and surprised when we turned up (weâd normally check with them beforehand but apparently âeverything was arrangedâ)
If you are running your annual camp as a traditional camp with a drill comp etc then yes you need to make time for drill. But if youâve taken one look at the location and programme and decided to go a different way then thatâs your decision to make.
The same goes with the ACLOâs programme, although a degree of diplomacy is required, if itâs a load of rubbish then Iâm doing something else. Iâm there for the cadets not the ACLO and giving them the best camp experience is the priority. I wouldnât look to run it as a holiday, but Iâll be damned if I will have cadets sitting through 2 days of power points when we could be doing Adventure Training instead.