Hi guys,
100% understand that activities like flying or gliding ( or heaven forfend, parachuting ) are rare enough to come by as it is, but for PTS activities such as RM, ldrship or shooting, does anyone know to what degree wings / regions are obliged to provide these?
Few of my mates and colleagues have had to put in requests to join training on adjacent wings due to lack of opportunities and focus in our own.
The SMEs in the Wing should be providing opportunities or mentoring and supporting units to provide them.
As an example for shooting I would expect units who have sufficient kit and trained people to be doing small bore or air rifle and the Wing to run L98 at barrack ranges or long ranges.
This will depend on what staff are about to run these things, Wings often come in 2 flavours, ones that work together for the benefit of all and those who have some excellent units who get a lot of focus and then a lot of units that miss out.
There’s no obligation in terms of ‘what’ or ‘how much’. ACTO 11 categorises / prioritises activities. Shooting (except clay target shooting, but including clay target courses for CFAVs) is ‘essential core activity’, as is fieldcraft. The level of activity a cadet can expect is also detailed within (albeit very broadly).
However, it creates no obligation for a particular ‘level’ of the organisation to deliver.
My expectation is effectively the same as @bob1 stated: Sqns do what they can, Wg plugs the gaps it can, Rgn plugs gaps left by Wg, and HQ RAFAC makes up for the rest.
My panacea would be to have a cascading delivery plan for all essential core activities: HQ RAFAC plans the delivery of ‘X’, the highest level, most complex, or greatest scale, ie things which generally cannot be achieved by the levels ‘below’* due to expertise, resources, numbers, etc. Then, Rgns can plan the next level ‘down’*, then Wgs and so on. This does not preclude a Sqn, for eg, from planning the most complex activity there is if they’re capable but it ensures the training need is met.
Bottom line: all levels should work together to meet the training need, without hindrance of vertical or horizontal borders.
*I use ‘below’, ‘down’ a level, etc, only in terms of our organisational hierarchy and not to infer that air rifle LFMT on a Sqn is any less important or beneficial to cadets than is ISCRM or CISSAM.
'tis me, I’m afraid. After years as a ‘lurker’, I thought I’d show my face and see if I can’t offer some help!
I’m sure you’ll be able too. I don’t really ‘know’ you but have heard lots of good things. Having now caught up on the other posts I can definitely tell it’s not someone pretending as the knowledge seems to be on point 
Welcome, and thanks for putting head above parapet as it were
(Or should that be going over rather than round cover?)
Don’t believe a word of it 
Thanks for the welcome! I think I’m firing from the left here 