6x what we can manage. We did run more but WS access has become harder still over the last couple of years
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Sounds like loads of weapons training to me!
But begs the question, if @Jimothy’s wing is running that much and their cadets are still struggling to access bronze FT PTS, then there is surely a problem somewhere?
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@Jimothy how many cadets per course?
Seems like a question for the WFTO. Quantity of FTIs? Is there crossover with the FTI and Skillie pool so all the instructors are distracted with IWT?
Could fewer IWT run for more cadets and free up time and resources for FT?
There’s a lot we don’t know, but on paper it sounds potentially very healthy for IWT.
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Its a numbers game as always
Number of cadets through = number of course x available weapons x size of facility x number of SAAIs
Any limiting factor decreases the out come
Now factor in that the majority of those SAAIs are also the FTIs, RCOs, ECOs, Arms Drill Instructors, Medics etc on other activities and we are utilising a limited number of resources to deliver across a wide spectrum of activities
I for one have a very limited number of Pink Chits to deploy a year so have to pick what I do very carefully so tend to favour my Sqn over higher echelons but thats my personal choice.
Obviously we need to persuade CFAV of the value of getting these quals and using them for the greater good - but as an organisation we seem to be increasing the amount of Staff Training required to deliver what are internal cadet ‘quals’ that have no bearing outside RAFAC.
I have lost count of the number of things I used to teach over the years that, since the introduction of PTS and now O18, I am no longer qualified to teach - quals that have to validated for Quality across the organisation (thats what the assessment is for) but can’t be taught unless someone has attended and passed a course.
Thats fine for outside courses (SJ 1st Aid etc) or for obvious safety critical activities (shooting) - but for the rest? Even the Rocket Science is not Rocket Science!!!
Rant off and going to bed!
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We’ve lost the QWHTs and the DPs. And the SAAI courses are relatively few (1-2 a year it seems?)
Plus we don’t have the IWTs and other courses to get new staff in a position to become skillies.
And potentially that will happen with FTIs too as they need to have done the relevant lessons as a student before teaching. A perfectly reasonable requirement but are we running the courses to provide that knowledge?
Oh definitely. I can’t fault our wing shooting team.
I don’t know exactly, but I think 20 max, often fewer, depending on instructor availability. They also run LFMT at the same time.
This was the point I was trying to make. Even when it’s going well it can become a bottleneck.
I don’t know the numbers, but there definitely is some crossover. The shooting team was already well established when the wing started doing FT again. Before FT fell over there was more crossover and they used to alternate between shooting and FT each month.
That would still be a net increase in staff time though, even without increasing the IWT throughput.
Seems to me that your WShO and WFTO need to get together and make an assessment.
If there are enough blue FT cadets waiting with WHT in hand, then it’s time to rebalance the output.
If struggling to produce blue FT cadets, then again that balance needs to be revised.
Concurrently, looking for cfav willing or wanting to upskill to deliver either or both.
Guessing an average of 15 per month over 6 months, that would be 90 freshly WHT’d cadets, plus any that previously qualified. That should be a very decent pool to run plenty of bronze FT.
I think it might just be numbers working against us. That seems like a good throughput but is likely less than 10% of the wing’s cadets 
We had this for a short time, TSA’s stopped it.
Looking at the plans for this year there were 7 SAAI courses planned in the calendar. Our latest one was nearly cancelled due to insufficient applicants
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Is that nationally though? I was referring to our SATT.
Yeah nationally
All SATT courses are open to applications nationwide, generally applications from the local region have a higher priority but it’s not uncommon for us to have CFAV’s from a number of regions on ours as well as ACF, SCC
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Plus the option of going to Frimley if you are really keen.
We can’t get travel out of region now, which I think is a local issue as people have done it in the past.
Yeah, that’s a local issue, seems daft to have a national standard of courses and then restrict CFAVs from travelling to them. The other teams course may be closer in some instances as well.
What’s the pre-requisites and format of a course these days?
To attend, you must have a thorough knowledge of L98A2 Rifle Lessons 1-9 and hold a current WHT on the L98A2.
SATT course is ran over 2 consecutive weekends. Frimley is ran over a week
How does one gain a:
Is it possible to shadow these lessons without meeting the pre-reqs for the course?
Yes. Attend any L98A2 IWT being delivered to cadets
The course doesn’t deliver full lessons, they are 40 minute TPs which are chopped up to show the relevant teaching points of the lessons so you couldn’t treat it as IWT. If you just wanted to attend an SAAI course to see how it is delivered and what the format is like then speak with the local team and they may be able to accommodate that.