RAF CRANWELL OASC

Day 1 Arrival: I was told to arrive at the OASC candidates mess at RAF Cranwell for 1600 hours. Before I proceeded to the mess I had to check in at the guardroom where I was issued an ID and car pass for my time at OASC. I then headed to the Candidates mess were a staff member allocated me a room. Dinner was at approximately 1730 hours and the welcome brief was given at 1830. This was the first real chance to meet fellow candidates and discover what was going to happen while at OASC. The welcome brief lasted for about 20 to 30 minutes were I was told all about the OASC procedure. After the brief the chance arose to socialise with the other candidates in the bar. Although it is viable to stay up all night and socialise I have found that staying up is a bad idea and going to bed between 9 and 10pm is a good idea.

Day 2: I had an early start this morning as I was woken up by the OASC fire bell (alarm clock) at 0600. I advise getting up somewhere between 0530 and 0545 to get first showers and be ready. Make sure you a good hearty breakfast as the day will be very long. After breakfast I headed over to the OASC centre, signed in and waited to be led away for the aptitude tests. A member of the aptitude testing staff came and led us away to the testing centre and explained what was going to happen. I was very relaxed in the test room, we could take our jacket and ties off and have a bottle of water if we wanted. The tests lasted for approximately 5 hours with 5 minute breaks roughly every hour. After the aptitude tests we were split into syndicates (groups), given green coveralls assigned a number and led away by a boarding officer for a group discussion. After being introduced to another boarding officer we were told the briefing for the group discussion and afterwards you'll be given 3 topics to talk about, they will be common knowledge but knowing some current affairs and having your own opinion will help. We then went onto the group planning stage. This consists of 20 minutes private preparation time, 20 minutes discussion and 15 minutes questioning by the boarding officers. Just think logically, divide manpower to do more than one thing at once, communicate clearly and cover all options and you'll be fine! The final part of day was a hangar familiarisation where we were acquainted with the hanger facilities in preparation for the following day. Basically how to do the exercises safely. If shows good technique and some tips and tricks. Pay attention! they will help!

Day 3: I headed over to the OASC centre for about 0800 hours and was briefed on the day’s events. The first exercise was the leaderless hanger exercise were as a group we had to complete a task usually getting from A to B using Z equipment over shark infested custard. We were given 2 minutes survey time I checked distances between points and checked the weight and spacing’s between points. Using this information, I formed a plan and suggested it to the team. Remember to be a team player and suggest don’t force yourself as a leader on everyone else (unless it is a safety issue). Next was the command exercise. This was fundamentally the same as the leaderless exercise however each member was put in charge of the syndicate to complete a task. After the command exercise we were separated and led away to the individual planning phase of selection. I had 20 minutes to read the planning exercise. I then made a plan and had to explain my decision to the boarding officer. The questioned the choices I made and created a few problems, I had to think on my feet and rectify. The final stage of the day was the medicals. The medical procedure is outlined in the OASC booklet issued by the RAF. It pretty much followed this, testing reflexes, checking for problems such as testicular cancer and hernias, as well as checking eye sight and body measurements.

Day 4:This was the final day and the majority of people had an interview lasting approximately 45 minutes. A trickle of people hadn’t finished their medicals so had them to complete. After the interviews and medicals had finished we headed over to the gym for the fitness test. First we had to do the dreaded bleep test. It was difficult put I just pushed myself to my limits. As soon as we finished the bleep test then had to do press-ups and sit-ups. We was free to leave after this point, I handed in my ID and car pass and set off home waiting 3 weeks for yes or no.