RAF CHAPLAINCY
SERVING THIS GENERATION: INITIAL TRAINING
The Reverend Tim Williamson
My interest in military chaplaincy started 17 years prior to joining the RAF. A Royal Navy chaplain, a member of the congregation I led as a minister, invited me to accompany him on numerous occasions to various naval bases. I was greatly inspired by the role and influence of chaplains to those they serve. However, having two children under the age of 2 at the time was not conducive to a harmonious family life with me being away at sea for months. So I said‘ stand by’ to God for the next 15 years until I was asked to be the Padre for an Air Cadet squadron at RAF Wyton near to where I was a church minister. Two years of accompanying young air cadets on station visits and camps to RAF stations around the UK and chatting with service personnel and regular serving Padres reignited the flame of God’ s call into chaplaincy.
However, at the age of 52 I wondered if the ship had sailed or the aircraft with the callsign‘ Chaplaincy’ had already departed the runway. To my surprise each door I encountered along the way continued to open. After a very long and at times frustrating 20 months I found myself, ironing board in hand, at the RAF Officer Training Academy at Cranwell.
Gathering with all the other Officer Cadets on day one in the car park outside the main guard room, I heard my name called out on the register. My reply of,‘ yes sir’ was met with a stern response from the Flight Sergeant,‘ don’ t call me sir, I work for a living!’. Not a great start, five minutes in and I had already made a rookie mistake.
We were promptly whisked away to the accommodation block and the allocation of our rooms. I was sharing with a young pilot Officer Cadet from Nigeria. I hadn’ t realised he was a Muslim until he laid out his prayer mat at 3.00am on the first night and began to pray. I wondered how this was going to play out for the next 6 weeks when we often only had 5 or 6 hours sleep a night. Despite this unexpected start, we had many insightful conversations about what it meant to live out our faith in distinctive ways within a military environment.
Although it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, the Specialist Officer Initial Training( SOIT) cohort consisted of 12 doctors, 1 nurse and a Padre. I had been advised by a previous
Padre Williamson graduating from RAF Cranwell
SOIT Padre not to use the term‘ Padre’ for myself, after all we were but mere lowly Officer Cadets. However, from day one I found the rest of my fellow Officer Cadets and the Flight Staff referring to me as‘ Padre’, so‘ Padre’ it was then!
For the first 6 weeks on SOIT we were amalgamated with Officer Cadets from the MIOT course( Modular Initial Officer Training), with 46 of us dividing equally into two flights. These 6 weeks are known as the Military Skills Module which is delivered by the RAF Regiment. This module covers topics such as fieldcraft, general service knowledge, weapon handling, first aid, drill, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear training, control of entry and search, communication and reporting.
The day would begin around 5.30am, often with final preparations for uniform, room and block inspections by the Flight Sergeants at 7.00am, with a rushed breakfast at 6.30am. Marching off for lessons would happen around 7.40am, followed by a full day of lessons and physical activities usually finishing at 5.30pm, followed by dinner in Number One mess at 6.30pm. There was no let-up in the evenings with online learning and or inspection preparation. I don’ t think I got into bed on the same day that I woke up for the first four weeks.
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