Hi Nikki,

Thanks for your question. There are two main streams for our AAC soldiers - groundcrew or signaller. Our soldiers are streamed into either role during their Phase 2 training at Middle Wallop.

The career opportunities are great in both streams however the job you do at Regiment will be slightly different due to the nature of each role.

The groundcrew generally work in and around the aircraft. As a junior Airtpr you would be responsible for moving the aircraft in and out of the hangar, refuelling and re-arming at our FARPs, driving most of the Squadron vehicles, insuring the aircraft is secure and safe especially when on exercise or operations amongst other things. Generally you would work in one of our Arming teams which consists of 6-7 Airtprs, a LCpl and a Cpl. You would progress through those roles gaining more management responsibilities as you go.

For the signallers, their work is a little more niche. I can only speak for Wildcat as that's all I know but our junior signallers are responsible for the correct operation of many of our radios and comms equipment both in our vehicles and on the aircraft. Generally speaking they will be subject matter experts in our planning system too and conduct extra training to ensure they know the system inside out. They will also assist with some of the vehicle maintenance and driving and will deploy onto the FARP during exercises. The signallers usually have a handful of LCpl spaces and a Cpl space which you could work towards in terms of progression. As above, the rank progression will see you hold more management responsibilities within your department.

In both of these roles there is the option to progress onto other jobs outside of Regimental duty, such as becoming an instructor at a Phase 1 or 2 establishment.

I hope that helps to answer your question. Please let me know if you have any more queries.

Have a nice weekend,
Maddie

01 July, 2021 16:45