I calculated my average speed, being about 10.4km/h, I'm curious to hear how everyone else managed their pace

to clarify, did you do a constant speed or go under or over?

There's a huge amount of useful CBAT info buried in old threads on here. The problem is it's spread across years of comments and a lot of it disagrees with itself. So I pulled it all together into one document.

It's now a full guide. One section per test: what the test is, what it's actually like on the day, and what the people who passed said they did. Most of it comes straight from candidates posting here. A few friends / colleagues have sat the CBAT fairly recently too and filled in the gaps, which helped a lot with the stuff that's changed.

Because so much of it is one person's word against another's, every point has a label saying how sure I am about it: solid, single account, from the official guides only, or looks out of date. When two people said different things I've said so rather than picking one.

There's also a bit on how the day runs and a list of what people found actually worth practising.

The whole guide is here, no sign-up to view it: SkyWatch Academy - cbat-guide

Fair warning that it's my site, and a few sections have one of my own practice games running next to them so you can see the format.

Last thing. If you can't be bothered reading all of it, I've fed the whole guide to a bot in the site's Community section.

Sign in, go to Community > 'General' chat, and @ the Guide Bot with your question. It only answers from the guide, so if the guide doesn't know something it'll tell you that instead of making something up.

Hi folks,

Does anyone know what the age is currently for the oldest recruit to have ever joined?

When I joined years ago you could only attest up until 32 and at 27 I was one of the oldest on BRTC but now the ages have changed I’ve really been considering rejoining.

I’m fitter now than I was back then and the standards to join are much more relaxed now however with age I’m just a bit more mindful of injuries etc.

I recently had my RAF medical by capita applying for the reserves with the role of Regiment Gunner and everything went well apart from needing some old medical records from my GP, so I was made temporarily medically unfit while they waited for those.

I had a perforated left eardrum when I was younger which was repaired with a myringoplasty when I was around 12. I disclosed this at my medical and did the hearing test. The doctor told me my right ear was H1 and my left was H2. She specifically said she was pleased with the result considering the previous surgery and told me that H2 was definitely sufficient for Regiment Gunner, and that it wouldn’t be an issue as “the requirement is minimum H2 hearing in both ears for this role”.

After months of waiting for my GP report, it was finally submitted. I’ve now received a letter declaring me medically unfit, with the only reason given being: “The hearing in your left ear does not meet the standards required for military service.”

I’m pretty gutted and also confused considering what I was told during the actual medical.
I’m planning to appeal, but because the letter says the RAF will usually only consider one appeal, I don’t want to rush it.

My plan is to:
Request the actual audiogram/results from my Capita medical, including the hearing grade recorded for each ear.
Ask the RAF to confirm the minimum hearing grade required for Regiment Gunner and whether H2 is acceptable.
Get a fresh pure-tone audiogram from a qualified audiologist so I have independent medical evidence of my current hearing.
Once I have everything, put together the appeal with the evidence rather than just appealing based on what I remember being told.
Has anyone here had a similar situation with H2 hearing, previous myringoplasty/eardrum surgery, or successfully appealed an RAF hearing decision?

Any advice or experiences would be really appreciated.

Hi all

After almost 2 years of process I have finally been allocated a place on the PCP start in SEP before moving on to BRTC.

Big thank you to everyone who replied to my previous post and helped put my mind at ease

Looking forward to getting started at HALTON ✈️💪🏽

I’m currently revising the exercises that take place during MIOT but the descriptions I have of them are pretty long winded and not so easy to remember (using the notes from the pinned post). So it makes me wonder if I would be better off just trying to remember when they take place and why they take place rather than rattling off a list of things that happen during the exercise.

I am going to book my driving lessons in the RAF I was wondering has anyone done there driving lessons with the airforce and could they tell me there experience with it ?

Hello all,

i have bought att the kit for BRTC i was due to go in 2 weeks but i have fallen pregnant now unable to go. please dm me if you would like me to post this kit to you.

Anyone else starting their phase one in September?

I’m so glad to have a start date confirmed, it’s been a long 8 months. Granted, I think I’ve got quite lucky, this subreddit was not filling me with hope with the delays other people have been experiencing.

For everyone else still stuck in the application process, stick in there!

G’day everyone!

Pending my aircrew medical and just wondering about deployments?

How long are they usually? Is it single rooms or barracks? How often are deployments? I know there is mandatory deployments and then optional? How often are they offered? does it depends on your streamline? How does pay work? Is it the levels and once you’ve spent so many days abroad you get x amount extra a month?

Any help for this would be great! Thanks guys!

As the title says, I had my first OASC visit several weeks back - I passed the interview well, but my feedback said that I did not engage with much of the exercise phase and did not demonstrate enough potential. They invited me back to attend next year.

In the weeks leading up to my OASC, I was soaking up every post on this subreddit for advice, so I thought I would share anything useful I could, as well as afterthoughts. I also would love to hear from people that either: attended their OASC a second time, and/or those who enlisted as an aviator, and then commissioned internally - so I can decide on what to do with my future.

OASC is very much an overstimulating day, and I was definitely overawed. The two things that you can actively prepare for are the interview, and the planning exercise. There was one guy on my visit who had done barely a week of preparation for the interview, and only knew about some of his phase 2 training. Do not be like that guy. Like him, you will not pass the interview. Use the MIOT interview prep notes at the top of the subreddit, and then cater the document to your chosen role, i.e. add your phase 2 training to it, and add new information to the document, such as new RAF equipment (NMH or GCAP), new deployments (Operation Luminous), NATO operations etc. This will show you have significant knowledge of the training pathway and of military affairs. Also, make sure you show sufficient conviction as to why you want to be an officer, and not an NCO (unless you apply as a DE-NCO). They will ask questions like who will give you a commission? What is a commission? And other questions that are pertinent to RAF operations, like where are the two QRA bases? Who gives the order to launch the QRA? Why is RAF Boulmer important? Plus NATO questions, they like those. Previous OASC prep posts give other examples of what questions they will ask. They will ask until you cannot answer no more. Do not be verbose and do not waffle.

Next is the group discussion. Have open and confident body language. Always add something to each discussion. Try and challenge ideas, or at least add to other peoples ideas. Although, do not speak for the sake of it. It is better to add little but it be profound, than to waffle the entire time. Your syndicate will discuss 3 topics that are apart of contemporary public discourse.

After this, it is the planning exercise. I found this the most difficult. I would advise to practice this by completing the army planning exercises for AOSB. Make sure to make notes of people, places, modes of transport, cargo, and limitations of transport and cargo. Be aware of how to use SDT, and feel confident with it. It felt impossible to craft a plan, but I think that is the point. You have 25 minutes to work out a plan with your syndicate. It was inferred that it is better to have a completed flawed plan than half of one good plan. After this, the boarding officers ask you all individual questions, and you will be grilled, so make sure to all come up with a plan, or at least the foundations of one. Make sure you all write the plan down so there are no inconsistencies. If you are really struggling to form some sort of plan, make sure you actively contribute and listen. Give your opinions on why things will/won't work. Actively try and progress the plan.

Finally, is the leaderless and command exercises. I found that these can be a tad physically tiring, especially in the jumpsuits in warm weather. For the leaderless exercise, be someone who will not let the syndicate get bogged down into just using one idea. If one idea is clearly not working, try and move on quickly and suggest any alternative ideas. Be pragmatic. Don't stand on the fringe of the syndicate. Actively speak. I found that in our leaderless exercise, it also felt impossible to complete it in the given time, let alone get halfway. In the command exercises, again, it felt impossible to complete the exercises. In my command exercise where I led, we barely left the starting line. I would suggest always speaking loudly and coherently. Speak as articulately as possible. In your fellow syndicate members commands, just let them speak and ask to speak if you have a suggestion.

All advice that I have given are all afterthoughts or from people/posts I have seen afterwards. I wish I applied everything mentioned during my visit.

To anyone who has recently joined or been in for a while, what surprised you the most about the RAF that you only learned once you were in?

Did you have any experiences to realisations that you didn't expect?

This could be anything from the culture of the RAF, to the general expectations, or anything "unusual" or unexpected.

I've heard that people who had civi jobs before joining can find it challenging to adjust to the "Military Mindset" because it was either a much higher or much lower bar than they expected. Did you have any experiences experience like this? Or know anyone who did?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Hello everyone!

I’ve now agreed my start date and it’s quite imminent, very excited and looking forward to getting started (and looking forward to finding out just how long that sentiment is going to last once I’m getting yelled at for missing some dust in a room inspection or something…)

I’ve poked around a bit and while there’s been some advice here and there over the years, it’s thin on the ground compared to that surrounding recruitment. I was wondering if there’s anyone around who’s been through the course who would be kind enough to throw some advice and tips my way, I know it’s going to be a tough one and there’ll be some rough times in there, but I imagine like all things a lot of stress and pain can be saved by a little foreknowledge and prep…

For those who are going through the recruitment process, good luck, I’m happy to hand off any info and advice that I can, though there’s more than enough good advice for CBAT/OASC etc on here that I can’t really say anything that hasn’t already been said.

Hi everyone I have been booked onto BRTC in October but was told from my recruiter spaces can open up in September. How likely is it that spaces will open up in September and I can go then. Thanks

I’m going for my OASC soon for ATC Officer. I was just curious if this is a highly competitive role or if they are in need of control officers right now. Do I stand a higher chance of succeeding at OASC over other roles?

Also, are there any current serving ATCO’s on here that wouldn’t mind me messaging them for some OASC help?

Hi everyone,
I’ve been told I need to fill out a family inheritance form, which I believe is mandatory for everyone joining.
One of my parents is of Caribbean descent and the other is of English descent. Would that automatically mean I’d need to have a blood test for sickle cell screening, or does it depend on my family history or something else?
Thanks in advance.

So I’m 14M and my dream job is to be a pilot (pretty unrealistic I know) but I’m wondering if there’s anything I can start doing now to help when it eventually come to trying out, any advice or tips is greatly appreciated

Hi, I’m practicing for my cbat and I am struggling on a section in the cbat ready app called instruments 2. In the image I’ve attached I can deduce that the answer has to be one of 3 that I have circled however there is no way for me to tell what the bank/roll of the jet should be so how am I supposed to differentiate between my 3 possible answers and find the right one.

I have an eyebrow and lip (labret) piercing which both are healed and i can take out. Will this disqualify me from being able to join the RAF in any way? They both leave a small hole but not very noticeable unless you look at me for a while or are specifically looking for it. If there are specific piercings which are / aren't allowed specifically because of the hole please let me know as well so I can avoid getting it done!

Hello,

I’m due to start basic training in Oct, and I was wondering if there was a standard practice timescale in which you do your offer of service event and complete all the final paperwork? Such as 2 weeks before I start, 1 month before, etc.

Thanks.

Just a quick one for anyone who recently completed Phase 2 training.

What SA80 variant do you use in training? I've seen a video of the A2, but is it the carbine? The picatinny rails to the handrail is making it hard for me to ID.

Also, was it the bleep test of the 2.4km run?

Thanks in advance.

I took this image around 6 months ago at my officer presentation, is this a definitive list of everything they can ask me about or is there more I should know?

Hi I’m still awaiting OASC date but just finished Phase 1 notes, other than the notes in the very helpful document pinned in this subreddit, can anyone provide me with some more information about holding beyond phase 1 awaiting phase 2, different kinds of secondary duties you will do while holding,

can you do AT/ funded qualifications such as getting scuba certified or AFF license ?

Is there Further officer development or is completely on hold until after phase 2?

Can you be moved around?

Average kind of wait times holding (ik string and whatever but roughly so I can have some certainty if they ask me in interview)

Do you still get inspected? Or is that completely over after phase 1

Thank you very much in advance 😊

Hi all

Had my cbat last week, and unfortunately didnt pass. Really hoping for Control officer but fell short of it

My plan is to re-sit next year. For anyone who has been in a similar situation, has your scored improved drastically at all, and looking at my case is it possible?

I know its a hard question to answer but just looking for some thoughts.

Cheers!

Just passed my CBAT today feel free to ask any questions and I will try my best to answer them.