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RAF Cottesmore Visit (February 2011)
![Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College (DSFC)](javascript:PopupPic("/military/images/cottesmore11a.jpg");)
Shortly after 0830 all Lower Sixth RAF students began their day with a coach journey to RAF Cottesmore. Upon arrival we were ushered into a short briefing where the programme for the day was outlined and the significance of Cottesmore’s dual service nature and history was also explained.
The remainder of the morning was spent touring the Harrier Maintenance Flight who are currently working to service all remaining Harrier aircraft. This was a perfect opportunity to witness a working environment not dissimilar to the environment we as prospective Engineer Officers are soon to be placed in. Eager students readily took advantage of this, as a variety of questions ranging from lifestyle and job satisfaction to the mechanical structure of the Harrier were answered thoroughly by willing aircraft technicians. We found this part of the day particularly beneficial as it allowed us to witness our eventual goal, towards which we have only just begun the copious amounts of education and training.
![Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College (DSFC)](javascript:PopupPic("/military/images/cottesmore11b.jpg");)
Students were then invited to enjoy a meal in the Officer’s mess at lunchtime where several of us experienced for the first time the traditions and customs found in an RAF mess. This was swiftly followed by a tour of the mess in order to highlight the very easy and social style of living as an Officer on an RAF base.
During the latter part of the day we travelled to nearby RAF Wittering where we were greeted by a Junior Engineer Officer who had recently graduated from Cranwell. We were able to ask questions and get some honest answers about what it is really like to be an Engineer Officer in the RAF with both its ups and downs. Following this meeting we were given a tour of the vehicle maintenance depot during which we looked at a variety of vehicles including Land Rovers, fuel trucks as well as a bright red tractor! However the star of the show was the Panther LMV, a 4WD tactical vehicle which is equipped with a remote gun mount. The students were delighted to have a go with the turret, finding the night vision setting highly amusing. After this we were taken to No. 5131 (Bomb Disposal) Squadron where we were shown the various differences between Improvised Explosive Devices and conventional munitions. We were shown small plastic mines designed to remove someone’s foot to a 1000lb bomb for destroying buildings. We were then shown the various bomb disposal robots that were employed, but to the students’ disappointment we were not allowed to have a go (most likely due to their large price tag).
![Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College (DSFC)](javascript:PopupPic("/military/images/cottesmore11c.jpg");)
Overall it was a highly enjoyable day that gave us some good insight into our future careers. However it was also a sad occasion to see the Harrier being removed from active service, with the possibility of it being scrapped completely - an unfitting end for such a magnificent aircraft.
Our sincere thanks go to Flt Lt Morgan, Mr Burgess and Mr Lang for allowing us the opportunity to visit these two RAF bases and to learn so much about our future careers.
Joseph Wainwright, Alanbrooke 10E and Samantha Burns, Trenchard 10E
