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Hoping to join RAFP

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steven Williams
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well sorrrrrry!
but how can you call me rude if your asking my age eh?
Well im 17 anyway
 
Jesus! I was right!
this thread is now taking on Garry Gliter-esque connotations for me!:raf:

I'll get me coat!
 
B.E.G.
Thanks for making us ALL feel that little bit older...... Most on here have been in longer than you have been born....!!

I'm off for a lie down in the ante room.
 
Just to get back on thread for the moment, Why dont you arrange a visit to a local station and meet some RAFP. There is a stationa bout ten miles away from you at Manston.
 
proper job

proper job

Mate, if you have the qualifications then join the civvie police, if you don't then join the RAF, get the qualifications then join the civvie police. Just look at the differences in pay scales between the civvie police and the RAF !
 
I remember going to the CIO when I was 16 thinking of joining up as a RAFP'man as the brochures at the time made it sound like a great job.
The guy in the CIO looked at my qualifications, laughed and gave me the choice of joining up as either an appo or a DE.

I chose DE even though I had to wait 6 months to get in.

Moral is, if you have the qualifications use them.

One other thing, don't let those CIO chaps use you to fill current trade vacancies. I've seen too many over qualified individuals in a variety of trades. I personally know of an SAC mech with a degree and an SAC supplier with A levels FFS !!!
I don't know how the recruiters get away with it !!!
 
I remember going to the CIO when I was 16 thinking of joining up as a RAFP'man as the brochures at the time made it sound like a great job.
The guy in the CIO looked at my qualifications, laughed and gave me the choice of joining up as either an appo or a DE.

I chose DE even though I had to wait 6 months to get in.

Moral is, if you have the qualifications use them.

One other thing, don't let those CIO chaps use you to fill current trade vacancies. I've seen too many over qualified individuals in a variety of trades. I personally know of an SAC mech with a degree and an SAC supplier with A levels FFS !!!
I don't know how the recruiters get away with it !!!
 
Gentlemen we have come to accept being tarred with the same brush in the Fight Club area of the Forums, but please refrain from the inter section rivalry when someone is asking for information or assistance within another area of the forum.
 
I agree,

Please take your slagging off to the fight club. That was what it is for. When people ask a serious question then please let the trade in question answer the people. If all you intend to do is slag off that trade and add no real constructive advice/suggestions in your post then please don't post at all. Its not hard.
 
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Tigger said:
Mate do yourself a favour, if you want to be a plod join the proper police !
I'm an ex rigger, my best mate is ex RAFP, if he was on here he'd tell you the same. I'm sure Chip will tell you that as well.
Pay stuff must have changed since I left 3 years ago, there weren't any RAFP on anywhere the same amount of money each month. I was a JT rigger.

On the subject of money, I get more now than I did in the mob. If I work overtime I get paid for it. I don't go to **** holes anymore. Last month I was being taught to drive up the A1M at 140 mph, and being paid for it. I've just done my stinger course, and will soon be going on a PSU course (riot training). This month I got 700 quid extra in overtime !

My advice, if your joining the RAF you might as well work on aircraft. I did it for 15 years and never once regretted it. You'll have a trade that pays 30K a year plus when you come out.
If you want to be a copper, join the police proper. If you want to open and close a barrier, play playstation and have no friends apart from RAFP the join the RAFP.

Tigger, I'm not sure which Constabulary your serving with, but it's an exceptional one. £700 quid overtime, congratulations, is this typical OT for a response officer?...perhaps not.

True, SW may well get posted to a sh!t h*le but detachments/postings of a dubious nature sometimes prove worthwhile in terms of character building and gaining experience. Personally, I'd sooner be in a sh*t ho*e with a decent bunch of lads (whether RAFP or not) than attending a w*nk*y domestic at the same dump for the third time that week.

SW, contrry to Tiggers nieve understanding of the role of the RAFP, there is a wide variety of specialisations to look into such as Close Protection, Counter Intelligence and search dog handling to name but a few. Yes, the first couple of years may well be spent doing the mundane stuff, however I can assure you that the same will be true of civvy bill i.e standing on a crime scene in the p1ssing rain all night. However, as with civpol, if you keep your chin up and show a bit of enthusiasm and motivation, there is ever possiblity that you will find serving with the RAFP rewarding. Fianancially the money isn't great, but considering you'll pay next to nothing for food and accommodation it isn't all that bad either.


Do not be in a rush to join civpol. Have a few years travelling about and p!ssing about first. There's more to life than stinger and PSU training.
 
Hadnt seen that post by Tigger. Sorry mate but I couldnt disagree with you more, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the RAF Police and the experiences and people I have met and become friends with. Unfortunately the only dowside is the multitude of narrowminded people who paint the whole trade with the same brush instead of taking each person as they come.

Also mate I havent touched a barrier in 3 years, Dont have time to play playstation and am lucky to have many non RAFP friends because I dont base friendship on what they do for a living.
 
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Chiprafp - I'm in complete agreement with you, I also thoroughly enjoyed my time as RAFP. I wouldn't deny there was the sh!t days, but they were more than compensated for by the wind-up's and general p!ssing about.

leaving the RAF when I did was the right thing for me, whilst wishing to remain modest, my career with civpol is progressing very nicely indeed. I believe that is largely as a result of being fortunate enough to serve with some fantastic RAFP (and indeed personnel from other trades).
 
Best of Luck with the future in Civ Pol mate I have 3 years left until my 12 and will decide at that time whether to leave and pursue Civ Pol but we will see.
 
DONT DO IT

I'm ex fed and it is the worst trade going I got out on a re-muster. You are hated and the job sucks like a pro.
 
Joining the RAF Police

Joining the RAF Police

Steven Williams was hoping to become a RAF Policeman and sought the advice of members. With a couple of exceptions who were either past or present RAFP, he was given so much negative feedback that I decided to apply for membership and use my first posting to dispel some of the myths that were bantered about.

'You will spend your time on gate duty or hauling a dog.' - When you finish your training you will be expected to carry out menial tasks as, apparently unlike the other trades in the RAF who appear to become 'instant experts' on completion of their training, you will still have a lot to learn. I spent the first couple of years counting the rivets on V-bombers whilst standing under them, raising and lowering barriers and walking the wire, but they never gave me a dog. However, I progressed to provost duties, anti-vice and eventually to special investigation duties where I spent the majority of my service.

'You will be hated by the rest.' - It goes with the job and seems to worry the rest more than the RAFP. There were many who hated me , mainly those who I put where the sun didn't shine on them, but I never lost any sleep over it. This is not unique to the Service. The same applies to civvy street, mainly from the villainous elements who fear that the police would put an end to their criminal activities.

'Join a proper police force.' - During my service I attended the Home Office Detective Training course and the Home Office Scenes of Crime and Fingerprinting course. I carried out major inquiries into homocide, rape, serious assaults, high value thefts, fraud and aircraft sabotage. As a SNCO I was the lead investigator in these cases which in the 'proper police' would have been controlled by a DCI upwards. I carried out joint enquiries with RMP/SIB, CID of both Home Office and non-Home Office forces, foreign police forces, both military and civil, and the Customs and Excise Branch. Although there were plenty of letters of appreciation from these organizations there was never any criticism of my professionalism.

'Choose a trade you can utilize in later life.' - When my time in the RAF ended I established a Security Consultancy/Investigation Agency. I was on the Board of Governors of the Institute of Professional Investigators and members of the Association of British Investigators, The Council of International Investigators and the American Society of Industrial Security. I created a client base of blue chip firms in the City and some well-known personalities. Most important of all, I made a shed-load of money which is allowing me to have an opulent lifestyle with no financial worries and the knowledge that when I go there will be plenty left for my grandchildren.

I am not unique. There is a host of ex-RAFP who are, or were, in the highest realms of the security industry. One of the best known is the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, the Lord Imbert. I first met Peter Imbert when he was a DCS at Thames Valley and still meet with him frequently. He is very proud to have started his career as a RAF Police corporal.

So S.W. go for it. You will be joining a profession that well outdates all the other trades in the RAF, with the exception of the Regiment, and also all the 'proper' police forces. The Articles of War issued by Charles I in 1629 states:- 'The Provost must have a horse allowed him and some soldiers to attend him, and all the rest commanded to obey and assist or else the Service will suffer, for he is one man and must correst many, and therefore he cannot be beloved. And he must be riding from one Garrison to another, to see the soldiers do no outrage nor scath the country.'

The advantage that our predecessors had was that they had the power to hang the miscreants.
 
Jayel - Excellent post, thankyou.

Baldy- you are surely a great loss to the trade and sorely missed.
 
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