Testimonials - SAC Judith O'Hara
My First year in the RAF - SAC Judith O'Hara
Clichéd as it sounds, my first year in the RAF really has gone by extremely quickly, even allowing for the fact that my first six weeks were on sick leave! A week before beginning Recruit Training I was out cycling when a car knocked me off my bike, injuring my back. I thought that that would be it and I would have to wait a long time before being able to begin my training, but the GP who assessed me a few days later thought I would be OK and said it was up to me whether I started RTC or not. The staff at the London AFCO were very helpful and said if I did not feel ready then they could postpone my training, but in the end I just wanted to get going (and I also felt that deciding not to start my training when the doctor had told me I was fit enough to do so did not really send out a positive image!) so I reported to RAF Halton on 28th November 2007 to begin Recruit Training. Two days later I was assessed by the physiotherapists and sent home to allow my back injury to heal properly. The six weeks’ rest allowed my back to recover enough to enable me to return to Halton and start my training properly early the following January.
I had a small idea of what to expect at Halton, having been on the two-day Pre-Recruit Training Course the previous October, but it was still a shock to the system! Adjusting to very long and very busy days took a bit of getting used to, but we were all in the same position so we helped each other along the way. I found the best way to get through it was not stopping to think about it (not that you had time to), because if you did you would realise just how tired you were and how hard everything seemed. I enjoyed drill and did not mind the classroom lessons, but not being the sportiest person in the world I did struggle with some things. There were times when I wondered what I was doing there: “I’m a musician. What am I doing running around a field wearing just shorts and t-shirt in the cold, wind and rain of early January/standing in the respirator testing facility with stinging and streaming eyes and nose/being made to leopard crawl across the field again when I’ve just done it about five times? This is all too much.” I began to get so worried about failing a part of the course and being reflighted because I did not think I could go through all of that a second time. Somehow, though, I did manage to get through it all. Once the four weeks of Recruit Ground Defence Training with the RAF Regiment were over (the toughest part of the course for me) there was not much left of the training. I found it exciting to learn rifle drill ready for our Passing Out Parade. When the day came I was disappointed that our parade was inside the hangar because in the end it did not rain, but I still enjoyed it. I was proud of myself for having made it through the course, surprised at what I was able to achieve.
Almost all of our Flight were going on to the Airman Development Flight at Halton to wait for their next courses to start, but I was extremely glad to be able to drive away to RAF Uxbridge the next day and get back to being a musician! I spent three months in the school at Headquarters Music Services at Uxbridge, trying to remember how to play my instruments after nine weeks of not doing any practice. For someone who had been used to doing three or four hours’ practice every day at music college, it had been quite hard adjusting to not being able to do any during RTC. The assessments were challenging for me (saxophone is my first instrument but I had to join on clarinet) but I enjoyed the work, and I liked being able to play in Central Band’s rehearsals sometimes as a change from being on my own in a practice room. When I was told I would be joining the Band of the RAF College at RAF Cranwell I was a bit disappointed because I would have preferred to stay at Uxbridge in Central Band having made friends there and got used to living there, but everyone said Cranwell was a nice place, even if it is in the middle of nowhere! I have since decided that Cranwell is not so bad after all!
I was nervous joining the Band but I’d already met some of the members while at Uxbridge, so that helped. I was thrown in at the deep end straight away, with the first job being a complicated display a few days after I arrived at the Band. With only minimal band drill training it was a case of follow-the-leader and try to get the display right, not worrying about actually playing anything! I was worried about going wrong, but it was good to finally be doing the job I’d joined up to do. The Band was quite busy during my first few months and jobs included a trip to the Isle of Man for the Tynwald Ceremony (a three-hour parade) and a week in Gibraltar, followed later by the Massed Bands concerts, not to mention several parades and other concerts around the country. Even after only one year, being a musician in the RAF has given me the opportunity to travel to and play at places I would not have had the opportunity to go to otherwise. I wanted to be a musician who could play, rather than teach, for a living and joining the RAF has meant that I am able to do that. It was a big decision, but despite the initial difficult training I have enjoyed myself so far and I am glad I decided to join the RAF.