Fresh into his role as 11 Group's Assistant Chief of Staff Plans, Air Cdre Donal McGurk visited the Operational Training Centre (OTC) to see how personnel are prepared for deployment anywhere in the world.
Run to NATO standards, the OTC trains individuals from across the RAF to form a cohesive team which might one day be called upon to perform the headquarters function on any operation. From meeting for the first time, personnel learn how to coordinate functions ranging for logistics and welfare to managing media interest in a matter of days.
Sitting as part of the 'press pack' for one training serial, Air Cdr McGurk was impressed with what he had seen in just a short time. He said: "We understand the kind of key adversaries we could be facing so we can train and prepare for those missions. The challenge is it's very dynamic we demand a lot from people. Fortunately, we've got very good people.
I haven't seen much yet of the people being trained. But I have had to spend time with the OTC as the training team. They've been really impressive their passion for what they're delivering. They're quite inspiring, frankly."
