Scott Marshall is a broadband engineer with BT and a leading airman in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force’s 4642 Squadron. He has recently returned from a tour in Basra.
You rely on your training. There’s no bedding in period or hanging about and watching other people."
Scott’s first shift started the moment his plane touched down in Basra. As a Leading Airman in the Royal Auxiliary Airforce’s 4624 Squadron, Scott was mobilised to help the Air Movements Wing manage the logistics of all aircraft coming into and out of the city. Scott got to grips straight away with the task in hand which involved anything from moving mail, cargo, medical supplies to ammunition and helicopters. A job he was well prepared for thanks to his pre-deployment training:
Our pre-deployment training is undertaken with the regular Air Force. Before we’re even looking at going we’ll have our own squadron training which gets us through the medical and all the admin. Then we get specialist training which for me was mainly to do with aircraft handling equipment. And you do need to get it right because you’ll be asked to use the equipment and do the job straight away. There’s no bedding in period or hanging about and watching other people.
Well prepared for the role
The work was extremely demanding. Planes flew in and out all day and all night and the work required a high degree of skill, both organisational and physical, and left no room for mistakes. However, he was able to integrate seamlessly with the Regulars as he’d gone on exactly the same courses, and his intensive pre-deployment training prepared him well for the highly pressured work he was required to do.