OASC

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OASC - Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre - based at RAF College Cranwell

For anyone wanting to be either an Officer or NCO Aircrew in the Royal Air Force, you must first complete OASC.

Split into to two Phases - Phase One and Phase Two which last up to 4 days.

Day 1 - Arrive at around 1500

The first day is a chance for you to meet your fellow candidates who you will be partaking OASC with (normally about 25 people per course). After an initial brief from one of the Boarding Officers (normally a Sqn Ldr) you will be free to have dinner and use the bar facility.

Day 2 - Up bright and early at 0600 when the internal fire alarm goes off.

After a decent breakfast you will spend your first morning completing what are known as Aptitude Tests. These computer based exercises are designed to test your hand eye co-ordination, mental capacity, problem solving ability, verbal reasoning etc. After 6 hours of tests you will be given a debrief by one of the boarding Officers who will tell you if you have passed the tests for your chosen branch choices.

After a fulfilling lunch you will begin your Medical examinations by having a hearing test, urine test and having your height, weight and reach measured. You will then go over to the gym and complete a Fitness Test consisting of the Bleep Test, maximum Press-ups in a minute and maximum Sit-ups in a minutes. Your fitness is scored on a scale from 1-4 and this goes towards your overall score at the end of OASC

After dinner you are then free to socialise in the bar and prepare yourself for the day to come

Day 3 - Woken up bright and early again at 0600

After breakfast it is straight back into the Medical examinations. This time consisting of an eye test and a full physical check up. After this you will then have a debrief by one of the Medical Officers who will tell you if you are fit for the branch choices you have chosen. After this you will then have a lengthy Interview which lasts about 45 - 50 minutes in which you will be expected to sell yourself as a person and show a good knowledge of the Royal Air Force, current affairs (both in the World and in the UK) and have an understanding of NATO, the UN and the EU.

This is now the end of Phase One. Anyone who does not meet the required standard in all of the tested areas will be sent home, leaving around 12 people to progress onto Phase Two

After a lunch full of relief, you are thrown straight away back into the thick of it. After changing into some fashionable green coveralls you will each be put into a Syndicate with 5 - 6 other people and given a number (e.g. D4 means; delta syndicate number four). You are now being assessed on your leadership and team work abilities. The first task is a Discussion Exercise where your group is given a number of topics to debate in an open forum. After this you will carry out the Group Planning Exercise where your are given 20 minutes to read through a hypothetical scenario and then a further 20 minutes to come up with a solution as a group and present it to the Boarding Officers

You can now descend into the Command Task Hanger where you will be presented the Hanger Familiarisation Brief. In short this teaches you the general rules for use on the various command tasks and explains how to make different types of bridges from planks and rope. Your Syndicate will then be given 30 minutes to complete a Leaderless Command Task where the Boarding Officers will be able to see the natural leaders emerge.

After dinner you are free to socialise in the bar and look back on the immense day that you have endured.

Day 4 - The last day and the last time you will be woken up at 0600

After breakfast you will be briefed and then complete an Individual Planning Exercise. Very similar to the Group Planning Exercise except this time you are only given 20 minutes to come up the solution by your self and then spend 10 minutes being quizzed by the Boarding Officers on your plan. The last exercise of the day and indeed OASC are the Command Situation Exercises (Command Tasks). Here each person in the syndicate will be given a lead on a different command task where you are given 2 minutes to plan the task and only 13 minutes to complete it.

Now that the testing phase is over there is a quick debrief where you must confirm your final branch choice

After a final goodbye lunch you are then on your way back into the civilian world. It might have only been 4 days but it feels like you have spent at least a month there and have gotten to know your fellow candidates very well.

You will be notified within 3 weeks as to whether of not you have passed OASC. If you have passed you will then go into competition against everyone else who has passed OASC and applied for the same branch choices. If you do get in as NCO Aircrew you will start basic training at RAF Halton and then complete your training at RAF College Cranwell . If you are successful as an Officer you will start Initial Officer Training (IOT) at RAF College Cranwell.

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