Royal Navy training
Discussion
This is basically curiosity which is why I didn't post in the careers section.
I've been watching some Youtube videos of a TV series called 'Royal Navy Sailor school' covering new recruits in the initial 10 weeks training.
Judging from the series, this consists mostly of preparing for kit inspections, getting kit inspected, getting a rollocking for failing the kit inspection, and repeat. Plus the odd bit of drill and PT. What do they really learn in 10 weeks? Or is it really part of the selection process to ensure anyone who is going to quit does so as early as possible?
I've been watching some Youtube videos of a TV series called 'Royal Navy Sailor school' covering new recruits in the initial 10 weeks training.
Judging from the series, this consists mostly of preparing for kit inspections, getting kit inspected, getting a rollocking for failing the kit inspection, and repeat. Plus the odd bit of drill and PT. What do they really learn in 10 weeks? Or is it really part of the selection process to ensure anyone who is going to quit does so as early as possible?
Remember that what goes on at Raleigh is basic training (officially Phase 1 Initial Naval Training). It's main purpose is 'militarisation' - developing the personal traits, values and abilities that the RN needs of its people. After Raleigh comes Phase 2, which is where the new sailors go for their professional/branch training which is where they learn how to do a specific role in the Navy.
So Phase 1 is quite repetitive and a lot of it does revolve around drill, kit inspections, mess deck inspections and fitness tests. How shiny your shoes are or how neatly you can fold a shirt to A4 size are not, of themselves, important. But the values and standards they train in are the basis of everything else - if you're given a standard to meet and a method of doing it (your kit has to be folded this way and presented on your bed in this arrangement) then you have to do it. Crucially, everyone in your messdeck has to do it, because you're learning to work as a collective where the outcome of the task is more important than your individual score.
If you can't prove (and be trusted) that you can iron a shirt to a required standard or keep a shower block hygienic or march in time with a squad, what hope is there of giving you a lethal weapon, or a £million bit of machinery? Or just trusting you to live on a ship without endangering everyone else? Again, it's the collective responsibility - leaving a hatch open or even just not emptying a bin (or leaving gash and loose gear around the place) can be - and has been - the difference between a fire and flood being quickly dealt with or it taking hold and gutting an entire compartment.
So the basic personal values of 'do what you're told, how you're told to do it, be at the right place at the right time, and don't be a selfish prick' are mostly what Phase 1 is about, and it starts with being shouted at by Petty Officers about the creases in your trousers.
But there is more to it than that. If you want a Week by Week breakdown it goes something like:
Week 1 - A lot of admin, class introductions, kit issue, basic drill, basic PT, classroom topics on broad basics like Service Core Values, Ship's Routine, Rounds and 'Jackspeak' (naval vocab). First crack at the RN Fitness Test.
Week 2 - Heavy on drill and ramping-up frequency and standards of kit inspections, interspersed with classroom stuff (learning the ranks/rates, security brief, hygiene and cleanliness briefs, health and safety briefs)
Week 3 - Focus on teamwork and teambuilding. Out in the grounds of the establishment learning/doing map and compass navigation, 'build a raft','make a ropeway between two trees' type tasks, some cross-country walks. Camp out at night so learn fieldcraft (how to put up a tent, make a fire). Expect a very early unsociable start on Day 2 of the exercise with a practice 'emergency call'. Do the assault course.
Week 4 - Big all-encompassing kit muster where the standard is now very high - they're after immaculate standards now. The rest of the week focusses on seamanship - lines, ropes, bends and hitches (knots), a simulated Resupply At Sea exercise, and learning about standard ship equipment and how to use it.
Week 5 - Marinisation week. Classroom stuff about maritime law, navigation, rules of the road, buoyage etc. interspersed with time afloat crewing and driving small boats. Usually a second Fitness Test here.
Week 6 - Weapons training. Learning how to safely carry, maintain and use the SA80 rifle. Do your weapons handling test and a live-fire assessment on the range, followed by a session in the digital combat trainer. Get taught some basic 'green skills' (survival, camouflage, basic infantry tactics) from Royal Marines.
Week 7 - Another big kit muster where they want the standard to be even higher, and everyone solving all the shortcomings picked up on Week 4. Taken out to Dartmoor to do a cross-country navigation exercise in groups. How pleasant and easy this is depends hugely on the weather. As well as fitness and navigation skills, this is also a key point where the staff look at people's personal qualities (do you stay cheerful and focussed when it's freezing cold and rain is blowing horizontally into your face or do you become a sourpuss) and leadership potential, although these are being assessed every second of the course.
Week 8 - A highlight week. First Aid, get issues your respirator and taught how to put it on and take it off properly and quickly. I don't think they actually expose recruits to tear gas as part of this anymore. Then comes the damage control exercise in Havoc, the Damage Repair Instructional Unit (the simulator of the sinking ship). Everyone always says this is their favourite part of the entire training course.
Week 9 - Most of this week is spent living aboard HMS Brecon, a decommissioned minehunter moored offshore. This is to introduce you to the realities of living in very cramped, very close quarters. More kit and mess inspections now you've actually got to get your kit into the tiny amount of personal space available (that's why they're so hot on folding everything!). A round-the-clock watch schedule will be drawn up and you'll rotate around some of the key roles in the ship's routine and in the firefighting/damage control party, and then various exercises and scenarios will be thrown in at any and all times of the day and night.
Week 10 - Final PT assessment and fitness test - this is where you get pushed to the painful limit. Otherwise a week full of drill and parade practice to get everyone ready for the passing out ceremony. A few exams to finish off the classroom learning. Final rounds, conducted by the Officer in Charge of the course - so the highest possible standard but by this stage anyone who can't meet the standard won't be there so it's largely a formality and mostly a chance for the OiC to give the course and individuals some personal feedback and congratulations. Then it's the pass out parade and it all comes to a quick end!
I've probably missed some key points, and I have omitted nearly all the classroom and lecture hall periods, as well as the large amount of 'free time' that appears temptingly on the timetable but is anything but, because for at least 7 of these weeks if you have a single second of 'spare time' then there' something (probably multiple things) you're not doing that you should be doing. They find ways of filling the time!
So Phase 1 is quite repetitive and a lot of it does revolve around drill, kit inspections, mess deck inspections and fitness tests. How shiny your shoes are or how neatly you can fold a shirt to A4 size are not, of themselves, important. But the values and standards they train in are the basis of everything else - if you're given a standard to meet and a method of doing it (your kit has to be folded this way and presented on your bed in this arrangement) then you have to do it. Crucially, everyone in your messdeck has to do it, because you're learning to work as a collective where the outcome of the task is more important than your individual score.
If you can't prove (and be trusted) that you can iron a shirt to a required standard or keep a shower block hygienic or march in time with a squad, what hope is there of giving you a lethal weapon, or a £million bit of machinery? Or just trusting you to live on a ship without endangering everyone else? Again, it's the collective responsibility - leaving a hatch open or even just not emptying a bin (or leaving gash and loose gear around the place) can be - and has been - the difference between a fire and flood being quickly dealt with or it taking hold and gutting an entire compartment.
So the basic personal values of 'do what you're told, how you're told to do it, be at the right place at the right time, and don't be a selfish prick' are mostly what Phase 1 is about, and it starts with being shouted at by Petty Officers about the creases in your trousers.
But there is more to it than that. If you want a Week by Week breakdown it goes something like:
Week 1 - A lot of admin, class introductions, kit issue, basic drill, basic PT, classroom topics on broad basics like Service Core Values, Ship's Routine, Rounds and 'Jackspeak' (naval vocab). First crack at the RN Fitness Test.
Week 2 - Heavy on drill and ramping-up frequency and standards of kit inspections, interspersed with classroom stuff (learning the ranks/rates, security brief, hygiene and cleanliness briefs, health and safety briefs)
Week 3 - Focus on teamwork and teambuilding. Out in the grounds of the establishment learning/doing map and compass navigation, 'build a raft','make a ropeway between two trees' type tasks, some cross-country walks. Camp out at night so learn fieldcraft (how to put up a tent, make a fire). Expect a very early unsociable start on Day 2 of the exercise with a practice 'emergency call'. Do the assault course.
Week 4 - Big all-encompassing kit muster where the standard is now very high - they're after immaculate standards now. The rest of the week focusses on seamanship - lines, ropes, bends and hitches (knots), a simulated Resupply At Sea exercise, and learning about standard ship equipment and how to use it.
Week 5 - Marinisation week. Classroom stuff about maritime law, navigation, rules of the road, buoyage etc. interspersed with time afloat crewing and driving small boats. Usually a second Fitness Test here.
Week 6 - Weapons training. Learning how to safely carry, maintain and use the SA80 rifle. Do your weapons handling test and a live-fire assessment on the range, followed by a session in the digital combat trainer. Get taught some basic 'green skills' (survival, camouflage, basic infantry tactics) from Royal Marines.
Week 7 - Another big kit muster where they want the standard to be even higher, and everyone solving all the shortcomings picked up on Week 4. Taken out to Dartmoor to do a cross-country navigation exercise in groups. How pleasant and easy this is depends hugely on the weather. As well as fitness and navigation skills, this is also a key point where the staff look at people's personal qualities (do you stay cheerful and focussed when it's freezing cold and rain is blowing horizontally into your face or do you become a sourpuss) and leadership potential, although these are being assessed every second of the course.
Week 8 - A highlight week. First Aid, get issues your respirator and taught how to put it on and take it off properly and quickly. I don't think they actually expose recruits to tear gas as part of this anymore. Then comes the damage control exercise in Havoc, the Damage Repair Instructional Unit (the simulator of the sinking ship). Everyone always says this is their favourite part of the entire training course.
Week 9 - Most of this week is spent living aboard HMS Brecon, a decommissioned minehunter moored offshore. This is to introduce you to the realities of living in very cramped, very close quarters. More kit and mess inspections now you've actually got to get your kit into the tiny amount of personal space available (that's why they're so hot on folding everything!). A round-the-clock watch schedule will be drawn up and you'll rotate around some of the key roles in the ship's routine and in the firefighting/damage control party, and then various exercises and scenarios will be thrown in at any and all times of the day and night.
Week 10 - Final PT assessment and fitness test - this is where you get pushed to the painful limit. Otherwise a week full of drill and parade practice to get everyone ready for the passing out ceremony. A few exams to finish off the classroom learning. Final rounds, conducted by the Officer in Charge of the course - so the highest possible standard but by this stage anyone who can't meet the standard won't be there so it's largely a formality and mostly a chance for the OiC to give the course and individuals some personal feedback and congratulations. Then it's the pass out parade and it all comes to a quick end!
I've probably missed some key points, and I have omitted nearly all the classroom and lecture hall periods, as well as the large amount of 'free time' that appears temptingly on the timetable but is anything but, because for at least 7 of these weeks if you have a single second of 'spare time' then there' something (probably multiple things) you're not doing that you should be doing. They find ways of filling the time!
As someone who did 22 years in the RN.
TV shows like this only show you what they want to show you for viewing figures.
It would not make good TV to show the recruits polishing boots and cleaning everything to an inch of its life.
So a good b0ll0cking makes good TV?
Recruits learn discipline, teamwork, naval history, ropework, small arms training, phisical fitness (Gym, walking over Dartmoor and running everywhere).
Likewise if you watch the tv series's about life at sea it is mostly centred around the senior officers and useually some of the ratings with an 'interesting demeanour'.
Viewers don't want to see the endless watchkeeping and some poor sod i.e me trying to clean out the s
t pump at 02.00 when they have had no sleep for 2 days....bad PR!
TV shows like this only show you what they want to show you for viewing figures.
It would not make good TV to show the recruits polishing boots and cleaning everything to an inch of its life.
So a good b0ll0cking makes good TV?
Recruits learn discipline, teamwork, naval history, ropework, small arms training, phisical fitness (Gym, walking over Dartmoor and running everywhere).
Likewise if you watch the tv series's about life at sea it is mostly centred around the senior officers and useually some of the ratings with an 'interesting demeanour'.
Viewers don't want to see the endless watchkeeping and some poor sod i.e me trying to clean out the s
t pump at 02.00 when they have had no sleep for 2 days....bad PR!
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