The first couple weeks back for a new year involves a lot of updating of compulsory annual training, such as firefighting, first aid, occupational health and safety, and for a lucky few, physical fitness tests. I wasn't due for another PFT until closer to June this year, thanks to a lucky(?) clerical error in my favour last year, which has meant I haven't actually done a PFT since passing one in week eight of rookies circa August 2007. However, I wasn't so fortunate this time around, by finding myself on the list for a PFT last Monday.
What I was worried most about, I passed with no troubles - the push-ups. I'm not a fan of push-ups at the best of times, and usually train up for a PFT by doing push-ups until fatigue point just before bed each night. I used to do the same with sit-ups back in boot camp, practicing with other girls that weren't otherwise occupied with cleaning weapons or ironing (such is life!). The alternative exercise to push-ups is the flexed arm hang, which I couldn't do at all back in the days when I was first seeing a personal trainer to get fit enough for enlistment. Weighing ten or so kilograms more than I do now also didn't help with relying on my puny arms to support my whole body weight. However, before I realised that push-ups were another metric used in the PFT, I worked on all manner of exercises to build my core, arm, and back muscles to the point where I could hang for long enough.
I was less concerned with sit-ups, considering in a circuit training session the previous week, I had been able to do the requisite amount. Whether it was because I hadn't slept or eaten enough to restore my energy reserves and rebuild the abdominals I'd worked in that session, or because I'd made the foolish choice of having my feet off the mat as opposed to on the mat (which even the PTI Sergeant admitted was a slight biophysical disadvantage I was giving myself), I don't know, but I missed the sit-ups target by two. I tried again with my feet on the mat about ten minutes later, but my feet kept coming up off the floor, my abs had nothing left to give, and I said I'd try the walk before coming back to attempt the sit-ups with feet held (which use slightly different muscles).
As for the walk, well it was definitely deceptive. I've never done the walk option before, as we didn't have a choice of it in recruits (that I knew of), because we were expected to do the run. I didn't trust my post-Christmas cardiovascular ability enough to get the right pace for the run though, so I thought choosing to walk would be easier. Boy, was I wrong. The cracking pace required to make the time target was more of a slow jog than a brisk walk, considering how short my legs are and how useless swinging arms and stepping out is for keeping the speed up. I used a guy that was pacing along listening to an iPod (another thing I didn't know we were allowed to have for PFTs!) to mark my time, but we ended up both missing out by four seconds.
Four seconds, and two sit-ups, what's the big deal, you may ask. Much like the military doesn't care if you beat the targets by seconds, minutes, fives, or tens - a pass is a pass and a fail is a fail. So I've now got 90 days to redeem myself, with the opportunity to retest any time between now and some time in April, in order to avoid further reproach (baby's first Record Of Conversation! Argh!) and regain my Individual Readiness aka deployability. I was slightly pissed off with myself for missing my targets so marginally (I probably deserved to miss them by heaps, considering how much I ate and how little I did over my summer holidays), but took it all as the kick in the butt I need to get cracking on my physical state in 2009.
I already had plans to start yoga, boxing, and Krav Maga this year. I'll tone down the running until it starts getting interesting again, but I am interested to see what these three different yet related disciplines can do for me with some serious practice. For those not in the know, Krav Maga is a military hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel, which assumes no quarter will be given, and emphasizes threat neutralization (according to Wikipedia). I'm basically doing it for fitness and self-defence, and considering its military (and quite practical) roots, I didn't think I'd have a problem with being allowed to partake in it.
That's part of the joys of being government property, you see. Even though we ran around with webbing, rifles, and CBRND suits in 30 degree heat, threw ourselves over and under logs, ropes, chains on an obstacle course, and did numerous battle PT sessions hauling around logs, ropes, tyres, stretchers and trucks, if anyone wishes to participate in organised sport during their spare time, they need permission from the RAAF. I'm not too sure on the definition of organised sport, but considering a friend of mine struggled to be allowed to practice and teach Judo (despite being a State champion) because it wasn't recognised by the RAAF as a permissible sport, I was a little wary of admitting my potentially un-approvable extracurricular intentions.
I thought I'd do the right thing anyway (not entirely convinced by annual Fraud and Ethics training), and ask my Flight Sergeant for the 'permission to partake in outside sport' form to fill in. Just in case Krav Maga is not on the white list (even though there's another RAAFie practicing that does have permission to play!), or Iyengar yoga is seen as a national threat of some kind, or non-contact boxing is only allowed during RAAF supervised PT sessions. Part of filling in this form is seeking approval at the unit level (even though I'm sure the Commanding Officer has better things to do than sign off on everyone's voluntary sporting activities), but I thought I had a pretty good case seeing as working towards being fighting fit can only be an advantage.
Imagine my surprise when the reply from FSGT was that he could give me the form, and was happy to set the wheels in motion for me to get it signed off in the right manner, but not until I was IR current. In essence, this means I may not be medically covered if an injury occurs to me whilst I take part in 'unapproved sport', and following that sort of logic, I shouldn't be doing any extracurricular sporting activity until I am deemed 'medically fit' again. Time to play spot the Catch-22, perhaps? One would think that having failed a PFT, I should be encouraged to do anything (in my spare time or otherwise) that will increase my fitness, and therefore my prospects of passing a PFT in the near future, not discouraged.
I'm tempted to look up the relevant Defence Instructions on such rulings, to see if I have anything to wield against FSGT for doing this, but I've already been told by my immediate SGT that I should do whatever it takes to get fit again, and in the event of any injury, just say I fell down drunk or something similar. Like that's much more honourable/believable!
Sunday, January 25
Saturday, January 17
the year in preview
I've only been back at work for a week, but I can already tell that it's going to be a pretty busy 2009. Christmas/New Year break was fun, spent mostly in Melbourne, but stopping at Canberra, Wangaratta, and Terrigal along the way there and back. Clocked up some much needed kilometres on the new/old car, caught up with friends and family, and thankfully didn't get called up to do any RAAFesque duties.
I'll start with some not-so-breaking family news. While talking to my Mum and Aunt about someone who ran into me last year while I was attending the International Women's Day Dinner at Telstra Dome, I found out that this woman's father worked in the Air Force with my Grandfather. I didn't even know my maternal Grandfather was in the Air Force! I'm guessing it was for Taiwan, seeing as that's where my Mum grew up, but who knows. I'm determined to learn Mandarin properly, and go back to Taiwan to research more of this untranslated side of my family's flying history. Maybe it's something in the blood, which could explain other relatives on my Mum's side working for Cathay Pacific, and my own brother's fascination with aviation.
I think I remember seeing photos of my Grandfather with medals, or at least ribbons/braids of some kind, but no one in my family told me there was any kind of Air Force connection when I first said I was enlisting. So much for being the first in the family to go the military route. Not only was my Grandfather in the Air Force, he was a fighter pilot! My Mum and Aunt continued bantering away about the odds of me coming across someone who was two degrees of separation from my Grandfather, while I was still gobsmacked about him being some kind of AFie! Funnily enough, the woman that spotted me at the Telstra Dome thought I was with the Victoria Police band (who were performing that night), because I was in my service dress blues, which look quite similar to the Police uniform. I could have also been two or three degrees of separation from this woman, because she worked for Metropolitan Fire Brigade, which isn't too far removed from the Paramedic I'm with...
News on the future career front is that my application for LEAP, which is a scheme that basically covers the cost of the Bachelor of Business (Logistics and Supply Chain Management) course I'm attempting by distance learning, has been successful. This means that I've really got to get my rear into gear and pass all the subjects that I'm pledging to get through this year (four of them, yikes!), and spend the next couple years doing the equivalent of first year university. Through the application process, I've had to inform my superiors (and their superiors) of my intentions, which is basically to get a head start on the Business degree in order to be competitive for the Undergraduate sponsor scheme (full time study at a civilian university campus) or entry to ADFA via the Airman/Airwoman Access to the Academy Scheme (full time study in Canberra) by 2011. Not entirely concidental is the end of my initial sentence (sorry, Return Of Service Obligation) of 2 July, 2011, although I'm not sure what the payback is meant to be for however much of my degree the RAAF ends up footing the bill for. :)
So what does this all mean, in a nutshell? Well, for one, it doesn't look like I'm going to be saving up money for that little bar or cafe in the near future. My initial impetus for going the logistics path was a mixture of wanting to open up my career options so that I could possibly move back to or closer to Melbourne and live with my partner (RAAF cooks can only be posted to NT/QLD/NSW below Corporal rank), and also coming to the realisation that I don't think I'm physically and mentally capable of spending years in catering without wondering why I didn't give in to the curiosity of what I could do and where I could go if I pushed myself that little bit further. Also, if I do want to leave the RAAF eventually, I think the idea of a civilian job in logistics is much more appealing than one in hospitality (if it's not for my own business). My bar and cafe dreams have somewhat dwindled to the mobile coffee or kebab cart for now; I think that owning/running a small business is its own battlefield of sorts, and the sum total of my hospitality (and life!) experience hasn't readied me for that at all.
To put another twist in this tale, it turns out that I might not be a couple years away from wrangling my way to a more Victorian location, as it seems quite possible that my Paramagic partner can share this lovely State with me a lot sooner than 2011. There are no guarantees of course, but considering for the best part of a year I've thought that I'm going to be up here keeping the bench warm by myself for a couple years, this is amazing news to me. I'm still going ahead with the degree studies, and pursuing that ever elusive commission (if only to have an ending of sorts for this story!), but there's less pressure to ride the career rodeo just to be in a more geographically favourable position. This year I'm hoping that I'll be sent away on an exercise within Australia, that I'll get my Leading Aircraftwoman rank, and that I'll move into a non-military dwelling of some kind.
That's right - with a little luck, and a bit of work, this little baseling is going to go places.
I'll start with some not-so-breaking family news. While talking to my Mum and Aunt about someone who ran into me last year while I was attending the International Women's Day Dinner at Telstra Dome, I found out that this woman's father worked in the Air Force with my Grandfather. I didn't even know my maternal Grandfather was in the Air Force! I'm guessing it was for Taiwan, seeing as that's where my Mum grew up, but who knows. I'm determined to learn Mandarin properly, and go back to Taiwan to research more of this untranslated side of my family's flying history. Maybe it's something in the blood, which could explain other relatives on my Mum's side working for Cathay Pacific, and my own brother's fascination with aviation.
I think I remember seeing photos of my Grandfather with medals, or at least ribbons/braids of some kind, but no one in my family told me there was any kind of Air Force connection when I first said I was enlisting. So much for being the first in the family to go the military route. Not only was my Grandfather in the Air Force, he was a fighter pilot! My Mum and Aunt continued bantering away about the odds of me coming across someone who was two degrees of separation from my Grandfather, while I was still gobsmacked about him being some kind of AFie! Funnily enough, the woman that spotted me at the Telstra Dome thought I was with the Victoria Police band (who were performing that night), because I was in my service dress blues, which look quite similar to the Police uniform. I could have also been two or three degrees of separation from this woman, because she worked for Metropolitan Fire Brigade, which isn't too far removed from the Paramedic I'm with...
News on the future career front is that my application for LEAP, which is a scheme that basically covers the cost of the Bachelor of Business (Logistics and Supply Chain Management) course I'm attempting by distance learning, has been successful. This means that I've really got to get my rear into gear and pass all the subjects that I'm pledging to get through this year (four of them, yikes!), and spend the next couple years doing the equivalent of first year university. Through the application process, I've had to inform my superiors (and their superiors) of my intentions, which is basically to get a head start on the Business degree in order to be competitive for the Undergraduate sponsor scheme (full time study at a civilian university campus) or entry to ADFA via the Airman/Airwoman Access to the Academy Scheme (full time study in Canberra) by 2011. Not entirely concidental is the end of my initial sentence (sorry, Return Of Service Obligation) of 2 July, 2011, although I'm not sure what the payback is meant to be for however much of my degree the RAAF ends up footing the bill for. :)
So what does this all mean, in a nutshell? Well, for one, it doesn't look like I'm going to be saving up money for that little bar or cafe in the near future. My initial impetus for going the logistics path was a mixture of wanting to open up my career options so that I could possibly move back to or closer to Melbourne and live with my partner (RAAF cooks can only be posted to NT/QLD/NSW below Corporal rank), and also coming to the realisation that I don't think I'm physically and mentally capable of spending years in catering without wondering why I didn't give in to the curiosity of what I could do and where I could go if I pushed myself that little bit further. Also, if I do want to leave the RAAF eventually, I think the idea of a civilian job in logistics is much more appealing than one in hospitality (if it's not for my own business). My bar and cafe dreams have somewhat dwindled to the mobile coffee or kebab cart for now; I think that owning/running a small business is its own battlefield of sorts, and the sum total of my hospitality (and life!) experience hasn't readied me for that at all.
To put another twist in this tale, it turns out that I might not be a couple years away from wrangling my way to a more Victorian location, as it seems quite possible that my Paramagic partner can share this lovely State with me a lot sooner than 2011. There are no guarantees of course, but considering for the best part of a year I've thought that I'm going to be up here keeping the bench warm by myself for a couple years, this is amazing news to me. I'm still going ahead with the degree studies, and pursuing that ever elusive commission (if only to have an ending of sorts for this story!), but there's less pressure to ride the career rodeo just to be in a more geographically favourable position. This year I'm hoping that I'll be sent away on an exercise within Australia, that I'll get my Leading Aircraftwoman rank, and that I'll move into a non-military dwelling of some kind.
That's right - with a little luck, and a bit of work, this little baseling is going to go places.
how to recruit the right person for the job…
(A debrief of the first week back to work to follow; for now, here's the best of the jokes that were sent to me in the month or so that I had off. Translations in square brackets for the civilian impaired!)
Put about 100 Bricks in some particular order in a closed room with an open window. Send 2 - 3 candidates into the room and close the door. Leave them alone and come back in 6 hours to analyse the situation.
If they stack and count the bricks: Assign to RAAOC [Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps]
If they recount the bricks: Assign to Pay Corps
If they've done nothing useful except make a huge mess with the bricks: Assign to RAE [Royal Australian Engineers]
If the arrange the bricks in strange order: Assign to Clerks
If the make the bricks into a wall and insist on knocking it over with their heads: Assign to Infantry (without delay)
If they insist on eating the bricks with the belief of hardening up: Assign to Armour
If any bricks are broken and one candidate dobs them in: Assign him to MP's and the others to Infantry [Military Police]
If the candidates are throwing bricks in no particular direction: Assign to Artillery
If they've already knocked off for the day: Assign to the RAAF
If they're staring out the window: Assign to Navy
Finally, if they are all sitting around talking to each other and no bricks have moved… congratulate them and send them to Duntroon. [Royal Military College, for officer training]
Put about 100 Bricks in some particular order in a closed room with an open window. Send 2 - 3 candidates into the room and close the door. Leave them alone and come back in 6 hours to analyse the situation.
If they stack and count the bricks: Assign to RAAOC [Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps]
If they recount the bricks: Assign to Pay Corps
If they've done nothing useful except make a huge mess with the bricks: Assign to RAE [Royal Australian Engineers]
If the arrange the bricks in strange order: Assign to Clerks
If the make the bricks into a wall and insist on knocking it over with their heads: Assign to Infantry (without delay)
If they insist on eating the bricks with the belief of hardening up: Assign to Armour
If any bricks are broken and one candidate dobs them in: Assign him to MP's and the others to Infantry [Military Police]
If the candidates are throwing bricks in no particular direction: Assign to Artillery
If they've already knocked off for the day: Assign to the RAAF
If they're staring out the window: Assign to Navy
Finally, if they are all sitting around talking to each other and no bricks have moved… congratulate them and send them to Duntroon. [Royal Military College, for officer training]
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