Isaac lands dream career with RAF thanks to Uniformed Services course and tutors

Isaac, 18, will start training with the Royal Air Force in February and feels “prepared” thanks to his experiences during the two-year, Level 3 vocational course, where he excelled with two Distinction grades and a Merit.

He credits tutor Dave Long, who is also a former Marine Commando and current RAF Regiment Gunner, for shaving four minutes off his personal best 2.4km running time to place him comfortably within the cut-off point for the military body’s fitness test.

Issac is also appreciative for the assistance Dave and Kyle Alexanders - his tutor last year - gave him during the RAF’s application process.

Former Intelligence Officer Kyle is a current Army Reserve Education Officer who is now our Sport & Uniformed Services Curriculum & Standards Manager.

Raft Building and High Ropes trips, meanwhile, have enhanced Isaac’s team-work skills whilst he’s been on the course and he believes every element of the UPS diploma has been relevant to his future occupation, with its focus on law and politics broadening his knowledge in those important areas, too.

Reflecting on the value of his two years on Campus, Isaac said: “When I was thinking about what I could do after my GCSEs at school, I wanted to just focus on one main subject that would help me out in life and that’s what I found with the UPS course. I came to an Open Event at College and spoke to Kyle, who told me about his journey with the Army and how he had helped people on the course get into the Forces, so I thought that would be my best way of getting into the RAF because I’d be receiving help from people who have been through the process before. 

“When he was our tutor in the first year, Kyle helped me with my application and, then, when Dave came in as a new tutor, he opened my eyes to everything I needed to do because he is still a Reservist, so he helped me absolutely tonnes in terms of passing my medical and my fitness, which was great.

“He made sure we all got to the fitness levels we needed for our next steps. For me, to get in the RAF, I needed to run 2.4km run in 13 minutes. 

“I could do it in 15 minutes before he helped me, but now I can do it in 11 thanks to his sessions in the gym, on the playing fields or, on a sunny day, during a lap of the Knavesmire!”

Isaac added that he and others on the course have thrived in an environment where many of the students have clear ideas on the occupational pathway they want to pursue or are equally as ambitious about progressing on to university studies, with the diploma a strong option for anybody wanting to go down either route.

“Everyone is striving for similar things on the course, whether that’s aiming to join the RAF, Navy, Army, Police or become a Paramedic, so you feel links with the friends you make at College,” Isaac pointed out. “I also loved the trips we went on.

“As well as raft building and high ropes challenges, we visited unis, because Higher Education is another route you are being prepped for on the course. Law and politics provided the main bulk of our work during the first year and, if I’d wanted, I could have looked to do either at uni and target a career that’s related to that in the Military, because you could be a Law Officer and support people who might have been court-martialled. 

“Even though I’m not going down that route, I still found it really helpful, too, because you do go quite in-depth and a lot of it does relate to the Forces. I never knew the term whistle-blowing, for example, but now know it’s a primary military term, because you’re obliged to inform your superior officer if you see something that is being done wrongly or illegally in your unit.”

Isaac went on to express how he enjoyed the sporting and athletic aspects of the qualification and believes that the quality of tuition gives everybody on the course an opportunity to prosper.

“My advice to anybody considering doing UPS would be to make sure you listen to the tutors, because they can help you out more than you think,” he declared. “All the staff give you scaffolding. 

“They don’t just hand over work and leave you to it. You get detailed information and everything about the course is great, because every bit of it links together.”

Isaac’s interest in the RAF was first sparked when a friend recommended the York Air Cadets to him at the age of 16, admitting now that he was immediately “hooked” and knew what he wanted to do for a career.

He enjoyed aviation lessons and experienced flying in a glider, a small propellor aircraft and a helicopter, and hopes to return to his Cadet squadron when he has completed his RAF training to share his journey and inspire current and future recruits. 

First, though, Isaac will start Phase 1 of his training at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire – a 10-week course that includes a break in the middle.

He will then move on to Phase 2 at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where he will complete 12 to 18 weeks of specialist training, focussing on the three job roles he has chosen as career pathways.

“The first role I have gone for is Logistics Mover because I want to travel the world and it will mean I would be loading and unloading aircraft for spells of time in different countries,” he explained. “The second role I am going for is a Weapons System Operator, where you can be working on submarine-tracking aircraft like P-8A Poseidons and my job would be operating the machinery onboard that sends out sonar signals to figure out locations

“The third role would potentially see me staying on base because I’m thinking about Dog Handling or working with the Regiment, which is all about defence and includes multiple departments like heavy weaponry, sniper, assault and anti-air.”

As he leaves Campus and takes his life-changing next steps, meanwhile, Isaac is in no doubt about the extent to which his time on Sim Balk Lane has readied him for what lies ahead.

“I feel nervous, but prepared,” he answered when asked to describe his emotions prior to the beginning of his training. “I’m nervous about choosing the Military over my family, because I know there will be a lot of time away from them with the amount of travelling I’ll be doing, but I also feel prepared, because I’ve been waiting for years to do this and the UPS course has helped me so much in terms of that preparation.”

To learn more about our Uniformed Protective Services course, click here

If you would like to meet our expert team of tutors, discuss any of our courses with them and view our facilities, then please consider our next Open Event on Tuesday 7th October (5.30pm-8pm). Register a place here