It is a job with a great deal of responsibility as the equipment you handle is often extremely dangerous and safety is always crucial. There is also plenty of variety; from quite early in your career, you could be arming aircraft with bombs, guided weapons, missiles, loading aircraft guns or working on an aircraft flight line, servicing aircraft and preparing them for flight. You will be responsible for the servicing, maintenance and repair of ejection seats, aircraft gun systems and missile launchers. You will have other responsibilities too such as the maintenance, care and issue of the weapons used by your station, including rifles, pistols and machine guns, as well as heavier weapons such as mortars used by the RAF Regiment.
You could be responsible for the safe storage and control of aircraft weapons and flares and also the building and the fitment of smart weapons and flares to the aircraft.
Like most people in the RAF, you could move jobs every few years as part of your through service career management and have the opportunity to diversify and experience a wide range of jobs and equipment (each job is known as a ‘tour’). You will be able to set preferences for the type of tour you would like to undertake and there is also the opportunity to undertake roles outside of your trade. Within your first few years, you will get the opportunity to deploy overseas in support of the RAF’s mission.
