As an RAF Mover, you will be responsible for planning and executing the movement of RAF personnel and cargo by road, rail, air and sea.
Logistics Movers are responsible for the movement of troops and cargo according to RAF operational needs. You will operate IT systems, load and unload transport aircraft and accompany cargo all over the world.
You could be checking-in passengers flying out on operations or operating forklift trucks and specialist vehicles to load cargo and baggage to transport aircraft. It could be your job to plan aircraft loads using IT systems, or calculate aircraft weights and balances using pen and paper with weight and balance paperwork. You could work in a port where shipments of cargo and explosives are handled, or help put together an under-slung load for a helicopter. Like most people in the RAF, you will probably move jobs every few years, and each job is known as a tour. Within your first few years, you will probably be detached overseas for anything from a few days to a few months. You may also have a long-term posting to one of our bases, such as RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
TYPICAL RESPONSIBILITIES
- Check in passengers and cargo flying out on operations
- Operate a forklift and other vehicles to load freight for transport
- Plan loads using logistical IT systems
- Opportunity to drive and operate specialist aircraft handling equipment
TRAINING AND CAREER
TRAINING YOU’LL RECEIVE
Your career will start with a 10-week Basic Recruit Training Course at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire. The course is designed to help you adjust to a military environment. As well as fitness and military training, you’ll also learn about the RAF lifestyle and gain your Functional Skill in Mathematics and English.
SPECIALIST TRAINING
Your next step will be a specialist training course at the Defence Movements Training Squadron (DMTS), RAF Brize Norton, which lasts approximately 18 weeks. This course will give you a basic understanding of your role as a Logistics Mover, which includes transport procedures and regulations, aircraft loading and the handling of passengers and cargo. At the end of the course you will be on your way to gaining an Aviation Ground Operative Apprenticeship.
ONGOING TRAINING/DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES:
As your career progresses, the RAF will continue to train you in new skills. After further training courses, you will qualify to plan aircraft loads, calculate weights and balances and handle dangerous goods. There are also opportunities for management and leadership training and to complete a range of driving qualifications.
YOUR FIRST TOUR
For your first tour, you will go to the Movements Conversion Unit (MovCU) at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire for a period of mentored work. On successful completion of this phase, you will be posted on to 1 Air Mobility Wing (1 AMW) also at RAF Brize Norton on to either the Air Movements Squadron (AMS) or the United Kingdom Mobile Air Movements Squadron (UKMAMS). On the AMS you will load and unload aircraft, complete the related documentation and handle both passengers and cargo. You will also receive structured, competency checks, which build on the formal training you received at the DMTS. As part of UKMAMS you will be in a Force Readiness Cycle preparing or deploying for Operations anywhere in the world.
YOUR FUTURE CAREER PROSPECTS/PROGRESSION
After completing one year’s total service, you will be eligible for promotion to Senior Aircraftman, providing you pass Trade Ability Tests and Basic Trade Training. Further promotion to the rank of Corporal and beyond is on merit by competitive selection and is subject to you completing your Further Movements Training and positive annual assessments.
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
The Diploma and Apprenticeship you can gain are as valuable in the civilian world as they are in the RAF – which means that whenever you decide to leave the RAF, you will be well placed to find a new job, for example:
- Freight Forwarding Agent
- Customs Agent
- Cargo Agent (Air, Land and Sea)
- Cargo & Baggage Handler
- Shipping and Receiving Agent
- Passenger Check