Number 24 Engineer Apprentice Intake formed at the RAAF School of Technical Training (RSTT), RAAF Base Wagga Wagga, NSW, on 10th January 1970. About 120 fifteen and sixteen year old boys from around Australia, and two from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, commenced their formal Stage 1 initial training on 12 January 1970 in six training flights formed by grouping members in alphabetical order. The first ten weeks of training comprised subjects normally completed by all recruits entering the Royal Australian Air Force - drill, general service knowledge, character development, weapons training and more drill. During that period apprentices also undertook refresher training in mathematics, physics and English to prepare them for their initial trade training. The highlight of initial training was a trip to RAAF Base Williamtown by C130 Hercules designed to assist the apprentices in selecting their preferred trade for Stage 2 of their training. A lesser highlight was being ‘rumbled’ by members of No 23 Intake one Saturday night early in the training. As a consequence of their act, 23 Intake apprentices were made to ‘panic’ (clean to within an inch of life) our accommodation blocks while we were sent to the pool for a swim – not a good way to set up future relations with a senior intake.

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​​​​​​​​​​​​​No 1 Flight January 1970 

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At the end of 10 weeks of initial training, apprentices then went on

to basic trade training comprising machine shop work, welding

, blacksmithing and basic hand skills training. Technical Drawing

and English were the key academic subjects taught in this phase.

Basic hand skill training involved inordinate time in the Basic Fitting

Hangar trying to file blocks of metal into smaller, much squarer

blocks of metal, that were then scraped to make them perfectly

flat. The only relief to that tedium came in visits to the ‘Basic Club’

(toilets across the road) to read the graffiti that had accumulated

on its walls since 1940.