Hello all, I’m back!

Apologies for the gap in updates, but I hope my mother has been keeping you all informed of how I’ve been doing. Last week was really great! We have started having the lessons that you learn early on whilst on Flight – so having done this already, I found the classes pretty easy but nevertheless, it was a good refresher.

We also went for a walk on Wednesday through the woods in Halton and along the canal. It was so nice to get out and about, see the Autumn leaves, get some fresh air, and to chat to each other and the corporals in a more relaxed setting!

Thursday saw us going on a trip to RAF Lakenheath, which is an American airbase in Suffolk. The 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW) is part of the United States Air Force Third Air Force, assigned to HQ Air Command Europe, and is based at RAF Lakenheath, England. The 48 FW is the only F-15 wing based in Europe. It was given the name “Statue of Liberty Wing” on 4 July 1954 and remains the only USAF unit with both a name and a numerical designation.

The 48 FW operates in support of US Air Forces Europe, US European Command, and NATO.

It was incredible! Like a mini American city just in the middle of the Suffolk countryside! They have everything you could need as an American working abroad – a TacoBell, an American post office and you can use US dollars to pay for things! They did drive on the left though! We were taken on a bus tour of the base and even got the chance to go up the Air Traffic Control tower and get the chance to see the aircraft zooming past during their practice time.

It was so loud (fast jets in close proximity!) and really very interesting. It was a great idea to take us on a trip there as it gave us an understanding of how an airforce from a different country goes about running their daily business. We gained a deeper appreciation of some of the differences and some similarities between the American Air Force and the Royal Air Force. I hope we can organise a trip to another base soon as I would love to see in more detail how an operational British air base works.

On Friday we had our daily rehab session and then an inspection by two corporals. The girls were at a good standard, however the boys’ efforts didn’t quite make the standard, therefore they had to do a further clean of their block before they were allowed to go home for the weekend.

I spent the weekend in Birmingham with the girls from my old flight who have started the nursing course I was supposed to be on. It was quite difficult to see how everyone had moved on and were enjoying getting stuck into their new jobs, but on the other hand it was so great to see everyone and catch up.

I seem to be doing quite well in rehab at the moment and the physiotherapist has said that he’ll assess me at the end of this week to check whether I can be moved on to more impact exercises. This would be a big step forward for me in my rehabilitation programme and I am very much hoping it can happen soon so that I can get back into basic training. Fingers crossed!

I hope everyone is well and had a great fireworks night on Saturday!

AC Doyle (Alex)