An Cosantóir

28 A HISTORY OF THE IRISH AIR CORPS TECHNICAL TRAINING SCHOOL Introduction As the Irish Air Corps celebrates its centenary much focus will naturally be on the aircraft and the pilots that flew over the skies of Ireland and beyond throughout the first century of Air Corps operations. It is important also to celebrate the achievements of the Air Corps engineering and maintenance organisations that have kept those aircraft serviceable and operable over the years. In particular, it is appropriate that we celebrate the Irish Air Corps Tech- nical Training School which was the first educational training facility dedicated to training aircraft apprentices in Ireland and is now proudly in its ninth decade of continuous operation. Background When the Irish Air Corps was first established many of the staff had previously served with the Royal Flying Corps or elsewhere in the British Armed Forces. However, by the early 1930s it was clear that there was a need for the Air Corps to train its own mechanics to maintain and service the fleet. To this end, the proposal to establish a dedicated school for the education and training of aircraft apprentices was approved and in 1936 the Department of Defence established the Air Corps Apprentice School, under its first Commanding Officer Captain Basil Peterson BE and a civilian Chief Instructor Mr P. Dunne. The establishment of the Apprentice School, which combined formal 'off the job' education with 'on the job' work practice, was a radical innovation for its time, as conventionally apprentices 'served a fixed-period of time' with an expe- rienced tradesman, learning by osmosis in a time honoured but unstructured and largely unvalidated manner. It was also a progressive initiative as prior to the establishment of the Apprentice School, apprentices in all trades were vir- tually a closed shop to those not related to tradesmen who could take them on as apprentices and pass on their skills. The newly formed Apprentice School however selected candidates regardless of their background, depending on their ability, aptitude and prior education. Notwithstanding this clear infringe- ment of then prevalent restrictive practices, the government at the time was able to secure agreement from the trade unions that, upon returning to civilian life, military trained apprentices could take up civilian tradesmen's roles. The Apprentice School Over the 86 years since it was established the Apprentice School attracted talented young men and later young women from all over Ireland, gaining what was for most a life changing opportunity to work in the exciting world of aeronautical engineering and offering the prospect of future well paid work in the burgeoning aviation industry. Since the recruitment of the first class of 24 apprentices in March 1936, over 2,300 apprentices have graduated from the Apprentice School. The terms of enlistment then as now included a minimum 9 year commitment full-time service with an additional 3 years in the reserves. The apprenticeship training occupied the first 4 years of full-time service, typically comprising 2 years of 'off the job' learning in the Apprentice School, followed by a final 2 years 'on the job' training in the different engineering and maintenance hangars. The Apprentice School itself has its own purpose-built building with adjacent workshop and hangar, located at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, where the apprentices are directly exposed from the start to the full spectrum of aviation activities of a live operational service. The experiential learning garnered from direct exposure to working aircraft systems and operations is incalculable and is credited with ex-Air Corps apprentices being highly regarded by the civilian aviation sector when they leave the Defence Forces. The school has benefited from a mix of both civilian instructors bringing experience from the wider aviation industry and military instructors who were themselves former graduates of the Apprentice school, returning with practical operational experience. There has always been a family tradition of children of past and currents graduates from the Apprentice school following in their parents' footsteps. The current RSM in No 3 Ops Wing, John Greene's' son, Cpl David Greene is a servicing technician. While the annual intake of apprentices has been predominantly male, since 1991 female apprentices have been recruited. In 2021 the Apprentice School welcomed the arrival of the daughter of one of the first female graduates of the Apprentice School as a new apprentice. Learning about piston engines Watch this! Learning about electrics Getting to grips with the tail rotor of an Alouette III A HISTORY OF THE IRISH AIR CORPS TECHNICAL TRAINING SCHOOL (FORMERLY THE IRISH AIR CORPS APPRENTICE SCHOOL) By Colin Roche Comdt, OC TTS

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