Saving civilians from a disaster was the mission for public services students at West Nottinghamshire College last week.

Operation X was an interactive operation based on a humanitarian aid mission, specially staged by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on Thursday (23 November), designed to hone students’ communications and teamwork skills.

The group of 30 students, who are all considering careers in the uniformed public services, used their emergency planning and tactical skills during the two-hour mock mission led by Corporal Phill Davison and Corporal Ben Martin, from the RAF recruitment office in Lincoln.

Public services tutor Helen Grundy said: “Operation X was a brilliant way for students to work together on a timed and true-to-life interactive scenario. It showed them how different personnel have to work in a connected way on such a mission – like logistics and medical staff.

“Everyone worked very professionally on the operation to save people, using their communication and mathematical skills. It was very useful for students to hear more about the range of careers within the RAF which connected to the various roles they undertook on the mock mission.”

BTEC Level 3 Public Services Diploma student Jasmine Wood, 17, said: “The exercise was quite fun, but also tested how you react in stressful situations. It was very well-organised and I’d like to do more things like this in the future.

“Career-wise I’m considering becoming an air traffic controller in the RAF.”