“


“I was worried about my Dad quite a lot but I wasn’t worried about him all of the time. I was worried when I saw things on the news about Afghanistan and Iraq.”


“I felt like I would never see him again.”


“There isn’t anyone around me that cares so I have to keep things to myself or talk to myself by writing or typing.”


“My Mum was in the RAF for 22 years, she left in March this year. My Dad is still in the RAF. It was my Mum who went to Afghanistan when I was 9 ½ and my brother was 3. She missed his birthday. We all hated her being away.”


It is clear that participants missed their parent/sibling while they were away and worried about them. However, the young people we spoke to were keen to talk about their parents and spoke with great pride about their operational duties.


We also sought to establish whether the younger members of the family felt able to talk to someone while their serving family member was away. The majority told us they would turn to their other parent, a friend or sibling if they needed to talk, but it is of some concern that 8% told us that they didn’t talk to anyone during their parent/sibling’s absence.


www.raf-ff.org.uk


9


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