UK UK - Corrie McKeague, 23, Bury St Edmunds, 24 September 2016 #21

[Reallyodd]

Understood!

It would be 12 years sign up, though there are certain points in your career when you have a right to apply to leave. However, how long it takes to be released depends on how quickly your position can be filled.

I understood that he was coming up to his 3 years in October and could then apply to leave. I think this was why awol was discounted by the family.

 

[Reallyodd]

Yeah but it would easily be light by the time he got to this last bit and I bet farmers would be up and around early too. And possibly holidaymakers from Elveden Centre Parks as well. I know it's a long shot but if he's not in LF where do we go next?

The delivery driver at BM thought he was heading to Newmarket. So maybe we are back to the London theory which also ties in with alleged sightings of him near the Tesco roundabout at BSE trying to get a lift to London. That could also tie in with SP looking more closely into his 'lifestyle'.

 

[jessie]

The delivery driver at BM thought he was heading to Newmarket. So maybe we are back to the London theory which also ties in with alleged sightings of him near the Tesco roundabout at BSE trying to get a lift to London. That could also tie in with SP looking more closely into his 'lifestyle'.

Not disagreeing with you, but my first thought about that "Newmarket" comment was only just as a reference to the direction the sighting headed, no more. Make sense? A guy crossed the road towards the Esso garage, that's it - maybe to hitch from customers? Better than hitching on the main road at 4.30 am perhaps?
All we know is that C never made it back to Honington.

Does anyone else think the sighting near a very large Base is relevant, possibly being dropped off within yards of it ? ETA I mean Lakenheath of course.

 

[Cherwell]

Did the police ever put out an appeal for the man seen by the delivery driver to come forward?

I would have thought this would have been an obvious step for elimination purposes. There can't have been many people on foot around there at that time.

 

[greengables]

Not disagreeing with you, but my first thought about that "Newmarket" comment was only just as a reference to the direction the sighting headed, no more. Make sense? A guy crossed the road towards the Esso garage, that's it - maybe to hitch from customers? Better than hitching on the main road at 4.30 am perhaps?
All we know is that C never made it back to Honington.

Does anyone else think the sighting near a very large Base is relevant, possibly being dropped off within yards of it ? ETA I mean Lakenheath of course.

I though the same about maybe getting a lift from someone based at Lakenheath.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Yeah but it would easily be light by the time he got to this last bit and I bet farmers would be up and around early too. And possibly holidaymakers from Elveden Centre Parks as well. I know it's a long shot but if he's not in LF where do we go next?

I had a look at that route through the forest on satellite. For much of it there is either clear felled land, saplings or simply a wide grass verge along the sides of the roads he would have taken. Some of it is very open and although there was only a 4th quarter moon (so rising after midnight) there would have been some moonlight reflecting off the track which has a pale grey, almost white, surface. It wasn't like walking on unsurfaced tracks through deciduous woodland or forest where the trees overhang the tracks and keep out whatever light from reaching ground level.

 

[Shiressleuth]

I understood that he was coming up to his 3 years in October and could then apply to leave. I think this was why awol was discounted by the family.

Yeah I thought the 3 years was relevant too for some reason.

 

[Shiressleuth]

Not disagreeing with you, but my first thought about that "Newmarket" comment was only just as a reference to the direction the sighting headed, no more. Make sense? A guy crossed the road towards the Esso garage, that's it - maybe to hitch from customers? Better than hitching on the main road at 4.30 am perhaps?
All we know is that C never made it back to Honington.

Does anyone else think the sighting near a very large Base is relevant, possibly being dropped off within yards of it ? ETA I mean Lakenheath of course.

Very good point. Maybe the Lakenheath mess hall would be opening early or he knew personnel there and could cadge a lift.

 

[Shiressleuth]

I had a look at that route through the forest on satellite. For much of it there is either clear felled land, saplings or simply a wide grass verge along the sides of the roads he would have taken. Some of it is very open and although there was only a 4th quarter moon (so rising after midnight) there would have been some moonlight reflecting off the track which has a pale grey, almost white, surface. It wasn't like walking on unsurfaced tracks through deciduous woodland or forest where the trees overhang the tracks and keep out whatever light from reaching ground level.

A pleasant walk by the sounds of it but a long way nonetheless.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

A pleasant walk by the sounds of it but a long way nonetheless.

From A E Housman's A Shropshire Lad:

White in the moon the long road lies,
The moon stands blank above;
White in the moon the long road lies
That leads me from my love.

Still hangs the hedge without a gust,
Still, still the shadows stay:
My feet upon the moonlit dust
Pursue the ceaseless way.

The world is round, so travellers tell,
And straight though reach the track,
Trudge on, trudge on, 'twill all be well,
The way will guide one back.

But ere the circle homeward hies
Far, far must it remove:
White in the moon the long road lies
That leads me from my love.

 

[Shiressleuth]

From A E Housman's A Shropshire Lad:

White in the moon the long road lies,
The moon stands blank above;
White in the moon the long road lies
That leads me from my love.

Still hangs the hedge without a gust,
Still, still the shadows stay:
My feet upon the moonlit dust
Pursue the ceaseless way.

The world is round, so travellers tell,
And straight though reach the track,
Trudge on, trudge on, 'twill all be well,
The way will guide one back.

But ere the circle homeward hies
Far, far must it remove:
White in the moon the long road lies
That leads me from my love.

That literally sent shivers down my spine as I read that. How sad.

 

[Miss_French]

I understood that he was coming up to his 3 years in October and could then apply to leave. I think this was why awol was discounted by the family.

I can't remember all the points when you can apply to leave; when recruits sign their final paperwork in the careers office before starting their training the paperwork is always printed off fresh and read out as information could change, and the recruiters don't need to learn it as they've got the forms in front of them for a script.

I do know C hadn't served long enough to get the full resettlement package and have availability of all the courses for service leavers. It could have also taken up to 12 months for him to get out, depending on have how quickly they could have replaced him. RAF Regiment aren't deploying as much, so would depend on if they could have carried a gap for someone with certain weapons and driving qualifications.

 

[wellawoo]

Yeah I thought the 3 years was relevant too for some reason.

When I joined the army in 96 you signed on for 22 years. You had to do 3 years 3 months to repay what they had spent on training you and then after that you could give notice (you had to give a years notice) this may be similar in the RAF?
As far as depression goes the RAF would treat it if C wanted to stay in but probably wouldn't block him leaving if he wanted out, if he had a diagnosis and wanted put they would probably medically discharge him. I knew an RAF dental nurse who became an alcoholic. They put her on light duties and tried to sort it out on camp, we all took it in turns to go to her room on a night with something to do to take her mind of things. It didn't work and they sent her to rehab. She came back to camp and although we all kept an eye on her it was fine and she carried on with her career. With this in mind I don't think depression would be an issue for the RAF x


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[Miss_French]

Blimey do the RAF sign up for a minimum of 12 years that is a bit harsh - Unless of course it is different for Non commissioned Officer to Commissioned Officers.

The rest of course is unless they are found to be medically unfit and go down the medical discharge route. What ever it is not a quick discharge in most cases.

KR
Reacher

Digessing slightly from the main topic but yep, it's 12 years for airman/airwoman, including the roles where you can join straight in as a Sergeant (aircrew and ATC). It's the same for Commissioned Officers now, used to be minimum 16 years or aged 38, with possibility of extension depending on the rank you reached.

 

[Shiressleuth]

When I joined the army in 96 you signed on for 22 years. You had to do 3 years 3 months to repay what they had spent on training you and then after that you could give notice (you had to give a years notice) this may be similar in the RAF?
As far as depression goes the RAF would treat it if C wanted to stay in but probably wouldn't block him leaving if he wanted out, if he had a diagnosis and wanted put they would probably medically discharge him. I knew an RAF dental nurse who became an alcoholic. They put her on light duties and tried to sort it out on camp, we all took it in turns to go to her room on a night with something to do to take her mind of things. It didn't work and they sent her to rehab. She came back to camp and although we all kept an eye on her it was fine and she carried on with her career. With this in mind I don't think depression would be an issue for the RAF x


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Out of interest, where was the rehab she was sent too?

 

[wellawoo]

Out of interest, where was the rehab she was sent too?

Ooh now you're asking lol we were stationed in Bedfordshire and I seem to recall it being a couple of hours away but I'd be guessing if I named anywhere. I don't think it was military though, it wasn't Haslar x


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[Shiressleuth]

Ooh now you're asking lol we were stationed in Bedfordshire and I seem to recall it being a couple of hours away but I'd be guessing if I named anywhere. I don't think it was military though, it wasn't Haslar x


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I was born and raised in Beds nr leighton buzzard. We had a Raf base there . Closed now I believe.

 

[wellawoo]

I was born and raised in Beds nr leighton buzzard. We had a Raf base there . Closed now I believe.

There's a few in the area there, I was at the one that used to be USAF. Army had took it over by the time I got there.

Spent 3 years there, nice part of the country x


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[Shiressleuth]

There's a few in the area there, I was at the one that used to be USAF. Army had took it over by the time I got there.

Spent 3 years there, nice part of the country x


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Yes but many closed now as with these Suffolk bases. Closed or closing like the two in this case that dominate the area. Back to topic. Hopefully we may get a family MSM Or LE update this coming week.
But it is interesting to hear how RAF deal (or dealt) with alcoholism. Thanks for that.

 

[Amonet]

Not disagreeing with you, but my first thought about that "Newmarket" comment was only just as a reference to the direction the sighting headed, no more. Make sense? A guy crossed the road towards the Esso garage, that's it - maybe to hitch from customers? Better than hitching on the main road at 4.30 am perhaps?
All we know is that C never made it back to Honington.

Does anyone else think the sighting near a very large Base is relevant, possibly being dropped off within yards of it ? ETA I mean Lakenheath of course.

By saying the road-crosser seemed to be headed toward Newmarket, that seems to mean that he was on the BM to BSE side of the road and crossing over to the BSE to BM side of the road? This would be the wrong way around for Corrie if he'd hitched a lift and got out prior to the Fiveways roundabout. Having said that I haven't checked the location of the Esso on a map to see which side that is on.

I find the sighting to be suspicious. It's too perfect. 70 mph, refer to the twilight times in Melmoth's post and approx 4-4.30 am, and the driver can not only see a pink shirt (which he may be fitting in after-the-fact) but also the brown boots. So he's definitely filling in memories after-the-fact in that he wouldn't have been able to make out these specific colours at the time and speed. If it's near the roundabout then the driver must be slowing from 70mph (I'm a non-driver but you can't approach a roundabout at that speed). At any speed seeing someone running across the road will stand out at that time of night/early morning, and I presume at close to 70mph there'd be a part of the brain wondering if you need to hit the brakes to avoid this person, because they've stopped on the central reservation and you don't know exactly when they're going to cross? Or was driver going from BM to BSE and on that side of the road...which makes less sense to my brain as there doesn't feel like enough time to see the person cross and also stop at the barrier and then cross the other side....did the driver say he saw the person cross both sides or only one?

I can see someone sticking their foot on the barrier in the central reservation, but I can't see Corrie adjusting his jeans at the boots end at that point. It gives me an image of someone posing for the driver to explain how he could see so much detail in the dark. Sure, maybe someone did put their foot on the barrier to hop over the barrier. But I find it hard to believe colours were visible more than 'pale-ish shirt and trousers and dark boots', so I'm with Ironside on this one and calling it doubtful. Of course it should still be considered, but without any corroborative evidence it doesn't sound very strong to me.

The Brandon keys weren't Corrie's keys. It was months later, the keys looked like they were dropped in the past few hours, not months. It was a residential street with hundreds of garages and parking spaces, ergo the keys were from a car that was recently parked down that road. JMO.

The Esso garage would be a good place to get a drink, snack, or hitch a lift. But Corrie would also have to avoid being caught on CCTV and avoid every single person around the garage, with the possible exception of one who does give him a lift but doesn't come forward.

I don't think we have enough detail on the phone pings to map them out. We've now got newspapers telling us the pings went to Milton....but initially we were told that the pings stopped within a mile or so of the BM roundabout, and the times we have are all over the place and don't converge over time to anything solid, they just continue to be all over the place. If anything they are converging on the bin lorry times and not away from the bin lorry.