</p> Genuine question mate. I'd always assumed that, in (recent) times of conflict, only a small proportion of our armed personnel actually saw action. Is this true? If it is then does a fall in numbers really affect our ability to perform effectively?</p>
I can answer that Depends what you mean by a small proportion. I can only speak for the RAF, being part of the Air Command setup here at High Wycombe. In some ways that statement is true, but try telling that the boys and girls out on the squadrons or other tactical, "front line" organisations. Their deployment turn around times for what are known as Out of Area commitments is getting alarmingly shorter and shorter. In other words, they are out there, back for a while and then out again. That, it could be argued, is what people join the RAF for, and some no doubt thrive on it. It is a fact though that this kind of situation eventually leads to breaking point. Morale is being stretched paper thin. A number of welfare initiatives are in place to sweeten things a little for the serving airman or officer and their families, but it is not enough. People are leaving, either through choice or because of the constant Manpower Drawdown exercises that are a fact of Service life across the board. This draining of manpower has a cumulative effect leading to SEVERE overstretch. Units at home and abroad cope with it, because that is what they do. Some might moan, some might complain very loudly, but the job gets done. I don't know what the answer is to any of this. It is nothing new though. I joined in 1970 and am a civil servant now, but these kind of problems have always been there. It is just a question of scale. When I handed in my uniform in 1994 we had over 80,000 in blue suits. Next year the figure will be about half. Quite a drop!
join the navy... im sat here surfing this thing..... moral at al time low out at sea , same story , deployments getting longer , time alongside shorter , back to back deployemnts are the norm rather than the exception now .... mind sayin that iv got 3 medels in 17 years , 2 were freebies and one was for sierra leone where we stayed 50 miles off the coast and never saw a shot fired in anger... so cant really complain... obviously everyone has there own little story but those guys in iraq and afghanistan deserve every credit they get cos i couldnt do it .. mind if id have my time again id have joined the raf , cucumber sandwiches anyone ??
do peopkle REALLY join the forces expecting to never see action or be posted abroad? it's like a postman being employed by Royal Mail and never expecting to deliver post. oh hang on....
RE: do peopkle REALLY join the forces expecting to never see action or be posted abroad? </p> I think what he's saying is that the turn round times are getting too short and it's affecting morale and efficiency. The fact that we take care of our servicemen's mental well-being is one of the reasons they usually get the three points for us. (Get the threepoints - that should do it.)</p>
I concur with what GloucesterRed says, overstretch is the key word here, the armed forces these days are being made to adapt a different role, one of an expeditionary force, going off here, there and everywhere at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately, speaking for myself here, this flexibilty must come at a cost. This cost at the moment is an alarming shortage of personell who find that there is more personal stability and money to be had outside the raf than in it. Speaking from a trade group 1 perspective here, my job entails signing in the aircraft log book to say it is fit to fly, in civil industry, this can only be done by a licensed engineer being paid upwards of 40-45k a year. They pay me 30.5k, which is hardly in line with civvy street. Also the lads who work for me, particularly in scotland, are only on around 26k and are expected on average to spend 4-5 months out of the country a year. Little wonder then that most are leaving quickly for opportunities off-shore on double the money fof the same or slightly longer away each year and i don't blame them. The government and the raf have got to realise pretty quickly that to keep the expertise that they train, they have to open the wallet a little further and sharpish. Whats that saying, pay peanuts, get monkeys, well people in the aircraft engineering side are far from this and that is why they are voting with their feet im afraid. We might not see "action" because most of us are away from the front line in the aircraft engineering side (apart from harriers,helicopters hence they are very short of people at the mo!) but most aircraft engineers did'nt join up to run about with guns, we joined up to fix aircraft. The raf regiment is there to do that job. I mean christ, if we had to do that then the shits really hit the fan hasn't it cos we would'nt be able to do our proper job. And anyway, aircraft engineers tried a bit harder at school to avoid the bullets! In short then, to be effective, we need the manpower to generate the aircraft to gain air superiority, at the mo, we definately don't have it and there are no signs of ever having it again. Time to pension,4 yrs,11months,11days left (hatsoff)
IDangerous, running round with guns They kill people, apparently. Don't know about you, but handling an SLR was the LEAST favourite part of my job when I was in. I was only TG17, so not in any way technically qualified like yourself, but like you I thought that working a bit harder at school would give me a pass to avoid the flying bullets and the trench digging. It worked! I am sure that nobody here at Air Command is complacent about the situation either on the flight line or the front line, particularly Air Marshal Sir Clive. I know he was up at Leuchars last May - did you get to hear his "Vision"? The problem is huge, right across the Services, and it will not get any better. I am still with the company because, basically, it is what I do. You know, loyalty and all that?? Hmm, right......
In the words of Sir Humphrey Appleby...... "A mere functionary". Or, to put it another way, Briefing and Co-ordination 3a. Does that help?
