Im Pooped peeps!!!

[Stax]

No, but should they or anyone else be expected to pay to go on det or a course? Food and accomodation if on a course, no money to take your car so you have to take a hire car and live for weeks or months with no transport, pay to eat up front and then claim later, pay for laundry as incidentals has been stopped, the list goes on. Plus the latest pi55er, pay to come to work as your SFA is too far to walk.

Mate of mine has just been posted to Coningsby, guess what? He's in SFA at Digby with no transport, he'll have to suck up the first 3 miles this year, then 6 the year after, then 9!!

I agree, it probably isn't fair, but my point is, it has never been fair to everyone over the years. Dependant on Unit/Airframe etc, it always depended on what Dets you got. F3? Sleepy PSAB or MPA, GR4? Ali Al Salem (although its now KAF) Harrier? All over the place due to its VSTOL capabilities. I know CT/FS Engineers that almost have a green card for the states they've been to Vegas so much, but I know Clerks and Stackers that have never been near the place. Bulk of TG 17 do embassy jobs, with one or two exceptions, I cant do VIP duties in my trade, but I can go on "green" tours and live in a hole in the ground. As to the Digby fiasco (I live in Coningsby) thats down to the DIO but if you hold out (which smacks of planning well in advance) you can get a 1/4 closer to camp, I know that because two of my lot are heading there and have 1/4s on main site, if he has no transport, he needs to tell them that. They did have a bus laid on from FMQs at Digby, but it was switched off because no one used it. When I was a sprog at Scampton, we had FMQs at Sobraon barracks and Faldingworth so its nothing new (in those days very few SAC's had a car)

As to courses, if you are in hotels, its paid for, you can get an advance if you need to. Claims are paid quickly when you put them in for food etc. If you go on the pi55 every night thats your choice. If you are at an RAF Unit, whats wrong with hunting down someone that lives in your area and sharing lifts. In the days before we could afford a car (let alone a 2nd car) thats what we did.

Most of the whinges I hear are about cutting rates/claims etc and, whilst I sympathise (I'm on HTD) when you question some people, they don't actually claim these rates anyway Its an automatic response because they hear other people doing it.

I know my opnions aren't popular and even I admit to preferring the "old days" but we have to be realistic and, if a youngster does want to make a creer out of it, give him a chance!

 

[Stax]

Agree with 99% of your post except the bit in bold, rate saving git!!!
DT_Xtremez_30:

Not me, I spent the feckin lot on beer and scran (with the obligatory teddy bear for the wife and kids)

I remember a bunch of us, whilst in Greece, contributing some of our rates towards a hoor for a young LAC on his first Det!

 

[Spurdog]

Some of the comments on here mention the fact the Airships don’t give a funk and that is probably true. You need to remember that for the majority of us the RAF is a job/career. For the vast majority of the ringers it is a social club. I very much doubt if they read The Goat, I expect they find somebody to read it for them, so your views on here are probably ignored.

The only chance you have to make any real comment is via the continuous attitude survey, if one gets sent to you. Luckily it is now available on the service intranet at http://brave.dasa.r.mil.uk. It took me about 20 minutes to complete and at the end there is a nice big box for you to put your comments in.

 

[dantura]

Am I working harder today?

IAL, you have to have done a real job to make that statement and lets face it, you spawn your way from one holiday to the next. DT_Xtremez_15:

Remind again, where are you now?

 

[vim_fuego]

What is apparent from this poll so far is that many people are 'hacking it' due to there being nothing better to go to outside (perceived)...

When you hack it is your performance as good as we would hope it to be (speaking as the RAF or a receiver of whatever services you provide) or are you just going through the motions to get from 9 till 5??

 

[Joe_90]

Well I'm on the Goat just now when it's quite obvious I should be doing something more productive for the RAF. Does that answer your question?DT_Xtremez_30:

 

[wobbly]

What is apparent from this poll so far is that many people are 'hacking it' due to there being nothing better to go to outside (perceived)...

When you hack it is your performance as good as we would hope it to be (speaking as the RAF or a receiver of whatever services you provide) or are you just going through the motions to get from 9 till 5??

I reckon that your performance would drop to be honest mate.


I honestly feel that STATS are now more important than getting our primary job done. This alone ****es people off no end and demotivates the lads leaving them thinking that a fitness test or a Equal Ops/Human Factors Brief means more to the management than getting aircraft flying. I personally think the RAF has lost touch with the real purpose of it's being. It's no longer about a team of people, no matter what trade, doing their bit to get the aircraft up in the sky to do their jobs. Now it seems that everyones out to make their job look more important than others. Theres no longer teamwork amongst sections and to get anything done by another section is like trying to draw blood from a stone. In other words it's all turned into a selfish, self important gaggle of independent sections that feel that they owe nothing to anyone but the rest of the world owes them everything.

We're our own worst enemy nowadays and a favour given or received here or there helps our force run smoothly. So if you're one of those tits that is an obstructive pillock when someone obviously needs a favour to sort out their predicament then consider helping them out. Maybe one day it will be that techie fixing your plane, mover booking your seat home from a long tour, admin clerk sorting your claim or stacker sorting out your kit that will remember what you dne for them and pay back the favour. It's all about helping each other and a fair majority of our lads and lasses in the service today are totally oblivous to that fact.

/[soupbox - back on topic]

 

[Stax]

I reckon that your performance would drop to be honest mate.


I honestly feel that STATS are now more important than getting our primary job done. This alone ****es people off no end and demotivates the lads leaving them thinking that a fitness test or a Equal Ops/Human Factors Brief means more to the management than getting aircraft flying. I personally think the RAF has lost touch with the real purpose of it's being. It's no longer about a team of people, no matter what trade, doing their bit to get the aircraft up in the sky to do their jobs. Now it seems that everyones out to make their job look more important than others. Theres no longer teamwork amongst sections and to get anything done by another section is like trying to draw blood from a stone. In other words it's all turned into a selfish, self important gaggle of independent sections that feel that they owe nothing to anyone but the rest of the world owes them everything.

We're our own worst enemy nowadays and a favour given or received here or there helps our force run smoothly. So if you're one of those tits that is an obstructive pillock when someone obviously needs a favour to sort out their predicament then consider helping them out. Maybe one day it will be that techie fixing your plane, mover booking your seat home from a long tour, admin clerk sorting your claim or stacker sorting out your kit that will remember what you dne for them and pay back the favour. It's all about helping each other and a fair majority of our lads and lasses in the service today are totally oblivous to that fact.
/[soupbox - back on topic]

Hear Hear Wobbly, thats how the RAF of the past used to work, but your are spot on, its all about making the other Section look bad, rather than working to make your Section look good!

 

[dodgysootie]

Good post Mate, The reasons you mentioned gave me the "push" when I was deciding to leave or not.

 

[Doglover]

Hear Hear Wobbly, thats how the RAF of the past used to work, but your are spot on, its all about making the other Section look bad, rather than working to make your Section look good!

Excellent post. I left as a C/T last October after 30 years service, enjoyed the vast majority of it, had some great tmes and made some lifelong friends as most of us have. I loved my work and even looked forward to the daily challenges. For the last five years of my service it just seemed to be a pointless exercise with little or no reward for myself or the guys working for me. Statistics, fitness tests, pointless meetings, HF, QA, H&S loss of the teamwork ethos around the Station and the general lack of upper tier leadership and direction made it a real chore to go into the office each day. There has been change for decades now as the RAF has evolved but I do not ever remember the morale being so low. I actually have a better quality of life now as a civvie postie, all I have to worry about now is a miss sort on my letters !!!! Happy days.