Oh sir said:
So gents....
Sorry to intrude on your own thread, but I felt I needed an answer.
I am a snowdrop (and before we start I'm not a shiftie obsessed with speeding!)
I have however noticed a trend....
In my first years as said copper, the firemen used to be seldom in trouble. We used to actually get on, (on a tepid wavelength albeit!) down the police club.
It seems that nowadays it is the status quo for the firemen to avoid the whitecaps at all costs. This seems to be lead by the SAC lads, and there doesn't seem to be a level headed SNCO or JNCO about, ever.
Said SAC's strut about the unit in the old "Fire and Rescue" t-shirts (On duty I can understand, but off duty too??) with "peacock" hairdos, piercings on display etc.
They also (on my unit) have been known to disobey the SWO (Re: haircuts etc) and my own trade when confronted by a patrol.
My question is... Has there been a major shift change in the recruiting for RAF Firefighter recently? Or are we just seeing a change in the usual type of people joining the forces these days?
Respectfully yours,
Firstly, these are my own views.
Secondly, please don't asume I am trade bashing, that is not my intention.
Thirdly, please try to follow my lines of reasoning. The issues are fairly complex and so my meaning may not be clear. i will be happy to answer questions after.
Fourthly, the toilets are ... oh sh1t, sorry I thought I was in CCS for a moment there!
Welcome to the e-goat oh sir, hopefully you will enjoy it and be an asset to the community. Please feel free to post here anytime, it's not just RAF firefighters that express opinions or concerns, no should it be.
As a young sprog I remember the begrudging respect that the fire service and RAFP treated each other with. Maybe its a TG8 thing. Afterall none of the trades in our TG are activelly supported by the rest of the RAF!
I have never noticed this attitude to change though, in fact in 2000 I was living and working in the same building as a bunch of RAFP in croatia. Later the RMP joined us, now they are a bunch of ar$eholes! As I have stated elsewhere I am stationed at a small unit (one of the few that RAFP do full time barrier pilot duties), and the guys here are great, with possibly one exception. I also come into regular contact with RAFP in the course of my duties at most stations, including yours. Perhaps we have even met!?!?! (Incidentally I will be at your place on Tuesday)
Your station has a mix of RAF and DFS firefighters. Although the people you specifially mention are 99.999% certain to be RAF, please dont forget that a certain ammount of DFS lazy tw@t mentality to transend to the RAF lads after a while.
I'm not sure whether they fftrs are activelly avoiding snowdrops just because you are a snowdrop, could it be because a few years ago most snowdrops were harmless barrier pilots, whereas now you are all seen in your actual role as police?
If it is just because you are RAFP, and not own to individual personalities, it wouldnt suprise me that the SAC's lead the way. Most of the JNCO's and all of the SNCO's live out, and therefore wouldn't be around when off suty. As for those guys that are on duty, they should have at least a Cpl on every fire vehicle.
The standard of these Cpl's is probably the most worrying factor. We have had no effective system for qualifying NCO's for at least four years. Although the politics behind this are many and varied, they do not stem from an RAF source. We have 180 ish posts for Cpl's, and at the begnning of this year there were only around 60 that were qualified for their rank. We have been haemoraging SAC's for a whle and have the highest PVR rate within the whole of the armed forces, currently 34% amongst SAC's.
Given these facts it is not hard to deduce that the field of competition for promotion has been sadly lacking in the last few years, and of those promoted, very few have been given the opportunity to prove their capability as JNCO's. I know that A grade candidates were few and far between, so when they were used up B graders were promoted. However C graders have been promoted on a relatively regular basis because they were all that was left. Is it possible that some of the people you mention could in fact be junior-JNCO's?
Having said that, please remember that there are still one third of JNCO fftr's that are not only capable, but have proven themselves on a number of occasions in the past. If in doubt look for the oldest guy! As it happens I spoke about an hour ago with a JNCO that has been posted to your station from Wokka land, he is a good man and I would have faith in his ability.
Maybe a lack of direction from 'proper' JNCO's is the reason why the SAC's are the way they are? They seem to believe in a historical 'us and them' rather than being part of a team. Or could it be that one or two of your over zealous shifties has been very liberal with his speed gun or parking tickets?
If you have any significant barriers to progress I would sugest you approach the S Fire O. As an individual he is a c0ck and I wouldn't be seen sharing a beer with him ever. However he is a stickler and won't look kindly on people within his fire station who bring adverse comments from elsewhere. He was a former S Fire O of mine, and unless he has changed significantly he will shake them up a bit!
I can't make any excuses for the pierced peacock with an attitude look, except to say it wouldn't happen on my watch!
'Fire & Rescue' T shirts! what a bunch of d1cks. This is a personal hate of mine. Afterall the RAF issues perfectly good t-shirts to be worn when firefighting, why purchase your own?? Once again, this doesnt happen on my watch.
Two points to bear in mind about t-shirts. Firstly, How fooking annoying do you thin it is for experienced fftrs like myself to see these children walking around manston wearing 'fire & rescue' on their backs? We hate it to, however they are not issued and so we cant prevent them wearing them off duty. Most of the AC's seem to spend their entire wages on them during week one of basic training. strange when you think that this is the first aid at work element and they havent even picked up a hose yet!?!?!?!?!
Secondly. Isnt their an endemic t-shirt wearing culture in the armed forces? I have seen personnel of almost every trade wearing a t-shirt proclaming another ****ed up tour somewhere.
Recruitment policy. What a fooking joke. We as the fire service are not exempt (please don't start the exmptions thread again tigger!) from any change in social or political demographs. We get the same chav idiots that everyone else does! However, how many shinies, stacker, slammers, plumbers or rockape join up thinking that this particular job is the only one they ever want to do? very few I should imagine.
We seem to get an ever increasing number of airmen join up to be firefighters first, warfighter second.
NOT ON MY WATCH SONNY!!!!!!!!!
I dont entirely blame the AFCO's for this, after all they are only there to carry out policy and are tightly controlled in their own circles (right Twnston Pickle?), however the literature that is produced is boll0x and encourages these pr1cks that want to join up and f\/ck off to civvy street ASAP. I don't beleive that we are advertising the job correctly, and therefore we are getting the wrong people, not in all cases, but certainly in the majority.
Regulars here will know I am proud of my trade, but even I can't paint over the cracks.
I hope this helps, feel free to
constructively comment
everyone.
DT_Xtremez_14: