Station recall days

[Noidea]

I haven't had the pleasure of one of these days, but would would loved to have been able to. At my Unit there is no provision for recall days. Something that A1 Staneval has pointed out on more than one occasion. I got back from Lash in Nov. After coming back from Basra in 07 I thought that I would be used to explosions. After the first IED strike that killed around 20 locals and scattered their body parts 100 meters away from the main gate (I was at Lash) I realised that I wasn't. I then had incoming rounds through my tented accommodation during a firefight between the ANA and ANP. Prior to returning to the UK I was told I was going to be given the minimum time off as to quote my WO "you have been away in the Sun for 4 months and we have struggled back here". After experiencing sleepless nights, being on edge and constantly feeling guilty I went to the Padre. I received a come back in 6 weeks response. To top it all my mate got hit in an IED explosion the other day and is now in the process of being brought back to the UK. Sorry for going on!

And this why recall days were first thought of. I don't quite think we have got the package right at the moment but your example is a classic of poor management by your c2.

Suggest you discuss your issue with the Doc and ask for some help

 

[KingGuin]

I thought your unit already had quite a good and novel approach to recall days? Why the about turn on what used to occur quite successfully from what I hear.

There has not been a recall day at my unit for a considerable time. The one held last week, whilst well intentioned, followed a new and (partially) mandated format and clearly needed improvement. This was universally agreed by both the participants and those delivering the contents. Continuous improvement etc.

 

[Scouser812]

They did a recall day at Cott in 09 when 1 Sqn returned from kandybar, in all honesty it was pretty pointless because most of the sqn had been to herrick a few times before. The thing that did most of our heads in is that it was on a friday...on millionaires weekend.

I'm not saying that these recall days are a bad thing, but they would be better if it was a little less formal, and if anyone had witnessed anything traumatic, a shrink/padre being made available for the entire day.

 

[HotspurIDO]

Think 'Bloodhound Lite' I think would be the way to go. Kudos to anyone working towards getting it right.

 

[Noidea]

There has not been a recall day at my unit for a considerable time. The one held last week, whilst well intentioned, followed a new and (partially) mandated format and clearly needed improvement. This was universally agreed by both the participants and those delivering the contents. Continuous improvement etc.

KG I read in a previous post a while ago about this scheme you had with a hotel etc and a day dekitting and all that, that sounded like quite a good idea, what happened to it?

 

[fed_up_scribbly]

I haven't had the pleasure of one of these days, but would would loved to have been able to. At my Unit there is no provision for recall days. Something that A1 Staneval has pointed out on more than one occasion. I got back from Lash in Nov. After coming back from Basra in 07 I thought that I would be used to explosions. After the first IED strike that killed around 20 locals and scattered their body parts 100 meters away from the main gate (I was at Lash) I realised that I wasn't. I then had incoming rounds through my tented accommodation during a firefight between the ANA and ANP. Prior to returning to the UK I was told I was going to be given the minimum time off as to quote my WO "you have been away in the Sun for 4 months and we have struggled back here". After experiencing sleepless nights, being on edge and constantly feeling guilty I went to the Padre. I received a come back in 6 weeks response. To top it all my mate got hit in an IED explosion the other day and is now in the process of being brought back to the UK. Sorry for going on!

If your referring to the chubby Matlot he is now back in the UK - went to see him at Role 3 yesterday before he was flown out and he was in excellent spirits. I'm waiting to see what is in store for me when I get back to my Unit in a few weeks...

 

[KingGuin]

KG I read in a previous post a while ago about this scheme you had with a hotel etc and a day dekitting and all that, that sounded like quite a good idea, what happened to it?

The Hotel scheme is still ongoing however the other bits fell by the wayside; hence my review etc.

 

[Noidea]

The Hotel scheme is still ongoing however the other bits fell by the wayside; hence my review etc.

That's a real shame, from what I gathered it was quite successful.

 

[NotAnIDOYet]

My unit splits FI from everyone else on separate days. I had mine last week, albeit I retuned from BSN in October but I missed one on PODL. Our staish is quite pragmatic, the deal is that he outlines what is available on the support front, we all talk about where we were and what we were doing and we get chance to gripe about what went wrong that is under his control (mt, admin etc). Stop halfway for a bacon sandwich then home at lunchtime. Not too much of a nause but enough to show that "they" care. The nicest thing though was a genuine "thank you for our efforts" from the Gp Capt at the end of it.

I was an IA with an army FU and I know they do it wildly differently and very seriously. The week after deployment is spent in work doing mandatory briefs, pft etc. Then they go on leave with nothing to worry about.

 

[POB]

After traveling for about 30 hours I returned from the FRY in 94(?), and was dumped at Stansted Airport in uniform with a rifle, pistol and one way hire car...Drove to SMG and my debrief was along the lines of "Everything OK? Good, sign this leave pass and see you in 10 days time..." (As an aside OCMT at the time was made aware of my displeasure via my boss...a few days later he got done for drink driving, which if not justice at least made me smile and I am sure did his career loads of good!)

I returned twice more to FRY and there was even less support both times...(After the bombing bit in Sarajevo and when the French were getting targeted with .5 cal sniper rifles, it was quite exciting at the time.)

It is good to hear that the RAF is starting to take these things seriously, if still a bit disorganized! I certainly could have done with someone who understood how I felt listening to me download the previous four months.