RAF recruitment, has it gone a bit too far...

www.dailymail.co.uk

RAF officer accused of ignoring plea to rein in Red Arrows pilots

The victim had hoped AVM Marshall would intervene to prevent further mistreatment of females on the world famous squadron. But despite her revelations, no remedial action was taken.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk

Senior RAF officer is accused of ignoring a plea from a victim to rein in abusive Red Arrows pilots:

No disciplinary action was taken against Air Vice-Marshal Suraya Marshall
RAF sources insisted her response to the claims was 'correct and reasonable'

Untouchable: Inside the Red Arrows airs on Sky News at 9pm on Wednesday, 27 December.
 
While I'm no fan of the drinking culture (be it civilian or military), the statement that she "Was in no state to consent" is deeply sighworthy. Naturally, she is not responsible for her actions when drunk, but others are...
 
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pattojones said:
Just watched this. Not a ringing endorsement is it.
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Met roulette! Didn't know about that one, but sounds plausible :(

Buuuuuuuut, the stuff about the "Commanding Officer having an affair with a junior" - yes, he should have known better, but it takes 2, it was consensual and now she's a victim?

Scathing for the Reds and the RAF, and Sky had evidence to back up some of their claims.
 
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Begbie said:
What was it? Everyone leaving?

Left a 'techie' trade last week, or what used to be a techie trade. No one asked why, how they could retain me etc etc. so it's no wonder they can't retain if they can't even figure out why people are leaving.

I agree, they'll be doing so many fixes and so many many joining of trades, with hidden pay cuts that the place will crumble. Such a shame.
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Sorry about the late reply, been offline a while - "Everyone leaving?" - Kind of, it was a brief about the numbers of TG1 & 2 Supervisors & TG5 new entrants, both the current levels and projected levels within the next 5 years should nothing change as the main topic, amongst many other concerns. Very concerning to read about that projected 5 year number for TG1-2 folks, very, very concerning!
 
Begbie said:
What was it? Everyone leaving?

Left a 'techie' trade last week, or what used to be a techie trade. No one asked why, how they could retain me etc etc. so it's no wonder they can't retain if they can't even figure out why people are leaving.

I agree, they'll be doing so many fixes and so many many joining of trades, with hidden pay cuts that the place will crumble. Such a shame.
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What techie trade, and what are your plans now now you're no longer a blue suiter?
 
ianh said:
The important difference here would be that "diversity of thought" isn't really desired in the military where there is hundreds of years of "we do it this way because it works" followed by a strict adherence to "following the book" which means that after giving someone (anyone) an order you will get a repeatable, known result everytime.

These "books/rules" do change but it is very rare and usually only after a loss of life, so whilst the idea that a "wide diverse range of background/thoughts" makes for good PR soundbites, the very first thing that's happens to every single member of the military during recruit training is "don't think for yourself, follow orders exactly" which negates all the previous "we want diversity of thought".
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Apologies if I am resurrecting an ancient thread but I have been reading back through this. I joined the RAF in 1997 and i’m still serving.

I see your point but would have to bring this back to the value of experience… Do we honestly want people with no or limited experience deciding how to do something operationally critical? There is little substitute for experience in planning. Carrying out that plan will inevitably always need youthful energy.
 
the_worrier said:
I see your point but would have to bring this back to the value of experience… Do we honestly want people with no or limited experience deciding how to do something operationally critical? There is little substitute for experience in planning. Carrying out that plan will inevitably always need youthful energy.
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Nope, and I'm not if sure anyone is/was asking for that to happen in this thread, unless I've misread something posted earlier. I completely agree with you that job "experience" is essential too and I think the only real discussion around "experience" was that around life/character, rather than "experience" of the job.

In case there was any confusion, IIRC the general point being discussed at the time was the idea being put forward by the MOD that, for someone from an ethnic minority, recruiting them because of their experiences of growing up with a different background to someone with a "white" background will automatically improve the military (versus if they'd picking the person with white "experiences") as the MOD said someone from an ethnic minority is able to think differently and therefore come up with better ideas due to their different background experiences - we discussed how that very simplistic notion from the MOD doesn't really match reality, which led to the post you quoted IIRC.
 
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ianh said:
Nope, and I'm not if sure anyone is/was asking for that to happen in this thread, unless I've misread something posted earlier. I completely agree with you that job "experience" is essential too and I think the only real discussion around "experience" was that around life/character, rather than "experience" of the job.

In case there was any confusion, IIRC the general point being discussed at the time was the idea being put forward by the MOD that, for someone from an ethnic minority, recruiting them because of their experiences of growing up with a different background to someone with a "white" background will automatically improve the military (versus if they'd picking the person with white "experiences") as the MOD said someone from an ethnic minority is able to think differently and therefore come up with better ideas due to their different background experiences - we discussed how that very simplistic notion from the MOD doesn't really match reality, which led to the post you quoted IIRC.
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VMT for clarifying.
 
Well, since this has turned into general chit-chat - my assessment of the RAF is that it's just like a civvie job but with worse uniform and worse pay.

I won't be staying. Honestly unless you're in one of the better paid trades (techie, pilot etc) - I don't know why anyone would.
 
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EdGey said:
Well, since this has turned into general chit-chat - my assessment of the RAF is that it's just like a civvie job but with worse uniform and worse pay.

I won't be staying. Honestly unless you're in one of the better paid trades (techie, pilot etc) - I don't know why anyone would.
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The uniform is dreadful and the pay for techies isn't even that great. Even the pension isn't amazing, for the new guys at least.
 
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I will never forget one of the lines that used to be bandied about regularly:

"If you cannot take the Air Force you shouldn't have joined a joke!"

It seems to be much worse now.
 
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