Last Working Day

[Gaspode the Dog]

I finished my last working day today after 25 years inthe RAF, it was marked by ...................nothing!

I was asked if I was arranging my own leaving do, but you might have thought that after that length of service this might fall to another sqn member.

As I am leaving on PVR the RAF seem to think that they have not had their 'pound of flesh' so what is the point. This might seem like me just being
p:mad: y, but if this is the view of the modern RAF, then I am sure that it will continue to loose good people despite offers of PA and FRI.

Its :( not the RAF I joined!!!

Rant over, errors due to too much red wine!!!!!

[Dave Angel]

GTD,
Sadly your post doesn't surprise me in the current climate.
Best of luck with whatever you decide to do now.:ok:

DA.

[Gaspode the Dog]

Thanks Jenkins its white wine now!!!!

[threepointonefour]

It's funny, I had my last day today too, but actually wanted to leave quietly - we did have a very pleasant squadron lunch a few weeks ago, so I can't really echo the feelings of the 'dog' above. Things have changed though.

I did have a twinge of sadness after 19 yrs today as I handed my ID card over, but was brought sharply back into reality when the PSF Cpl told me that I probably wouldn't get my gratuity until the end of next month (Apr), as 'they' have decided to ditch the interim pay runs, despite an agreement to pay said gratuity 5 - 10 days after one's exit date.

Oh well, this time next year, I'll be a millionaire.

[wg13_dummy]

I finished my last working day today after 25 years inthe RAF, it was marked by ...................nothing!

I was asked if I was arranging my own leaving do, but you might have thought that after that length of service this might fall to another sqn member.


Gaspode, maybe they think you're a bit of a tool?


Just a thought.

[Maple 01]

Off back to ARSE with you brown-job, you have no idea, do you?

[wg13_dummy]

C'mon, if he had any proper mates, they'd see him right even if he'd only done 9 years wouldnt they?

[vecvechookattack]

So the fact that Gaspode had no mates who would get off their backsides and organise an RPC for him is the fault of the RAF is it?

Hmmmmmm....Maybe they were too busy complaining about having to pay for food or moaning about having to keep fit

[electric.sheep]

Amazing how this has already descended into inter-service sniping by the usual small minded. But the point is well made - the 'service' is just a bunch of individuals - if they didn't feel a send-off was deserved you have to look deeper than the RAF isn't what it used to be. Surely Gaspode was dined out?

[trap one]

Had pretty much the same when after 27 yrs when I left on PVR.:ugh: Nothing from work not even a card. But on the good side had a bloody good pi$$ex in the mess with a few mates.:E

[MightyGem]

I was asked if I was arranging my own leaving do, but you might have thought that after that length of service this might fall to another sqn member.

Yep, much the same when I left the Army 10(my God, is it that long ago!) years ago after 24 years.

[brakedwell]

After 19 years of relative enjoyable service I was due to be dined out a week before my (PVR) leaving date. "Unfortunately", I was called out the day before the dining in night to operate a delayed East Med and had to make do with Keo and Coccinnelli in Limasso instead! :E :E :E

[N Joe]

Left the RAF in Jan and had a great all-ranks dining-out beforehand with a friend that I joined up with nearly 20 years ago.
Already been to one leaving do in my new job; few bothered to attend and a half-hearted collection mustered up a mediocre bottle of wine.
In deciding whether to leave at my 38 point, the camaraderie that still exists in the Forces was a definite "stay" factor.
N Joe

[TonkaEngO]

Sorry to be so blunt but.... If your mates couldn't be bothered to sort out some sort of leaving do for you, even if only after a few years let alone 20+, then it speaks volumes about you....forget your wingeing about the Service - no matter what the colour you wear - Maybe time to analyse a little closer to home eh?

[Saintsman]

On my last day I was doing the rounds with the blue card and I had a bollocking from someone because I was either too early or too late to clear. It was at that point that I knew I had made the right choice to PVR.

I did have a good leaving do though.

[Winch-control]

Decided to leave after 22yrs and 1 weeks service. pvr'd because I have had enough of Bliar, 2 illegal wars and no back bone in senior officers. Voted with my feet, no ranting required. Will miss an awfull lot from the service; people; places; jobs; no need for a huge send off, I'm just really looking forward to the end of June and the challenges of life again. Visa applied for... next stop Oz.

[MReyn24050]

I am not sure what you are moaning about. You stated that you had served 25 years service and were now leaving on PVR (Premature Voluntary Release) and was asked if you were arranging your own leaving do, it would appear that you thought that after that length of service you had served this might fall to another sqn member.
You went on to state that "As I am leaving on PVR the RAF seem to think that they have not had their 'pound of flesh' so what is the point."
What has it to do with the RAF? As far as the Royal Air Force is concerned you have opted to terminate your contract. The Royal Air Force has completed their side of the contract and provided you with employment for the period you opted for and were prepared to employ you for the remainder of your contract. In my experience and as others have stated leaving functions are normally organised by one's friends or subordinates and if they cannot be bothered then that I am afraid it says a great deal for the what they think about individual concerned.
I am sure they felt after 25 years you had earnt your pension and gratuity and that you might wish to say farewell by inviting them for a drink.

[Klingon]

35 years...last 10 on STANEVAL or in a Staff job imposing disagreable policy on people who generally thought it was all my fault! No wonder they forgot I was leaving.
Didnt feel hurt! It was only what I had come to expect of a service that has become polarised by self serving career chasers or disjointed by frequent detachment workloads.
Been gone nearly 18 months and I bet neither of us are missing each other! I've never looked back, running my own business and doing OK! No third party career enhancing initiatives or strategies to implement, its sink or swim time and its very bracing.
Times have changed and so they must! I reckon any of the services are only good for 12 years max and then its time to move on. Lets face it, in the outside world its less than 3 years before you start to look ragged around the edges and its time to take your worn out ideas to another company.
:cool:

[BootFlap]

Gaspode & 3.14,
thank you both for your 25 years and 19 years respectively. There are a few of us left who are grateful, and hopefully gracious enough to acknowledge your time in the Service.
wg13, get a grip!

[wg13_dummy]

Why are you having a go at me, Bootflap?

Others echo'd my thoughts that Gast may be believing too much of his own hype. The RAF doesn't owe him anything (I take it they've been paying him for 25 years?).

His point drifted between 'Does no one care about me' to 'It's the RAFs fault'.

Both a bit sad for the internet to be honest.

[Maple 01]

WG consider this for a moment, most of us that were around for a while saw the RAF reduced from 90,000+ down to 40,000 odd, stations closed left, right and centre, (Of the six I was on one remains - bloody STC) squadrons were scraped to save a few quid rather than because the world was a a safer place and mates binned it for reasons various. We are (were in my case) posted and detached as individuals rather than as a formed unit so it doesn’t matter if you'd been a top bloke throughout your time, chances are your last tour would be spent somewhere where you're relatively unknown and you're spending much of that last tour on det or resettlement and when actually on squadron/in section surrounded with FNGs- such is the light-blue way

When I worked with the Army the Inf units all seemed to stay together for all of their service with a few notable exceptions. The corps guys tended to move in comparatively small circles, so again, tended to have a family like feel so no problems organising dining-out nights or pissups etc, even for some that were described as 'total c****' and therein is the difference.

Now if you still feel qualified to speak about something you've never experienced please carry on

[evilroy]

It's true that the RAF does not owe him a farewell party. I don't think anyone could produce an article from the Air Force Manual of Law or whatever that states he is to receive one.

However, what about the command at the unit or base? Legally, no - but are those people acting in the best interests of recruitment & retention? Wouldn't it send a good message if even a small soirée was held, thanking him for the service and wishing him the best in future endeavours?

How do you think this one small incident influences potential recruits for the services? If asked about joining the RAF, will Gaspode give positive encouragement?

Even if we take an extreme view and suppose that Gaspode was unpopular and that they were glad to be rid of him, a small farewell should have been organised by the unit - because it is the right thing to do.

[Rigga]

I too had a quiet time as I left the Mob after 24 years. However, I was quite partied-out by that time anyway.
When I left a civvy company, after 5 years, I was well impressed with the farewell festivities - And I was invited too!
When I left my last company I'd asked "Top Management" not to announce my leaving as the so-called "managers" would just take that as a cue to not do anything I needed done!
So, on the last day, I just passed over a note of the state of my now completed tasks and walked out shaking a few chosen hands and saying farewells on the way out. To the astonishment of many, may I add.

It can work well both ways.

Enjoy your new Life, and leave the old one behind. You won't forget it, but you'll get over it.

Rigga

[PICKS135]

SWMBO was told to attend a fellow University employees leaving tea :bored: Tea, cake and speech from management ensued. Upon enquiries to person leaving, as to how long they had been with Uni, response was 18 months !!

If civvy life can do this, for someone who's only done 18 months at a place.Then surely after 20 odd years mil life can do something better than, heres your pension book p1*s off.

[BEagle]

I don't care whether Gaspode the Dog was the most popular or least popular person on the unit, tradition used to be that when someone left, a farewell 'do' of some sort was arranged.

But that was back in the days when the RAF had people who cared about others, rather than people whose sole aspiration was onwards to their stars - "Through your hardship to my stars".......

Nowadays it seems to be more "Don't let the door hit you on the ar$e...." when people go.

And I despair at the cruel and unnecessary comments made by idiots such as wg13dummy and vechohkwhatever.

[Winch-control]

It remains true, will the last one out turn off the lights please! More so now than ever before...

[ShyTorque]

I decided to take my option at 38. I bought a barrel (two, actually) for the sqn but declined a formal dining out.

I took the opportunity to announce my thanks to a few people, because it was a genuine pleasure to have worked with them. :)

I also took the time to announce my thanks to a couple of others for making my decision to leave so much easier...... :E Ah......Yes!

When we left (on a Sunday morning, off to LHR), we had a Gp Capt, two Wg Cdrs and a bunch of Sqn Ldrs to wave goodbye to us, which was unexpected and caused more than the odd wet eye, to be honest. :O

The numbers were up to 110,000 at one time and it was a team effort. Now it's less than half that and some comments here show how much less of a team it has become. I made the correct decision. Some of those who made my decision to leave easy are obviously now running the show :ugh:

[Unmissable]

Gaspode

4 points:

1. There are so many people leaving at the moment, how do you expect those that are left to go on ops and organise farewell parties?

2. How many farewell parties have you organised (without being told to)?

3. Did you put a leaving barrel on? (How many times did I hear a hairy SNCO tell me that he'd done 5 years on the Sqn and deserved twice the value of leaving present from the fund; only for me to tell him I expected him to put 2 barrels on for the boys...silence !!!)

4. I reckon you are better off leaving quietly; if you are leaving through bitterness, then the opportunity to revel in it publicly will only lose what good reputation you may already have.

I have no doubt that your time has been valued, but a leaving party is not part of the contract, and when I leave, I would rather do without one.

[snapper41]

There's a wider issue here, about how we treat our service people in general. Having just returned from a tour with the US, I was amazed to see the fuss made about promotions, medals, retirements etc. Families are invited, speeches made, national anthem played, oath of alliegance re-taken etc etc. They are genuinely proud of their service, and their nation takes great pride in honouring that. Now, I don't advocate that we do all that (we're British, after all), but some more formal recognition of time served, and the sacrifies we all make (including our families) during that time would be better than the 'hand in your 1250 and there's the door' approach we have at the moment. The veterans' lapel badge bought in by Bliar is not exactly what I had in mind, either...

[Blacksheep]

My passage into civvy street was relatively painless but walking out of the gate in grey flannels and a sports jacket did feel a little strange. The mighty bureaucratic machine of the RAF took little notice of my passing - other than to issue me with 60 days notice to vacate my married quarter and a set of discharge documents that got several of my qualifications wrong. I didn't expect it to be otherwise. Who would?

As to farewell parties, I've had three including the one when I finished my RAF service; it never once occurred to me to not organise my own leaving party. The best was a multi-cultural family garden party/BBQ with the children invited too. It went on all afternoon and well into the early hours of the morning. I enjoyed it so much I was back with the same employer six months later, albeit in a different job.

Anyone who expects their employers or fellow employees to give them a fabulous send off is probably headed for many disappointments in their future life.

[HAL9000]

Gaspode,

Were you a QHI at S***U in the early 90s?

[Pontius Navigator]

With the new lean mean Air Force was there anyone there to say goodbye?

When I left there were two people at work that week - him and me and he put me on bloody nights on my last 4 days. As I 'could' be clearing during the day and working at night I told him to stuff it.

Would I have gone to a piss up with that man?:}

[BEagle]

But I'll bet you'd piss on his grave!

As will I upon the grave of a certain 'post-nominally logorrheic' Mekon look alike.......

One of these days........hopefully.

[MrBernoulli]

Yeah, vecvecsmackheadattack always seems to turn up in the unlikeliest places with his snide claptrap. He has never said a good word about anyone or anything.

[Safety_Helmut]

Why are you having a go at me, Bootflap?

Perhaps it's because you're such a f@cking cock wg13. Just a guess mind ?

S_H

[Pontius Navigator]

BEagle, spot on. He was one of the select few that was selected to move across from Nav to Flt Ops, he was AKA Gimlet - a boring little tool.

[Albert Driver]

Have none of you guys read any of the the "-Entering my last year- blues" thread on the rumours forum?

Instead of all this "no-one gave me the send-off I deserve" stuff there's an entirely positive "how to wind down and leave with a feeling of satisfaction" discussion.

You get out what you put in.

[Pontius Navigator]

Albert, been telling people for years, in the last two years work for yourself, not for you team. No one will thank you for your overtime. No one will promote you for hard work. Leave untaken will forever be lost.

Enjoy your freedom!

I liked the actions of one FS due to retire in January having been given the big good bye services no longer needed when given some moderately taxing work in September that would keep him busy for 3 months:

Suggest you give it to someone else if you want it done as I haven't got the time.

Lots of bluster followed, but somene else did the work!

[Badpontius]

I don't often contribute here but for my part, I left last year after 22 years (on pvr). My last job was in a joint HQ and as far away from my usual aircrew environment as you could imagine. Like Gaspode, aside from some section beers, I had little else to 'celebrate' my passing on! I do remember my last day in the Service though and especially the long and emotional drive north having just handed in my ID card. I note that Gaspode's post was made on his last day and after a fair bit of red vino. Instead of knocking him we should try to understand. True, the RAF does not owe him anything in the way of an official goodbye, but even those who PVR have very strong feelings on the day they leave. All that effort over so many years etc... it can feel like you have thrown much away. Best thing is to remain in close touch with mates and ignore the others.

[Albert Driver]

The decision to leave if every bit as important as the decision to join........and the manner in which you leave is as important as the manner in which you join - that flying start we all hope for.

If there are "issues" left over with the departure you can't concentrate on getting a good start with the next job (even if that "job" is only organising a happy and satisfying retirement for yourself). That's what the other thread is all about. To move on you need to feel good about what just happened.

If you can't trust those around you to give you a good send-off then organise your own. If this isn't a good time to splash out, then when?

But doing nothing and complaining about the result, whilst perhaps understandable, is a bit self-destructive in the long run really.

[Safety_Helmut]

I think you really hit the nail on the head there Pontius. I have just finished after 23 years. In the last couple of years you really have to look after number one, because the RAF certainly won't and I don't mean that in a bitter way either. It can be hard to accept that that is the attitude required, particularly as most of us will have been so professional in our careers, but it really is the only way to be.

S_H

[threepointonefour]

S-H & Pontius,

I agree wholeheartedly, but I think it now goes deeper than that. I think that once the decision to leave is made, it dawns on you that ...

you really have to look after number one, because the RAF certainly won't

... has always been the case, but we've all been too busy to notice. When you decide to leave, it's like you can see 'the matrix' !!!