Leaving the RAF in less than 12 months

[harrier123]

Hi,

Im new here and have come here for a bit of advice.

I would like to leave the RAF and join the police but you can only apply while you are in your last 12 months of service. This could leave me with out a job as I could PVR and then not get in the police leaving me without a job!!

I hear rumours that people have been out in less than a year but I have never met anyone. What I would like to know is does anybody think I would be able to be out in 6-9 months, everyone hears about getting out early because we are paid monthly.

Don't really want to speak to my desk at this stage.

many thanks

[Diedtrying]

Granted it was nine years ago so it will probably be different now (they were cutting back quite a bit then) but when I PVR'd it took 4 months. :eek:

[ShyTorque]

Ever fancied a Group Captain's wife......? ;)

[harrier123]

Ours is not the best but could be last resort!!

[Bob the Doc]

Not sure of the legal basis but I have heard of people that have got out very quickly when Comd have been presented with someone who doesn't want to stay and has a job lined up which will lapse if forced to stay. I have heard it said that they cannot force you to work more than one pay cycle (1 month) but would not like to try and challenge the MoD in court.

I would get employment legal advice and see what they say

[In Tor Wot]

Harrier 123 - You might like to give this guy's office a call - very helpful.

Gilbert Blades

Mobile: 07850 949219
Location: Lincoln
Tel: 01522 512345
Fax: 01522 545803

Email: [email protected]

Experience has shown that if you have a written job offer in one hand, and a soliciters' letter in the other, you will not be waiting 12 months.

BTW, if AVMs can depart in one month, what precedent does that set for the rest of us?

[PPRuNeUser0211]

ITW... surely the delay between PVR submission and departure from the service is directly proportional to the vital contribution you make to the defense of the UK's interest (both at home and abroad) and how much you act as a force for good in the world.....

Hence Airships depart exceedingly quickly!

[BluntedAtBirth]

Ever fancied a Group Captain's wife......? ;)


If you are at Wittering this is a very complex suggestion...:ok:

[sluf goat]

General rule is you can normally negotiate early departure if your desk is happy, sound him out, and your cureent boss is happy to release u. This may involve the pain of running a gapped post etc. most bosses and sections should support u in light of a job offer. :D

[JagRigger]

I tried applying with 2 years to go, only to be told come back at the 12 month point. ( Jan 06 )

Application was submitted, accepted & fitness test passed within 3 months. The problem then is the assesment centre, which you only get around 3 weeks notice of and in my case arrived at a time I'd already booked a mega expensive resettlement course. Result, wait 6 monts for the next one, by which time you will have been a civvi for several months.

I subsequently found an aviation related and well paid alternative career, so withdrew my Police application - pointing out the flaws in only looking at people with 12 months to run when the typical waiting time is 18 months. Indeed, on former collegue who has passed the assesment centre I would have been on last September is still waiting to be taken up - that's 21 months after applying. :\

[Bladdered]

Will your boss let you go earlier? Put your PVR in now with written job offer and make sure that you write a compelling case that is supported by the Station. My advice is do not go to Gilbert Blades, your MP is no-cost and will support you if your first attempt is rejected.

Ed

[TonkaEngO]

H123,
Happens more than you think. Your boss will have to sign a waiver saying that he is happy for the post to be gapped - PMA have not been a problem in any of the cases that I've been involved in, as long as they have your boss's sig saying he is happy.
Be sure before you submit your app' though - they do not tend to allow you to change your mind!

[harrier123]

Thanks for the advice so far. What I think I am going to do is apply for the police and tell them that I have to give six months notice form offer of a job. My current boss will support this and sign off that I can leave after 6 months and help fight my corner if needed.

I think that is may work.

[spannermonkey]

123,

As others have said, your not alone in wanting to PVR

The current situation is that PMA will not sign off a PVR unless you have a firm job offer them is the rules - check out QRs - I know as I have spoken to them on the very subject numerous times recently for a number of my guys. In addition the minimum waiting time is dependant on your trade. For example all ac engineering trades are at present 12 months minimum waiting time apart from prop which is 6 months. However each PVR is looked at on a case by case basis and if it is in the interest of the Service to release you. You also have to consider if you have any retrun of service to complete. On top of that you have to get your boss to agree to run a gapped post as PVRs do not attract a replacement very quickly. I understand your reluctance to speak to your desk officer buy they will be able to give you an estimate on a likely exit date.

You then have to be sure its what you want to do, consider areas such as the £12K resettlement grant or whatever it is if you have completed 12 years (I think, or it could be 9 years). If you have not completd 22 years then you will get a preserved pension at 65 based on the time you have served (all based on pension 75, not sure about the new pension scheme), but it wont be a lot if you have done less than 22 years. You also need to look into your resettlement entitlement - again based on time served.

I would be cautious about any 'advice' regarding getting out quickly by using letters from soliciters, the bottom line is that you will not be released before the minimum waiting time unless you have very strong reasons and it is in the interest of the Service to do so. Finally - rest assured there is no 'get out in one month anymore', the last round of redundancies saw to that.

At the end of the day if you want to PVR and can get a written job offer then its your choice, but make sure you get the facts and not opinions. (standing by for incoming)

SM

[adminblunty]

HMF personnel are exempt the notice period legislation contained within the Employment Rights Act 1996. Effectively the RAF can decide within reason how much notice you need to give. This is very much dependant on the manning situation within your branch/specialisation/trade. At the moment they won't hold you to more than 12 months notice, providing you've amortised your training. There is talk of increasing the maximum PVR waiting time to 18 months. Gilbert Blades is not all that he is built up to be.

If your desk wants 12 months notice from you remember you will probably be entitled to terminal leave (4 weeks), resettlement (up to 7 weeks) and the remainder of your annual leave. Therefore you could stop work after 8 months. Entitlement to terminal leave and resettlement is dependant on how long you've served. There are issues surrounding working whilst on resettlement, but they aren't difficult to overcome.

Alternatively, you could ask for a career break of up to 5 years, they can only say no.

[harrier123]

Thanks for the advice.

I have been in 6 years so the 12K does effect me but I am in a trade that is under-manned (like the rest) i have no return of service to give either.

I have requested my police application and I think I am going to fill it out and send it in. If I get the job I would prob not get a start date for 6-7 months. I am hoping that I can go to them with the job offer and try and get out in that time.

What I don't want to do is PVR now and apply and then end up not getting in and being out the RAF.

Do people agree with me that this is the best way to do this?

Cheers

[Coastergirl]

Hi,

Which force are you thinking of applying to? I know the Met Police are always in need of good candidates and the Met should give you good grounding to then be able to transfer out to any of the counties forces if you chose to. My husband left the RAF and worked for the Met, and one thing to be careful of is your pension. The pension people come along during your training, explain what options you have and then kind of rush you for your decision - my husband chose to join his RAF pension with his police pension, on their suggestion. He then left the police after a year (wasn't quite as he thought it would be). Normally, if you leave the police within 3 years you would be reimbursed any contributions you had made to your pension as they are unable to actually use it toward a pension. However, because it was linked to his RAF pension he was considered to have gone past the 3 years even though he had only done 15 months including the training!!, and therefore wasn't reimbursed for any of his contributions (which is quite a high % of your salary in the police). Just be aware of that and make sure that when the pension people come for the visit and demand your answer, you know what impact it will have for you if your plans/life situation change unexpectedly.

Good luck with the police, hope it goes well for you.

Coastergirl

Edited to add: the training is (to best of my knowledge) done at a college, with specific intake dates like September and February so you should be able to work out your start date. My husband was offered the job in March I think, but had to wait for the September intake. Hope that helps.

[harrier123]

C-Girl,

Thanks for the advice. I am hoping to get into Hampshire.

[Coastergirl]

Oooh, I know someone in Hampshire, I can ask him what the intake dates are. If I find out any more info I will post back.

Coastergirl

[The Adjutant]

I would suggest you apply to join your local RAuxAF Sqn. If you have trouble or any delay in getting into the Police you could keep a reasonable income on the go from the reserves. Even if you do get into the Police with no problems, the RAuxAF would be glad to hear from you. You will find life in the part time air force is a lot different to the full time one. There is still an important job to do, and your previous experience will come in useful in that respect. However, to a great extent you can decide when and where you are going to be able to come in to work. There is still the risk of mobilisation and a period in Iraq or elsewhere, but the law will hold you job open when you get home. It's worth a look even if you don't decide to join. If you settle in Hampshire you will find the Movers Medics and Rock's at Lyneham/Brize and 600 Sqn which has a bit of everything, at Northolt. Have a look on the RAuxAF web site.
Best of luck in civi street, I am sure you will get on well.
The Adjutant

[Coastergirl]

A fab idea, Adjutant, but be aware that the Police have set limits how many of their officers are allowed to be members of the TA, RAuXAF, RNR etc to ensure that if war were to break out on a massive scale (not meaning to belittle any current conflicts) that Britain wouldn't have half their police force called up. Harrier123 could certainly apply, but I really wouldn't use it as a guaranteed back-up plan.

Hope that made some sense,
Coastergirl

[maxdrypower]

Again it was some time ago , twelve years in fact I left . As soon as I had the job offer letter in my hand from the cops I was out in less than a week , I even kept my incentive bonus which id only got a month earlier . They even allowed me to go out late to our second stint at bosnia no fly so I could do the selection , when I passed which was a monday I left the sqn on friday to start the police monday .
One word of warning the police is a ****e job and is getting worse .For my first 8-9 years it was great but Political correctness and clueless yes men for bosses has made the job ridiculous . morale is virtually non existent and if it wasnt for the pension most of us with a decent length of service would go . And as a new officer you wont even have that you will have the new pathetic one . When I joined we never lost more than one per cent of newbies in their first two years , now we are up to nearly thirty per cent in their first two. Its not all driving around in fast cars locking up villains these days in fact for your first two years its highly likely you wont even respond to anything more serious than a nose complaint cept for your ten week period with a response unit , then youll sit behind a desk slaved to a computer which tells you who to go out and arrest and for what .
If you have a trade use it is my advice .
sorry to be doom and gloom but youll find very few people with more than about three years service who will advocate it .Ah well only another 8 months to cpl/ir I hope

[Scribbly dee]

I have seen a few similar posts here before and the general feel I get is that if you have a good job offer and you are willing to tough it out you can be out pretty quickly. I understand that PMA will say ''12 months'' and you say ''don't think so speak to my solicitor I'll be gone in two months'' and after a few threats as long as you tough it out you will be out with no more said. I reckon you will have to forego your resettlement etc but if you have the right job who cares. :E

Someone from PMA will say I am wrong on this but there is no smoke without fire and I haven't seen any court cases........!!! :confused:

[harrier123]

Im not looking to take the p**s and leave in a week, and will do as long as I can and would expect it to be at least 6 months but hoping that they wont stand in my way.

[Mr-Burns]

If you have a job lined up with Westlands you can leave in a month.