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View Full Version : Tried to get a service lap top lately????


Seldomfitforpurpose
18th Jul 2008, 17:14
MoD admits loss of 747 laptops and secret data files - Yahoo! News UK (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080718/tuk-uk-britain-mod-fa6b408.html)

No wonder there is a shortage of IT gear, seems we are a very careless bunch :p

effortless
18th Jul 2008, 18:27
Don't you have to sign for kit anymore? The most we were ever able to nick was a gallon of avgas for the TC.:eek:

Melchett01
18th Jul 2008, 19:32
But why would you want a service laptop?

They're big, clunky, heavy (although not heavy enough to stop them being nicked) things, running software that is so far out of date that when you get to your meeting you can never tell if the thing is compatible.

I'm almost surprised that whoever stole those 747 laptops hasnt' handed them back for being ****e!

endplay
18th Jul 2008, 19:33
I remember reading a brief a couple of years back that any loss of military IT with a memory was raised at cabinet level. Has this changed?

I reckon that the huge losses can be explained by unit closures, particularly large HQs where everything starts off with determined organisation then decends into a bag of nails as the closure draws near and people start to bleed away. The Locking move to Cosford in 99/00 followed that pattern and all the signs of a repeat where in place at Innsworth. You'd think that by now we'd be good at closing a unit down but we're not. Massive NFI sets in and the majority of the rear party is composed of people who are close to timex (no requirement for a posting and usually happy to stay in the area) whose eyes are on an understandably different horizon.

Green Flash
18th Jul 2008, 20:58
Everyone who is issued with a laptop should have their personal details (address, bank etc etc) put on the desktop by the IT plods in an unmoveable password protected read-only file. Should concentrate minds wonderfully, I would have thought .....

Pontius Navigator
18th Jul 2008, 21:22
Nah, I got a laptop, cr^p as suggested above, never used it, but it took 6 months for the loan chit to catch up. All that chit did was clear the yardarm of some bean counter somewhere; it did nothing for accountability as there was no follow up inventory action.

effortless
18th Jul 2008, 22:35
endplay

I reckon that the huge losses can be explained by unit closures, particularly large HQs where everything starts off with determined organisation then decends into a bag of nails as the closure draws near and people start to bleed away

I think that you have it there. I have been at the death of one or two MOD projects and commercial enterprises. Stuff just vaporises and no one can be arsed to check it out. I know one "last man standing" who paid off his mortgage with drums of silver plated cable etc.

4mastacker
19th Jul 2008, 21:39
From my perspective, the rot started when OCs Cis Eng got their own budgets and started the rot. The budget holder exercised his new found freedom and thought he was a jack-the-lad when it came to striking deals direct with companies - Dell, Cisco, Gateway, etc - because he thought he 'knew' how the contracts and procurement system worked. Only problem was, he didn't tell the stackers when he had ordered them (so no tendering or formal contract raised), when the computors were received he signed and cleared the 640's himself (so not brought on charge) and didn't ask for the kit to be put on an inventory when they were dished out. Result? - lots of inventory holders..and others... thinking they were freebies and the said items possibly 'vanishing into the night'. When the bean-counters finally got round to counting how much had been spent on computers and how many they could track down, it didn't take an Einstein to work out that 1+1 doesn't = 3. When the stackers tried to get that particular purchase sorted out, it was a case of 'wind yer neck in, it's my budget and I'll do what I want' and OC Eng supported him!! :ugh: This happened on one unit I was on, there must have been many other cases elsewhere.

Seldomfitforpurpose
19th Jul 2008, 21:58
What a fantastic concept, someone buys equipment and actually gives it to the folk that need it........................now if only the RAF Supply branch could develop that ethos.................:E

NutLoose
19th Jul 2008, 23:28
They Do,

But do not forget it is Standard Military practice that the objects must be stored for a minimum of 10 years with Mothballs to ensure they are both obsolete and musty before being issued......

Roland Pulfrew
22nd Jul 2008, 15:37
MoD admits loss of 747 laptops and secret data files - Yahoo! News UK

No wonder there is a shortage of IT gear, seems we are a very careless bunch

But then again I just happened to come across this in a book I was reading: A somewhat unfortunate incident took place when I sent a flying officer with important despatches from G.H.Q. to the officer commanding the British column. It was not without humour. The pilot entrusted with the despatches was told to drop them without landing, so on getting into his machine he explained to the mechanic who was accompanying him to throw them over when he waved his hand and pointed down. They set off; on approaching Babylon the pilot thought he would point out the ruins for the edification of his mechanic. So he circled round and pointed. Away went the despatches!.. the Indian cavalry searched the area for two days, until the secret papers were fortunately recovered.

From: In the Clouds Above Baghdad by Lt Col J E Tennant RFC written in 1920

So maybe not such a new thing after all........

ianp
22nd Jul 2008, 21:36
So we have lost 747 service laptops? If you really want one I suppose you could look on ebay?:O

fod_that
23rd Jul 2008, 10:10
I didn't realise the MOD had 747's, and why would an aircraft that big need a laptop?