1 Jan Officer Promotions

[sidewayspeak]

RAF - Officer Promotions - 1 Jan 2011 (http://www.raf.mod.uk/news/OfficerPromotions1Jan2011.cfm)

Not many promoted. :sad:

Little incentive to strive anymore. But musn't grumble, have a job at least; for now.

[ICBM]

... or perhaps the message has been finally heard and we're not promoting for the sake of it; instead giving promotion based on merit and, dare I say, competence?

[CHUNKYEWO]

No Flt Lt to Sqn Ldr in the flying branch?

[London Eye]

Flt lt to sqn ldr now selected on requirement from a merit-order list which is created by the promotion selection boards. The aspiration is to move to the same system for all ranks idc, which will presumably see the end of the Jan and Jul lists. A better system in practice but we will all miss the opportunity to check the bi-annual "what 'im" list.

[QTRZulu]

Yet more than a handful promoted to Wg Cdr and Gp Capt :confused:

Not trying to say that those lucky enough to be picked up did not deserve it, but why so many Flying Branch promotions in the current climate of fleet reductions, planned scaling down of HQs etc?

When most other trades are being told to expect little or no promotion for years to come, can this really be justified in the eyes of the workers?

[ICBM]

I don't think you can look at the weightings in this list and make light of economics. At first glance one could deduce that we must have needed more Wg Cdrs and Gp Capts this round. In contrast the next round could be mostly made up (for the most part) of Flt Lt - Sqn Ldr promotions. What then? PPruners crying that we don't have any suitable people for promotion to SO1 or higher? These things are always an 'Ebb and Flow' deal and not worth too much brain work or enthusiasm from one's armchair ;)

[Melchett01]

It's an incomplete list - it doesn't show any of the flt lt - sqn ldr promotions. And whilst they are reduced in comparison to previous years, there have been promotions to sqn ldr.

This may have something to do with a change to how the flt lt promotions are handled. Rather than having a bi-annual list, individuals are notified that they have been provisionally selected for promotion, but they will go into a specific appointment at some point in the next 12 months rather than being promoted off a list and then the desk having to scrabble round to find a post to put them in to. Just a theory, might be wrong, could just the website administrators have made a mistake.

[Dengue_Dude]

Does that mean that both remaining officers were promoted yesterday?

Well it will mean that soon won't it?

[Jimlad1]

"Not trying to say that those lucky enough to be picked up did not deserve it, but why so many Flying Branch promotions in the current climate of fleet reductions, planned scaling down of HQs etc?"

Depends on the age of the branch and their manpower plot - it could be that there are a number of retirements etc which need to be covered this year.

I know that another service is aware that even though its manpower is falling, in a couple of years time it will have to do a bumper promotion board at one level to replace the manpower who are retiring, and whose posts were continuing post SDSR. Ironic isnt it - smaller service = more promotion :-)

[StopStart]

This is all well and good but I have to ask: what on earth is the AEROSPACE BATTLE MANAGER BRANCH?? :rolleyes:

[davejb]

Oh for goodness sake, do try to keep up!

They're the people that manage battles in, errr, aeropspace....yeah...

[BEagle]

I understand that it's the 'AWACS Passenger Branch'.....:\

nuSpeak wanquewords for 'Fighter Controller Branch' in old money.

[Mr C Hinecap]

Perhaps to more accurately reflect their role now, given they don't just control fighters.

[glad rag]

ROFL, the rot set in with "Options" now it's finally permeated upwards.

You reap what you sow.

[Easy Street]

Perhaps to more accurately reflect their role now, given they don't just control fighters.

Thread drift warning - Mr C is right, ABMs do control many varieties of air traffic now. You may notice that that sentence included the words Air, Traffic and Control. Heresy when suggested to an ABM, but since their day-to-day role on current ops is keeping aircraft apart instead of bringing them together, the old distinctions between the branches are more blurred than ever! At least from the end user's point of view...

(pin safely pulled; retiring)

[Mr C Hinecap]

Oh - as far as promotions go.....less people leaving early as less of a job market out there to go to (for all), smaller force for the future, iminent reduction of numbers (redundancy) etc all mean less promotions for all.

[minigundiplomat]

less people leaving early as less of a job market out there to go to (for all),


Not true. Either you are in the wrong trade, or not looking hard enough.

Granted there isnt a boom, but there are jobs.

[Alber Ratman]

Try and get one then..:E

[Father Jack Hackett]

Not au fait with Airspace Battle Manager branch myself but if it's the same bunch who operated as "Crowbar" a while back then good on 'em - an extremely capable outfit.

[Mr C Hinecap]

Not true. Either you are in the wrong trade, or not looking hard enough.

Argue all you like - you usually complain that black is actually white. Just in case you didn't know, there is a recession on. Yes, there are jobs out there and some people are doing very well. However, across the Armed Forces as a whole, there is a slow down on people leaving at option points / before retirement - this is put down to the uncertainty of the civilian workplace and reduced recruitment elsewhere.

People are not leaving because there is less to go to, so promotion also gets hit. I didn't say there were no jobs - I said there were less :rolleyes:

[skippedonce]

Father Jack,

You are correct: CROWBAR is 1ACC, currently located at Kirton-in-Lindsey.

Amazing to see only 1 Regt promotion; my, how things have changed!:}

[Lima Juliet]

Surprised to see 39 Sqn Ldr to Wg Cdr "Flying Branch" promotions on combined Jul 10 and Jan 11 lists - the "cut" advised at last year's promotion board was 28.

I heard a rumour that there were too many "other branch" Wg Cdrs and with the collapse of General Duty Wg Cdrs back to specialisation, then the balance needed re-adjusting - anyone else heard this?

LJ

[themightyimp]

Argue all you like - you usually complain that black is actually white. Just in case you didn't know, there is a recession on. Yes, there are jobs out there and some people are doing very well. However, across the Armed Forces as a whole, there is a slow down on people leaving at option points / before retirement - this is put down to the uncertainty of the civilian workplace and reduced recruitment elsewhere.

People are not leaving because there is less to go to, so promotion also gets hit. I didn't say there were no jobs - I said there were less :rolleyes:
Nice claim; where is your evidence? Is it just ill informed opinion or are you in the category of not looking hard enough or being one of the unemployables outside? :ouch:

[Mr C Hinecap]

Nice claim; where is your evidence? Is it just ill informed opinion or are you in the category of not looking hard enough or being one of the unemployables outside?

Desk Officers and head of two Branches (your former Branch included) telling me that numbers leaving at option points has reduced as people stick with the RAF rather than face a recession-hit job market and all that entails. Branch Sponsors telling me the same. People from across the 3 Services telling me they will ride it out for now and see what their next option point brings.
If I guess correctly, you're a self-employed contractor currently working at Abbey Wood. Good for you. I'm happily wearing my uniform and I'm happy you're happy not wearing a uniform. I don't know why you'd doubt my point, but crack on.

[Evalu8ter]

There are jobs on the outside, you just need to look for them. The problem is the expectation of salary and security at the moment. There is not, as yet, an appreciable draw from airlines for those that will only consider flying as an option; but this will change in time. For those that diversified away from flying during their careers (or those non-aircrew) there is still plenty of work outside as some sectors of the Defence Industry have escaped relatively unscathed. Given the trumpeted slashing of MoD MB & DE&S there will be plenty of work for Contractors as PTs struggle to fill the gap left by military/CS downsizing, particularly to support UOR programmes. My advice would be, if possible, diversify if you're still in the Services to give yourself as many options as possible at the next Option point / redundancy offer. The days of SO2s ticket-punching Staff Tour/Command Tour/Promotion & Staff College have gone for the time being.

[QWIN]

Am I missing something, why do we need to promote 6 Wg Cdr docs to Gp Capts?

[Green Bottle 2]

LJ, I believe the 28 were new promotees and the balance taking it up to 39 were those already of acting rank who were made substantive as they had been acting up for a period of 2 years.

GB2

[skippedonce]

QWIN,

I suspect it is more to do with retention of highly-trained medico skills against equivalent outside earning ability rather than career-advancing promotion as such. There were two lawyers on there as well.

S.O.