Reds Breakdown
Whenever the report mentions ‘The Red Arrows’ I am sure that the public just thinks of the pilots.Two pilots got kicked out but 9 other ‘members’ of the unit were disciplined.
I do acknowledge that as some of the pilots were behaving poorly morally, that may have been seen by other members of the unit to be acceptable behaviour =Leadership failure.
Do personnel join the Reds for the ‘right’ reasons…..?
What are the ‘right’ reasons?
Would you want to and for what reason?…………….
What questions would you ask aspiring members and would you believe their answers…?
If you put the team on a pedestal, tell them they are ‘the best’ and let them live and operate separately to the rest of the service this will lead to a elitist view of themselves- something the Service itself used to actively encourage.
That culture permeated throughout the unit and led to a lax attitude to the Service ethos and lo and behold it spread to other areas of behaviour…When faced with temptations normal self discipline can start to weaken and then the behaviours as reported are a natural consequence.
I met members of the public at Airshows who didn’t even know the team were in the RAF as “they don’t wear military uniform” ( yes, really).
Why not put them back into service uniform and flying suits: ‘The RAF Arrows’ anyone?
But they would just look like any other members of the RAF then….and perhaps begin to behave in a more disciplined and less entitled manner.
I am very sad to see the damage this report has and will cause to the RAF as a whole.