The mating habits of female FCs should probably find a separate thread... if at all!
Irreducible spare capacity is pretty plain English in my opinion. It means, "unused (spare) capacity that cannot be disposed of (irreducible)". I believe in being concise. Those who've seen my posts before will know I don't respond well to management speak or PC bolleaux.
The information I have provided above was given to me and 150 others at a briefing last month. No decision has been made, but someone had the sense to look at the costings and propose a feasibility study.
To add my personal slant, I don't really think that setting up RAF Scampton as a "hub" is really 100% necessary. The CRC will stand up because it is already built and ready to go. The rest of the stn needs to be repaired, repainted, and reorganised. Buildings need vast quantities of asbestos to be stripped out. The sewers, as I understand it, are in poor repair. The stn needs to be set up for modern computer ops. English Heritage are (wrongly) poking their noses in and not allowing this country's military to go about its business efficiently. The roads need improving. The electrical and water supplies will probably need to be improved and backed up. SHQ's upper floor is uninhabitable, as are many of the accommodation blocks, which need to be brought up to modern standards. The messing facilities will need to be improved and expanded drastically; at the moment the Combined Mess can't cater for the personnel already stationed at Scampton, hence the imminent spillover to RAF Kirton-in-Lyndesy. The Sgts' Mess is boarded up and will cost God knows how much to run up again. The Officers' Mess alone is likely to cost millions to stand up again.
I would like RAF Scampton to stand up as a MOB, honestly. I'm all for the RAF expanding; I think we need to! But for God's sake, look at this logically. When the F3 fleet is withdrawn, Leeming - an operational station - loses its main role. Why not use its irreducible spare capacity (or "previously operationally capable facilities with no current role") to accommodate the ASSUs? Not all cost-cutting is hostile, some of it can actually save us the expense of spending millions when it isn't necessary.
Which is all desperately unfortunate for families, and I think we can all appreciate what a hard time people are having at the moment. It's a pain, but I'm sure things will settle down when the decision is made. I hope so, at any rate.
Last edited by tablet_eraser; 15th Nov 2005 at 23:05.