MM
you're welcome.
Meadowbank
Just when i thought you were sending in reasonable posts....
If you re-read MM's post then what he is actually driving at is that these 'difficulties' are generally financial ones (they could be a shoulder to lean on). For example "hello Jim everything all right mate, your're not your usual self?' 'Not really' says JIm 'the bank are about to repossess the house, i'm 2 months behind with my mortgage' 'Look mate' he is told 'dont worry, ive got some spare cash if it will help, you're welcome to it, just pay it back whenever you can, no pressure'. Its as simple and uncorrupt as that. I would like to think you would do that for a mate if it were not going to cause you hardship. I would, and he dosnt have to be a mason.
some of you guys are really starting to grind me down aaaaagh!
Your hypothetical situation does not work, it doesn't happen. As you say at the end maybe 15% of officers may be a part of masonry, i dont even know the numbers. That means 85% are NOT in masonry. Are you trying to tell me that masons would be the only ones to do favours for each other? I have NEVER heard of a mason giving a peg up or unfair/ unlawful advantage to another mason in the RAF. I cant speak for the other services. Now from the result of other posts i need to repeat that. I have NEVER heard of a mason giving a peg up or unfair/ unlawful advantage to another mason in the RAF. I cant speak for the other services.
What is far more common and likely and the reason that i left is a flight/squadron commander giving advantage to their golden boy/golden girl. Or the squadron commander who gives advantage to a subordinate because they were mates on the same IOT, flying course, Squadron. It is more likely that this would be the case in your scenario. There are blatant examples in the past of certain flying instructors giving students of the opposite sex a very unfair advantage and 'peg-up' in the flying training system. Not because they were masons, but because of the fact they fancied the other, and i know cases of this occurring in instructors of both sexes, to the extent that one course commander resigned because he was told be the CFI to pass a student of the opposite sex who was way below standard, and he would not put his name to something that was clearly favoratism. Or the chief Tech who changed the 1st RO's report on a JT from rec to spec rec, because it turned out the CT told the 1st ro that the JT had always done a great job baby sitting for him.
Is the picture building up here? People who like other people, who fancy other people, who owe other people, who joined together, who trained together, who have others as their 'golden boy' give those respective people an unfair peg up the system. Masons go to great lengths to make sure that in a professional environment we do not get caught giving unfair advantage. If we did it would give ammo to people like you Meadowbank. If you know of one example of a mason giving unfair advantage to another in the armed forces then tell us. But i know of dozens of examples of non-masons giving non-masons a distinct advantage, for many reasons concerning human interaction. In any organisation, if your face fits with those above you, then you will be advantaged.
Meadowbank and the rest of you concerned with Masonry, i would stop worrying about the 15% of masons and start worrying about the 85% of non masons who i can state examples of giving unfair advantage to others.