Originally Posted by FinallyGoing
Being 'Finally Going' I got down to resettlement and found that JPA is pursuing the Air Force to the grave - the other services not being affected yet of course! You'll be pleased to hear that it is now immeasurably more difficult to get fees and daily expenses for courses thanks to everything now going through JPA - BUT ONLY FOR THE RAF - Is that fair? Still being 2 months high-rate flying pay short I'm less than impressed. Oh, and thanks to the Army sending a Medical Dischargee scuba-diving in Thailand, any overseas course ('though it will cost exactly the same as doing it in the UK) now has to go through MOD. You may imagine the extra hassle there.
RAF leavers be warned; JPA won't leave you alone 'til the day you hand in your 1250 - and even then it'll hassle you if you want Enhanced Learning Credits. Nice to know that the RAF is following the USAF's lead in appreciating and looking after its veterans. Great for morale.
Keep
To be fair, there are currently pros and cons in that the RAF have the ability to claim some elements that the other two services cannot yet claim. It's a weird pay system which differentiates based on the colour of a uniform, especially when in a tri-service environment, three people can make the same journey to work and all have different levels of reimbursement!
The ELC system has just been overhauled as well, there are a new batch of authorised suppliers, so it would be worth keeping a weather eye on their website (when it works). ELCs are a superb concept as long as they don't go the same way as the Government learning credit system (abused, frauded and cancelled).
I have been advised to accelerate my actions prior to terminal date - ie get everything in place, medical, dental, etc so that there can be no confusion or problems when I go outside (especially with payment of terminal grants and pensions). My only bonus is that I am doing civilian work attachments rather than GRT courses - I spent the last 5 years qualifying using Standard Learning Credits via the OU.