Just had the 'future of PMA' (sorry I mean ACOS (Manning), catchy name!
) chat, from Gp Capt Opie today. On the whole, I was pretty impressed with most of the changes, almost enough the change my mind and stay
…. naaa, not likely .
Apparently, under the new ACOS (Manning) practices, one has to:
Opt Out of Promotion, yet
Opt In to Extension of Service.
No chance of confusion there then!
So somewhat different to what my deskie said. But the good news is, that one will have to positively extend ones service past a 16/38 point, therefore we should not have anyone else caught by the ‘assume your staying’ policy. Moreover, the team also suggested that almost any option will be explored to keep people in at the moment, as we overshoot the target manning, and have UK gapping rates of around 17-20%.
They also mentioned that a number of trades have been identified as smashing harmony-guidelines: Fire-fighters, Movers, Gunners, MT Techs to name a few. Also, from the aircrew fraternity: SH, C130 and Harrier. But there was little indication of what their airships may do to rectify the situation, but at least this is the first step.
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