It doesn't get much better than this
Hi everyone,
Its been a bit of time, I know, but as I've had all of 10 weeks away from the sandpit, there hasn't been too much to comment on. But here I am, back again, living the life of an SH mate in the hottest place on earth. Are you sitting comfortably? If not, prepare yourself by having a seat.
**RANT ON**
I know that I have seen a load of changes out here in the Middle Eastern sandpit since summer '05. Some of them have been great to see, some haven't. I'm sure you can understand why I can't go into too much detail, otherwise instead of men in suits and black Omegas coming to knock on the door, the RMPs will come round in their really shiny, new, top-of-the-range Land Rover LR-somethings. There is no bitterness here at all, especially as we are stuck with the good old fashioned relics last used in the Balkans. Goodness only knows why they need the best vehicles in the fleet. I look forward to a response from the Redcaps, if they can manage one.
But I digress.
What was I on about? Changes. That's it.
Here's the deal. We are now banned from wearing civvies, unless you are inside your block/domestic area, or going to and from the gym. So for all meals, chilling out in ECHOS, going to the phone, using 'tinters, going to the bar- in essense, lock, stock, the firkin' lot, you wear full uniform.
Now that's a sh1t sandwich if ever I have seen one.
The reasoning behind it? Those who go out on the ground, might see off duty chaps and chapesses going out to relax and wind down, all dressed up to the nines (or eights, depending on who you are). Someone, somewhere, has decreed that it is bad for the morale of those going out on the ground. Well, I'm sorry, but where do they think those off duty are going to go? The cinema? Bowling? What about going to the water park? Clubbing? My f***ing ARSE they are! They are going to watch Maria Sharapova, Roger Federa (I had to put that in for the equal oportunities police) and other such beauties play at Wimbledon. They are going to play chess, poker or backgammon. Maybe they are going to have a milkshake or a cuppa with a few mates after a long day at work. Or maybe they just want to spend a bit of time out of uniform. Admittedly, we could all go to supply/stores, and get a pair on finest issue shorts and pair of desert sandals and wear those instead. Could you imagine that? I certainly can't. What I can imagine though, is the RSM's face when he sees us all in that rig. It would almost be a Mastercard moment!
But that isn't quite the worst part. Apparently 903 EAW have NOT signed up to this ruling. Why can't we be a part of the proper RAF again? Bring back Strike Command. Bring back all the commands. We wear RAF uniforms and RAF rank. We work at RAF stations. We fly RAF, not Army helicopters. It's about time that someone sticks up for us.
I, and lot of others, spend far too much time out here, doing our job to the best of our abilities. Is the end in sight? A very good question, one that sits way above my pay scale. I just do what I'm told (most of the time). But what do we want when we're here? Not much really. Here's a selection: a place to eat; a place to sleep, even during the day; but importantly, the option to be able to to step back from the job that we do. It can be mundane stuff, it can be scary as hell. But when it's over, you generally want to be able to kick back and realx, and dare I day it, almost forget that you are in the hottest place on earth, surrounded by a load of people who don't want you there either.
Oh, there goes the tannoy. 'MORALE, MORALE, MORALE. THERE HAS BEEN AN OUTBREAK OF MORALE. ALL MORALE CREATING ACTIVITIES ARE TO STOP WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT. END OF BROADCAST.'
**RANT OFF**
There are always 2 sides to every story. People have attempted to shoot my arguments and opinions down before, but in my eyes, with little success. I'll guess I see what happens now.
AA