Jackonicko,
I’m sorry to disagree with you. I suspect that we’ll agree on more things than we disagree on, but on this occasion we don’t.
The fact is that UK plc has a limited “pot of gold”, and there are vast numbers of areas competing for their share. Hospitals and education are much more high profile in the minds of the public than is Defence; unless (God forbid) there is a major war, that will inevitably remain so.
Therefore, the Defence vote is never going to be big enough to provide overnight solutions to the problem of people voting with their feet. I’m afraid that buying our way out of trouble is not an option. So, if we can’t instantly buy lots of new shiny kit and pay airline wages to our crews, what’s left? The only way left is to stop pi$$ing them off and, unfortunately, that is NOT REPEAT NOT something that the military hierarchy has total control over, much as we might wish that it were so. Political imperatives are such that the Service hierarchy is also under pressure. I’m not sure quite how far the “chiefs” can go in saying NO (notwithstanding my earlier post) before it is construed as some sort of “mutiny”. However, they need to know that they would have the total backing of everybody in all 3(4) Services in doing whatever it takes to convince the Government that there is a genuine, deep-seated, underlying problem. We would also need to achieve public support and sympathy for our situation. I’m pretty confident that Joe Public would be happier that the UK did not get involved in absolutely every semi-crisis that occurred in the World, if they knew that the sad, inevitable result of doing so was a steadily reducing capability to do anything meaningful in the future.
We have (certainly in the RAF and I’m sure - from my experience -it is so in the other Services) a fantastic bunch of people who are all desperate to be loyal and do their utmost to sort out our current problems. I speak with some considerable authority on this, as I have spent a very long time training personnel at all levels. In particular, I have seen some 800 sqn ldrs at very close quarters over the past few years. Almost entirely without exception, they are exceptionally high quality officers who are NOT dissidents or rebels, but generally and genuinely just wish they were able to come up with instant solutions that would allow them to continue to pursue the career that they joined for. Life can be FUN. Unfortunately, they have pressures from home because they are away from their families for too long, and are tired and pi$$ed off even when they are home. They are under pressure at work and find it difficult to be the happy-go-lucky, cheerful souls (at all times) that their wives/husbands married. But – most of all - they are also genuinely worried about how the RAF is going to get itself straightened out again. I will say one thing to all of you. I am tremendously heartened by the quality of our people, and I therefore have to have confidence that “all will be right in the end”. The major problem we have, therefore, is how do we stop these high quality people leaving before we can fix the problem?
I remain convinced that the major part of the solution is to reduce some of these pressures. Of course, getting some new kit is important, not just the shiny new “wonder jet” but training aircraft that are not knackered. Some of this is in train. People need to see a light at the end of the tunnel and, although it does not yet comprise gigaquanta of photons, there is a glimmer. But they also need to know that, while they are in that dark and damp place waiting to reach the end of that tunnel, they are not going to be tasked with constantly achieving the impossible with few resources and no time to enjoy their lives. AGAIN I SAY THAT – SINCE THERE IS NO MORE MONEY TO PROVIDE THE RESOURCES TO MATCH THE TASKS – WE MUST MATCH THE TASKS TO THE RESOURCES WE HAVE! This will not be very palatable to the politicians, but they have to realise that failure to do so could lead to a distinct worsening of the situation, with our best and brightest seeking pastures new at an ever increasing rate, a situation which could become absolutely unsustainable, if it hasn’t already.
I know you’re not very well liked if you provide a problem without a proposed solution, but I’m not sure how it would be best to present the case to the Government. I can only plead that ALL Chiefs present a united case to the Government, explaining openly and honestly that there really is a problem and seeking an understanding of the situation, and an undertaking to genuinely try to provide some ameliorative measures, by reducing the unnecessary tasks that they are currently quite happy to throw at the Services with ever increasing regularity. It’s not broken, but it’s quite well bent – that might straighten it a bit and give time for other measures to take effect!