I agree with Blighter Pilot
I can't see the rational for the 50 mile rule - a change of school is a change of school; travelling 49 miles back to an old school daily is not an option.
Will be interesting how the posters of gp capts and above interpretate this once an individual has undertaken his staff tour. By the letter of the 50 mile rule they would need to say that there is a greater than 50% chance of that individual serving more than 50 miles away from his/her current posting (ie HQ AIR or MOD MB). I wonder what proportion of, say, gp capt appointments are not either HQ AIR or MOD (that are only about 33 miles apart).
Moroeover, why, in particular for MOD, is the distance measured from unit to unit. A posting to MOD means that you are at the mercy of DE's Housing allocation which could be to any one of a number of 'patches' within the M25 (and one just outside).
So, for instance, a posting to MOD from HQ AIR could result in a family move of:
35 miles if moving from Walters Ash to Bushey Heath
or
65 miles if moving from Walters Ash to Biggin Hill
Edited to add that both Portsmouth (Navy Command) and Andover (HQ Land Forces) are both more than 50 miles from MOD so this is likely to be a light blue VSO issue. Perhaps they should have collocated the 2 RAF Cmds at Imjin Barracks
