Wow this one set off at a tangent. Getting back to the original point and I'll try to keep it in crewroom language.
Overseas tour vary. I found the allowances during my tours in The Falklands almost too much to cope with. How I ever found the investment opportunities for the 64 pence a day I'll never know. Mind you, apart from beer, on the odd occasion I wasn't on Q, there wasn't much to spend it on.
My tour in RAFG was perfect. LOA was reasonably generous and the tax free perks helped make life comfortable. I went from a destitute Fg Off "pre Maggy" to a relatively wealthy Flt Lt. Competition for those RAFG postings was fierce.
I was also lucky to serve in the USA. In my experience, once there, the LOA allowed a comfortable lifestyle. The downside was it cost an arm and a leg to get there and back. I'd say I was just getting back to a norm about 6 months after arrival. I invested heavily in KD for my Exchange tour. Somehow the original KD I bought didn't fit all those years later. I sold two cars, one of which was only 18 months old, at a serious loss. I then had to replace them at inflated prices on my return. My dog didn't seem thrilled at being left behind and Virgin Economy for a pooch is not cheap. On arrival, there are many costs that fall to the individual. Household electrical items, particularly in the US can be expensive and the allowances don't go close. Inevitably you have to replace the items you carefully stored in UK by accident! Entertainment costs when on an overseas exchange are significant if you represent your Country properly, even if it's fun doing it. Official entertainment allowances are certainly a thing of the past unless you are on the diplomatic circuit. With LOA cut significantly, I'd question how comfortable the lifestyle now is. If we add financial pressure during the tour, overseas service would become a nightmare.
The costs on return are also daunting. The cost to get my house back in order after 3 years of renting was huge. Inevitably, many bills fall due immediately on repatriation. Items such as car tax, utility charges, insurance policies (and its a long list) all fall within a month. How do you sort out a car when MT drop you off at the door? The answer is you pay for a rental car. How do you bridge the gap between arriving home and the arrival of the furniture from storage? You pay for a hotel for a week. The disturbance allowance, whilst welcome, was a drop in the ocean. The "get you there loan" was hugely helpful but the package on return was non existent. The disturbance package has to be more generous if costs are not to fall to the individual. Government shipping of private cars (as the US does) would help. A more flexible containerised removals service where a container arrives at the door would save many of the associated costs and would be cheaper for the Govt and the individual, albeit take longer.
Overall, on both occasions I was significantly out of pocket and had my wife been working in UK it would have been even more costly as her skills would not have been transferrable.
Sympathy was short whenever I discussed these issues. The fact that a tour is in a desirable location magnifies the problem. I can hear the cries of "tough luck" on the Forum even as I bash away at the keyboard. The reality is HMQ could never justify funding many of the inevitable costs, nor can I even justify them. Why, for example, should the Queen replace your carpets that a tenant wore out in your absence? The reality, however, is that they still fall to the personal budget.
Interestingly, not once was I asked to provide feedback on the moves nor were any of my peers. A system which does not listen to "customers" cannot attract future volunteers.
As an aside, in my last job before retirement I was asked to find volunteers for a very attractive post in the USA. The initial reaction, across the board, was hands up i volunteer. The reality was that after consideration (kids school, ageing relatives, houses, jobs), I could not find a single firm bidder. Sad but true.
I'm not sure overseas tours can ever be financially viable and the system will continue to rely on the attractiveness of serving overseas.
Last edited by Geehovah; 13th Mar 2011 at 06:59.