Go To The Secretary of State
Regarding the eligibility for the QDJM, this is the letter I have sent today to the Secretary of State for Defence. I work with CC class reservists and feel keenly that their omission is grossly unfair. I have urged some of them to rush out and sign up in an eligible class of the reserves before it's too late!!
Dear Mr Hammond,
The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (QDJM)
I write ask if you will have the MOD reconsider the eligibility criteria for the award of the above medal to some classes of armed forces reserves.
Most reservists are included in the eligibility grouping, with the exception of the ‘Civilian Component’ (CC) of the reserves. Despite their title, which emanates from the fact that they are recruited and employed via a civil service arrangement, these personnel are required to wear uniform and are subject to the armed forces disciplinary code, in addition to the civil service code. The CC officers hold a formal commission, which is recorded in the London Gazette, as well as the individual service lists. Furthermore, an officer’s appointment to a CC commission includes a parchment of appointment issued in Her Majesty’s name. Their uniform is indistinguishable from that of a regular service person and their duties often require them to exercise command and full disciplinary powers over regular personnel.
CC personnel, who are predominantly former regular service men or women, are recruited and employed because they possess competencies which are unlikely to be readily available elsewhere. For example, they may be air traffic controllers or former members of aircrew. Those employed with the cadet forces, oversee the work of the volunteer reservists (who are eligible for the QDJM), provide professional and specialist services to them and are responsible for the nurturing and training of those volunteer reservists.
Many CC personnel feel a deep sense of disappointment that they are being overlooked for the award of this prestigious recognition of Her Majesty’s reign and their dismay is heightened when it is realised that Police Community Support Officers, for example, are to receive the award.
Please may I urge you to redress this injustice, which I bring to your notice not because I will be a beneficiary of any change but because CC personnel are an integral and respected element of the armed forces and I believe their omission from the award’s criteria is unfair.
Yours sincerely
Old Duffer