Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal

[Old-Duffer]

A Final Shot

From: Old Duffer, Duffer Castle, Duffer on the Hill, Duffshire

Mr William Nye
PPS to HRH The Prince of Wales
Clarence House
LONDON
SW1A 1BA 12 February 2012

Dear Mr Nye,

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (QDJM)

I hope you will forgive my writing on such an apparently trivial issue but I do so because I believe His Royal Highness may wish to be aware of a possible embarrassment regarding eligibility to the award of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (QDJM).

The criteria for the award of the QDJM allow for it to be granted to most members of the emergency services and armed forces who meet the principal requirement of five year’s service.

Within the armed forces, however, are a group of reservists described as ‘Military Support Force’ (MSF) or the ‘Civilian Component’ (CC). 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 both the armed forces disciplinary code, and its equivalent civil service code.
• The MSF officers also 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.

Military Support Force personnel are predominantly former regular service men or women and 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 MSF personnel feel a deep sense of disappointment that they are being overlooked for the award of this prestigious recognition of Her Majesty’s reign. Their dismay is heightened when, for example, it is realised that Police Community Support Officers; who are civilians and not warranted police officers and whose powers to act are exceptionally limited, are to be granted the award.

I have raised this matter with the MOD but the Defence Secretariat is unwilling to reconsider the issue nor will they say why MSF personnel are being excluded. Please may I urge His Royal Highness to attempt to redress this injustice, which I bring to your notice not because I will be a beneficiary of any change but because MSF personnel are an integral and respected element of the armed forces and I believe their omission from the award’s criteria is unfair, particularly when the commitment required by some other eligible groups is significantly less than that required from MSF personnel.

Yours sincerely

Old Duffer