I read Courtney's post with interest and totally agree with his comments. I too was posted to an exchange tour with one of our NATO allies and was quite dismayed to find what the RAF had negotiated with the host nation and the resulting impact on life style. Some examples. Allowances: I my case, virtually none when detached whilst my foreign colleagues enjoyed (big time!) substantial rates. Leave: the RAF arranged for the exchange officer to be on the host nation's leave system which was rank related. Not happy to have my leave allotment reduced. Housing: surprising as it may seem but allocated rental accommodation that was of a lower standard than the UK equivalent. To add insult to injury, I was regularly required to justify the rental costs. Social life: the unit to which I was attached had zero social activities outside work and none that involved spouses. Whilst not specifically RAF related, it does remove a huge chunk of the enjoyment of Service life and considerably adds to a feeling of isolation for the family.
Reading some of the posts in this thread seems to indicate that some are of the opinion that all things exchange/overseas must be a good deal and to adversely comment shows a lack of backbone and/or LMF. I was very lucky and enjoyed a good rate of LOA that was not eroded during my tenure, additionally, I had a very good RAF support chain that tried, sometimes with success, to limit the damage done by the more ludicrous examples of bureaucracy. However, there are always other aspects to life that go to complete the entire picture and some elements may not be all that good. For my replacement, the Desk Officer arranged for them to talk with me prior to accepting the post. After several warts and all conversations, three turned down the post.
DP