As a very old ex resident of Akrotiri, after the Turkish invasion and most squadrons had gone home, Akrotiri was a great posting! Nobody seemed to know how long we were staying, messing was excellent, and It was one of the better postings even then. I'm horrified at the descriptions of the present day Akrotiri I've read here, it sounds very run down! Slipping standards are one thing but this sounds like a waterfall!
When PAYD was first mooted I was all for it as our then shift patterns meant we were paying for meals we weren't having. It seemed a good idea then, but I'm sure if wed known what it would have led to I'm sure we wouldn't have been that eager!
The first PAYD civilian run Airmens Mess that I met was at Northolt and it wasn't all that clever after being used to having a fully staffed catering squadron, I do remember the small portions and slow service! I can well believe that there was no hot food for shift workers at a privatised Akrotiri, they didn't have any either when we were working a night shift at Northolt. Its all contracts and profit margins instead of the service we were used to.
That's it Geriatric grump over.
