VGS Future basing policy & HR
Notwithstanding all of the previous, mainly centred upon aircraft, perhaps another revolutionary idea may be to consider where the customers are ? ( Customers ? what are they Blackadder ? can't we do without them ?)
Another fairly basic concept for OC 2FTS to think about is location of expertise - particularly if we have most, if not all Vigilant ops erased. And, for the elimination of doubt, to run a 4/5 ship Viking VGS requires a heck of a lot of staff on every operational day, and it's not a fast track operation to germinate and grow that talent, if the safety card is foremost. In order to give staff some days off, then you need a large roster of qualified expert staff.
Furthermore, with larger catchment areas, what time of day will they expect the Cadets to set off for the remote VGS ? - and what time can ops commence ? And cost of travel at public expense ?
Until we see the airfield review/basing, we will not know for certain but it certainly does appear that 2016 will mark the end of many highly productive VGS locations.
Another issue to be examined is the level of staffing required to run a Viking operation at the levels required to service a much larger catchment area.
How many staff will remain, and how will those VGS staff remaining feel after the whole organisation has been absolutely "rogered" where many staff will just be left to walk away without so much as a thank you from doing the unpaid job that they absolutely loved to do, seeing the fruits of their toil develop into RAF Pilots of the future.
Many may well feel wary about how they are to be treated in the future after the fairly awful way they have been treated during the last 19 months.
Aircraft and Airfields are vital, but then of no use if they have not got the vital instructional and support staff required.