PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - UK MFTS on or off the rails?
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Old 20th Oct 2017, 23:30
  #31 (permalink)  
Melchett01
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Darling - where are we?
Posts: 2,580
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Got to say that I am genuinely concerned by the levels of outsourcing and contractorisation right the way across the Forces. Whilst I guess there will always be niche areas, contractorisation should IMHO be left to those niche areas and not viewed as a silver bullet or doing routine business on the cheap. It's neither. And I suspect thoughts of copying the US miss the point that for all their own issues, the US retains a sizeable uniformed force.

Contract things out and we suddenly find don't own the assets or expertise (wasn't it the Jag that we owned outright and could do whatever we needed cheaply and in short order?), getting timely support in the middle of a conflict zone is difficult if not eye wateringly expensive and when you go so far as to contract core elements of routine business, guess what, people (especially those past pension points) will invariably be attracted by life out of uniform thus perpetuating the retention issues. Like outsourcing your thinking to management consultants, wholesale contractorisation is illusory and frankly requires contract monitors not senior leaders potentially putting the notion of command at risk.
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