St Athan and the £100m White Elephant

[tonkatechie]

Originally Posted by tucumseh

Attempting to, and failing, to conduct a level of repair that you are not cleared to do – thereby compromising safety and risking loss of the asset - is not quite the same as finding faults on acceptance from an authorised repairer; but your point is taken.

I wholeheartedly agree. My point was really in response to your point of there being a skill void as a result, (a point which I also agree with you on) a skill fade that has come about from Service personnel not having done such deep maintenance for a long time, if ever. With the advent of LEAN (or rather, what the RAF wants to call LEAN, as opposed to what it should be) it's going to be some time before we get back up to speed again. What a shame that this has come about after such a massive investment at St Athan, money and materiels that could have (with hindsight regarding the move of work to other units) been better spent elsewhere.

[Washington_Irving]

Originally Posted by Flt Lt Spry

Now, there's a very good reason for all of this. And for those of you who don't have the pleasure of dining with DCinC STC very often, let me explain:
The RAF has a Strategic Vision right? This is a forecast of what's to come in 20 years time and so that's what we have to start being like now, OK?
The Strategic Vision takes about 5 years to instigate. Comprendez?
But they invent a new Strategic Vision every 4 years. So that's why the old one is no good. Simple.
When DCinC told me this story, he used a few longer, more complicated words. But that's roughly it.

Strategic vision. Hmm, think I had one of those once after 1/2 a bottle of absinthe. Would that be the same thing?

Tonkatechie, I'm also wondering if the majors are taking longer, whether it was due to there being fewer bods at Marham to do the work. (Honestly don't know- but it would seem an obvious explanation.)

[teeteringhead]

Don't think the extra blokes have arrived at Marham yet - not that there's any accommodation for them there.

Last I heard was that they'd be accommodated in spare accomm and FQ at Colt - with a bumpy 'bus ride through the country lanes to start and end the day ...

.... not that many would use the 'bus of course .... but as there is a 'bus, then there ain't no H to D!

[Jobza Guddun]

Originally Posted by teeteringhead

Don't think the extra blokes have arrived at Marham yet - not that there's any accommodation for them there.
Last I heard was that they'd be accommodated in spare accomm and FQ at Colt - with a bumpy 'bus ride through the country lanes to start and end the day ...
.... not that many would use the 'bus of course .... but as there is a 'bus, then there ain't no H to D!

Which would be infinitely better than the 32 Man room (yes, you read correctly) that the majority go into on arrival in the swamp. A lucky few get moved out each week but there are never less than 30 people there, and they have 2 showers of which only one works properly. An utter disgrace in 2006.

Meanwhile, back on thread.....

[Washington_Irving]

Hmm, Marham. Tell me chaps, do you reach a point during your posting when you can no longer notice the smell of the pigsh1t from the neighbouring farms? Was just thinking that a bus ride to work down bumpy lanes with a raging hangover and the smell of Porky's air biscuits wafting through the air must be delightful. IMHO the A47 between Kings-Lynn and Norwich has to be the smelliest stretch of road in the UK.

[tonkatechie]

Originally Posted by Washington_Irving

Tonkatechie, I'm also wondering if the majors are taking longer, whether it was due to there being fewer bods at Marham to do the work. (Honestly don't know- but it would seem an obvious explanation.)

Can't speak for Marham as I've only had the 'pleasure' a couple of times (Q course and a LEAN analysis) and I work further north on the light grey pointy version.... much the same though in that the pressure's on to get servicings carried out quicker with the same number of guys and maintaining the flying programme. Biggest problem is the changes to the supply system which although good on paper, haven't been thought / acted out properly. I'll be quick to point out that this isn't a cheap dig at the stackers - they're just as in the poop as everyone else these days and desperately trying to get the job done. It doesn't help them when the LEANing takes the stacker off each squadron, puts them into a 'call-centre' (read: Tech Stores) and ends up with one poor guy answering the phone to all the demands from all the units on station, promising that the demands will be 'on the next wagon'. Surely the whole point of the people at the wokface having everything to hand means that we shouldn't be having to go off to the phone and wait in line behind everyone else on camp? At least they've given us our C-stores back!

[philrigger]

C-Stores

"At least they've given us our C-stores back!"

What? If this is true why did 'they' take away the C-stores in the first place?
Have all the reasons for not having C-stores on hand gone away suddenly?
How are they controlled now?


'We knew how to whinge but we kept it in the NAAFI bar.'

[mary_hinge]

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100n...name_page.html

Defence workers to hold privatisation protest Jan 23 2006
Defence workers will stage a huge demonstration this week to protest at the threat to jobs by the increasing privatisation of services.
Union leaders warned that thousands of jobs could be lost and millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money was being “squandered” by Government policies.
Hundreds of workers from across the UK will stage a protest in central London on Wednesday, accompanied by a Scottish pipe band.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, said areas being privatised included the training of tank drivers, linguistics, avionics and engineering.
“Defence workers feel a sense of betrayal by these cuts, which are politically driven just to save money,” he said.
“Political decisions are taking no account of the effect on services because of this mad scramble to cut jobs.
“Hundreds of unsung heroes will demonstrate their anger on Wednesday at how they are being treated by the Government.”
Meanwhile, union officials are to meet defence workers across the country over the next few weeks to prepare for an industrial action ballot in protest at the controversial decision to close an aircraft repair site at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, with the loss of hundreds of jobs.
Unions said the decision would cost the taxpayer millions of pounds and could put the Armed Forces in jeopardy.
A joint union statement said: “We believe that these plans will, at the very least, result in greater expenditure and heavier reliance on monopoly private suppliers.
“At worst, it represents an attack on the ability of our armed services to function and may jeopardise frontline armed services and service personnel safety.”