Somebody else must still love being in the RAF as much as me...
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Having just come to this thread please allow me a moment of Pashto pedantry. As has been mentioned before, the issue of spelling Pashto words in English is caused by variations in transliterating (ie representing Pashto script with the English alphabet) one language to another.
Taliban/Taleban = طالبان
In order to better match the Pashto pronunciation it would actually be better rendered as Talibaan (to rhyme with barn) but we don't seem to like the long "a" - Kaabul becomes Kabul to westerners. There isn't even a single western transliteration for the word Pashto, پښتو Pashto, Pashtu, Pushtu, Pakhto and Pukhto are all used dependent on the dialect used by the native speaker.
Enough digression and back to the original question. I agree with the sentiment that when the RAF is good it is very good and that the converse also applies. For me at the moment the good outweighs the bad and as long as that continues I'll be happy to stay in. That said, I think that for me that tipping point will come sooner rather than later.
MB
Taliban/Taleban = طالبان
In order to better match the Pashto pronunciation it would actually be better rendered as Talibaan (to rhyme with barn) but we don't seem to like the long "a" - Kaabul becomes Kabul to westerners. There isn't even a single western transliteration for the word Pashto, پښتو Pashto, Pashtu, Pushtu, Pakhto and Pukhto are all used dependent on the dialect used by the native speaker.
Enough digression and back to the original question. I agree with the sentiment that when the RAF is good it is very good and that the converse also applies. For me at the moment the good outweighs the bad and as long as that continues I'll be happy to stay in. That said, I think that for me that tipping point will come sooner rather than later.
MB
Last edited by Mahogany_Bomber; 5th Apr 2013 at 00:17.
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Therapy is still an option . . . it's just that the government has withdrawn the funding for it.
. . . but love is not having to say you're sorry (apologies to Ali MacGraw).
. . . but love is not having to say you're sorry (apologies to Ali MacGraw).
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I love the Royal Air Force dearly. It educated me not only in life but in a profession which I still work in 33 years later. It refined a sense of discipline and respect, which had been started by my parents. It gave me the ability and confidence to be part of a professional team and, latterly, to lead a team. It wrapped me in a sense of community and belonging which I have yet to find the equal of. The people I served with were, in many ways and at different times, my mother, my father and my siblings. I have no shame in saying that the day I left I cried like a baby.
I love the Royal Force but I HATE what the politicians and the money men with not an ounce of military ethos have been allowed to do to it. This is made all the worse by the fact that I now work for the Royal Air Force and I know that the vast majoriy of personnel still hold the ethos which I remember but you can only kick a dog so often till he bites back. Please excuse any spelling mistakes, my emotions are running high and I appear to have some grit in my eye.
John
I love the Royal Force but I HATE what the politicians and the money men with not an ounce of military ethos have been allowed to do to it. This is made all the worse by the fact that I now work for the Royal Air Force and I know that the vast majoriy of personnel still hold the ethos which I remember but you can only kick a dog so often till he bites back. Please excuse any spelling mistakes, my emotions are running high and I appear to have some grit in my eye.
John
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MGD:- How many days/months have you been given to serve? ....& your terms or theirs? A good friend in a similar position (PVR) has to do 6 months despite being NCA targeted for redundancy and with a job to go to. Is the ODH average NCA PVR of 6 crewmen at any one time still extant? This says much about for the SH Force, and I am sure the background logic has much in common with others who have walked before you.
Good Luck; hope the grass is a nicer shade on the other side.
Good Luck; hope the grass is a nicer shade on the other side.
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Good Luck; hope the grass is a nicer shade on the other side.
I only wish I'd done it sooner.
Even when I was made redundant (3 times), it's turned out better than it was previously.
So . . . this is one case where the grass really IS greener.
I don't expect you to believe me, you wouldn't know until you tried it.
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MiniGun. Didn't see that one coming. Assume this is very recent news. Best of luck for whatever the future brings for you. That is two PVR at 
that I am aware of in the last week, the other being a groundy FS and I know of several with hovering fingers on their keyboards.
that I am aware of in the last week, the other being a groundy FS and I know of several with hovering fingers on their keyboards.
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No on 4 counts:
1. Too many "politically aware" Senior Officers.
2. Too FJ focussed to the detriment of other fleets. (Maybe we should hand over SH to the Marines or AAC then).
3. Too Stats driven e.g Office for Performance Measuring.(!)
4. Too much focus on "business ethos" e.g. Business speak "lets hoist this idea up the mainmast".
1. Too many "politically aware" Senior Officers.
2. Too FJ focussed to the detriment of other fleets. (Maybe we should hand over SH to the Marines or AAC then).
3. Too Stats driven e.g Office for Performance Measuring.(!)
4. Too much focus on "business ethos" e.g. Business speak "lets hoist this idea up the mainmast".
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Wokka: You say that as if anybody gives a sh1t, but I suspect that there will be some at HW who gloat at those individuals lining up for those gates doing their job for them. ....and the new blood that arrives every couple of months feed the pyramid nicely. The only people that will miss the 'experience' are the guys who themselves are on the sqns, not the 'system'. One way or another there is a shortage of QHCI in the making and that could hurt Odiham Plc.
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Here's how it went when I did it last year:
Wife says - " You just getting older and more hacked off. You are gaining no new skills or experiences. If you stay you'll just be older and less employable". And she is right... She missed out fatter....
Decision made!
If you PVR the ROS is 6 months. However, during your resettlement you can work for your new employer on a pre-employment training, work-up type deal but you can't be paid by them until in your final leave & terminal leave phase. At which point you can receive a golden hello as well as your salary.
Additionally, once you PVR you can then GEN APP requesting to be released early if you have a job to go to and can provide some form of justification (service interest) etc.
I (43 y.o. SH MACR(on PAS)) PVR'd on 31st Jul 10, last working day was 16th Sept 10, first day in new job was 4th Oct 10 (in Spain) and final day in RAF was 25th Dec 10, at which point I had been working in new job for nearly 3 months. Total flash to bang of just under 5 months.
Gratuity was paid 16th Jan 11 and pension is paid 19th of each month.
AFCS payout for neck injury took fully 6 months to process, although the medics took all blame for injury away from NVG and flying and credited it to CCS Respirator drills!
Wife says - " You just getting older and more hacked off. You are gaining no new skills or experiences. If you stay you'll just be older and less employable". And she is right... She missed out fatter....
Decision made!
If you PVR the ROS is 6 months. However, during your resettlement you can work for your new employer on a pre-employment training, work-up type deal but you can't be paid by them until in your final leave & terminal leave phase. At which point you can receive a golden hello as well as your salary.
Additionally, once you PVR you can then GEN APP requesting to be released early if you have a job to go to and can provide some form of justification (service interest) etc.
I (43 y.o. SH MACR(on PAS)) PVR'd on 31st Jul 10, last working day was 16th Sept 10, first day in new job was 4th Oct 10 (in Spain) and final day in RAF was 25th Dec 10, at which point I had been working in new job for nearly 3 months. Total flash to bang of just under 5 months.
Gratuity was paid 16th Jan 11 and pension is paid 19th of each month.
AFCS payout for neck injury took fully 6 months to process, although the medics took all blame for injury away from NVG and flying and credited it to CCS Respirator drills!
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"You're just getting older and more hacked off. You are gaining no new skills or experiences. If you stay you'll just be older and less employable".
Exactly the same mindset I had back in 1999, almost to the word, when I PVR'd after 16 years. And, despite the redundancies that have happened in the big wide world after that, it was still absolutely the right decision at the right time for the right reasons, given those circumstances.
No regrets. I gave my most formative working years of my life to the RAF and in return it gave me a mindset, an ethic that has served me well compared to some of my contemporaries. When I have been out of work outside, it has been for less than six weeks at a time, even when times were crap.
But, I'm glad I served when I did and not now. Even if you take out the rose tinted nostalgia that some of us are given to and are objective about it, I would venture that now is not a particularly pleasant time to be serving. Not from what I've been seeing and hearing for the last 4 years.
Exactly the same mindset I had back in 1999, almost to the word, when I PVR'd after 16 years. And, despite the redundancies that have happened in the big wide world after that, it was still absolutely the right decision at the right time for the right reasons, given those circumstances.
No regrets. I gave my most formative working years of my life to the RAF and in return it gave me a mindset, an ethic that has served me well compared to some of my contemporaries. When I have been out of work outside, it has been for less than six weeks at a time, even when times were crap.
But, I'm glad I served when I did and not now. Even if you take out the rose tinted nostalgia that some of us are given to and are objective about it, I would venture that now is not a particularly pleasant time to be serving. Not from what I've been seeing and hearing for the last 4 years.
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I guess I was just lucky; joined as a Rigger Brat (1971) age 16yrs+2days, promoted Sgt age 22 (on the back of an ill-judged redundancy programme & new non-passable promotion exam, which I somehow passed), Chief Tech age 29. Career brakes were then applied by Mikhael Gorbachov & his Glasnost & Perestroika notions.
As I coasted towards my age 40/22yr point, I realised that being in the RAF is like being at a super party; but like all parties, there is a time to leave - before you:
1. Drink way too much
2. Make a pass at the hostess (wife of Best Pal)
3. Have a fist fight in garden with Best Pal due to item 2 above
4. Wake up with re-arranged facial features next morning
5. Wish you had departed party when you had the first inclination to
So, I duly resisted the temptation to sign-on to age 47 (not a good age for a new career), and departed for the broad sunlit uplands of civil aviation. 16 yrs post-RAF, I'm now a freelance EASA licensed engineer (though I prefer the term 'technical prostitute'). In my 10yrs freelancing, I have survived 9/11, SARS, sundry wars & the present financial trauma. I have only been unemployed by choice, and I do very well thank you.
Some unsolicited advice for my light blue/dark blue/brown a/c engineering bretheren who are contemplating life beyond the Service (by choice or otherwise):
1. Be not afraid
2. Start NOW to study for your EASA licences. It will take you about 12-18 months to climb this mountain
3. You will not make a serious income in civil aviation if you ignore item 2 above
4. Buy yourself a B737NG or Airbus 319/20/21 Type Rating course (c2.5kGBP)
5. Look forward to continuous, well-paid employment (regular or freelance)
You guys & gals are ahead of the competition, simply by being who you are. I wish you all the very best of luck; but remember, you can make your own luck. As our Seat/Stick Interface bretheren say "YOU HAVE CONTROL".
As I coasted towards my age 40/22yr point, I realised that being in the RAF is like being at a super party; but like all parties, there is a time to leave - before you:
1. Drink way too much
2. Make a pass at the hostess (wife of Best Pal)
3. Have a fist fight in garden with Best Pal due to item 2 above
4. Wake up with re-arranged facial features next morning
5. Wish you had departed party when you had the first inclination to
So, I duly resisted the temptation to sign-on to age 47 (not a good age for a new career), and departed for the broad sunlit uplands of civil aviation. 16 yrs post-RAF, I'm now a freelance EASA licensed engineer (though I prefer the term 'technical prostitute'). In my 10yrs freelancing, I have survived 9/11, SARS, sundry wars & the present financial trauma. I have only been unemployed by choice, and I do very well thank you.
Some unsolicited advice for my light blue/dark blue/brown a/c engineering bretheren who are contemplating life beyond the Service (by choice or otherwise):
1. Be not afraid
2. Start NOW to study for your EASA licences. It will take you about 12-18 months to climb this mountain
3. You will not make a serious income in civil aviation if you ignore item 2 above
4. Buy yourself a B737NG or Airbus 319/20/21 Type Rating course (c2.5kGBP)
5. Look forward to continuous, well-paid employment (regular or freelance)
You guys & gals are ahead of the competition, simply by being who you are. I wish you all the very best of luck; but remember, you can make your own luck. As our Seat/Stick Interface bretheren say "YOU HAVE CONTROL".
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now is not a particularly pleasant time to be serving. Not from what I've been seeing and hearing for the last 4 years.
1) Those that are cruising home to a pretty good pension riding the storm with thoughts of outragious good times now long gone.
2) Those so new as to not know any different.
3) ...and those I feel sorry for. Who had a taste of the good times only to see them dissappear before their eyes all too prematurely. Who must now make the decision to grin and bare it or make off into a second and unplanned career which may not be any better then riding the storm.
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I can't think of any other organisation that rewards its people by giving them a huge tax bill (7K in one case I have heard of) to go with the promotion.
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Yes, I still love being part of the RAF, despite the fact that I am in complete non-job (which, thankfully, is being disestablished) and am missing life on the front line. The people that I work with are top-drawer, and are the only thing that makes coming into work worthwhile. I can safely say that is the case for every bunch of people with whom I have worked (with the odd exception, obviously) and that is what has, and I believe always will, set us apart from civvy-street. A wise man once told me that we are always only one posting away from a PVR, and I have thought long and hard about what I will do if I am not sent to what I consider to be a worthwhile job for my next tour. Should I go I will miss the spirit, ethos, sociability, humour and sensibilty of the RAF which, despite the best efforts of Gordon Brown and the incompetents who have been running MOD for the last few decades, they cannot take away from us. Mrs G106 retired from the mob a while ago, and she is constantly astounded by the lack of appreciation of what the military does for this country, and also the sheer lack of common sense amongst the vast number of civvies she comes into contact with. At least in the RAF you can always rely on a certain standard of intelligence and an understanding of what you are trying to achieve.