Morale
When somone mentioned to a 2* the other day that fulfilling his requests might take a little time due to lack of people and too short a deadline, he apparently pointed out that there were "24 hours in a day" and people should "dry their eyes."
Edited to add that despite having grown up leadership in place, it's still all pretty ropey.
Last edited by Melchett01; 19th Aug 2012 at 17:01.
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Morale on my Sqn is non-existant. I loved my job and the service but i had no alternative but to send off that letter in January - ( 8 months out of 15 OOA and a lucrative alternative job in civvy st forced my hand. I was successful. I now only have four nightshifts left in the RAF. To those who remain, Per Ardua.
Re the "24 hours in a day" comment - it's a reflection on the terrible working practices of 2* / 3* officers. How do they think they are in a fit state to make important decisions at 8pm having been at work since 6:30am?
Anyone who thinks they are important enough that they need to be in the office for 14 hours a day, plus a solo Sunday afternoon email session, either has too big an area of responsibility or is appalling at delegation.
Edited to add: Or they are afraid of making big decisions, so they spend far too long looking at trivia.
Anyone who thinks they are important enough that they need to be in the office for 14 hours a day, plus a solo Sunday afternoon email session, either has too big an area of responsibility or is appalling at delegation.
Edited to add: Or they are afraid of making big decisions, so they spend far too long looking at trivia.
Last edited by Easy Street; 18th Aug 2012 at 21:59.
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I chose to jump ship a few years back not long after a particular Stn Cdrs conference at Coningsby. The massed crowds were discussing a variety of issues when OC Cottesmore commented that there was no 'fun' anymore. At that, AOC 1Gp, brown nosing to CinC STC, responded by asking said stn cdr whether he had ordered him not to have fun. Knob.
I understand the chap is now a faceless 3-star in Europe somewhere. Probably still a knob.
I understand the chap is now a faceless 3-star in Europe somewhere. Probably still a knob.
Last edited by Cows getting bigger; 18th Aug 2012 at 21:10.
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Quote:
When somone mentioned to a 2* the other day that fulfilling his requests might take a little time due to lack of people and too short a deadline, he apparently pointed out that there were "24 hours in a day"....
When somone mentioned to a 2* the other day that fulfilling his requests might take a little time due to lack of people and too short a deadline, he apparently pointed out that there were "24 hours in a day"....
Seniority's short term mindset in a nutshell.
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Its probably appropriate to point out the MOD/Senior Officers/Civil Servants legislative policy statement at the moment. "We have never forgotten that you have no choice". And before some wag says yes you have, you can leave I would like to point out that at times I have enjoyed keeping my pile of piece in one ****. where's Bob Crow when you need him.
Nice to see in this day and age of "health and safety", "human factors", "quality improvement", and supposedly more enlightened times that a 2*'s approach is that of a Victorian mill owner who simply works his employees to death..... (see post 20)
Hopefully he'll be one of the 25% to be cut!!
http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...-posts-go.html
Hopefully he'll be one of the 25% to be cut!!
http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...-posts-go.html
Last edited by Biggus; 19th Aug 2012 at 20:46.
But in the case of the Gov't, I know that Labour, and Gordon 'the traitor' Brown (who should be hanged as the traitorous scumbag he is) are DIRECTLY responsible and culpable for the mess the whole country is in. But, I want to know which of the UK's Air Officers has allowed the RAF to fall into the desperate straits in which it now find itself. They should be sacked at best, prosecuted most likely. Why should they be allowed to escape their incompetence?
Successive regimes, including Labour, have supported both the policy and those who actively and enthusiastically implemented it. The last five Ministers for the Armed Forces (Labour and Coalition) have been happy to condone these actions, in writing.
As for Gordon Brown, for all his faults he is the one senior politician to have condemned MoD, calling it a "citadel of waste". What puzzled me was his apparent refusal to do anything about it when he had the opportunity.
The Public Accounts Committee, by convention, is chaired by an Opposition MP; currently Margaret Hodge. (Which is why there is always shared blame in such matters, but it is also a self-healing arrangement). Again, successive versions have been vocal about waste, but as soon as the underlying cause and culprits are revealed to them, they mysteriously back off. This has happened again very recently. Why? It can only be to protect the guilty who, as you say, should be rotting in gaol.
Why gaol? Because by perpetrating this waste they MUST have breached the legal obligations they were under and made false written declarations - which is fraud.
But the same successive regimes have ruled that committing this fraud is NOT an offence in MoD. The facts are not denied by MoD. I have the letters with the signatures of all these decision makers, so the answer to "Who did it" (as well as "Who encouraged and protected them?") is well known.
Last edited by tucumseh; 20th Aug 2012 at 06:01.
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New regulations (according to the Telegraph), mean all Military Personnel now have to travel Economy Class (Most Circumstances) . Have similar changes been made for the Civil Service? A friend of mine, who ranks lowest of the low (in Civil Service terms), always goes First Class by rail because her Boss (a Sqn Ldr equivalent), travels with her.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
dalek, yes, they travel 2nd class too.
We stopped IiP because we couldn't afford it. I know one money waster was Brian Burridge's dirctive for everyone to get the ECDL. Complete waste of time and money. Instead of teaching people how to write it would have been better teaching those that wanted to how to type.
Interesting to comparecivil service courses and military ones. CS ones generally last a day, employ a couple of facilitators who have probably never met before and are usually a waste of money.
RAF ones generally lsast one week or two, start on a Monday thus requiring travel on Saturday or Sundayand you usually learn something.
We stopped IiP because we couldn't afford it. I know one money waster was Brian Burridge's dirctive for everyone to get the ECDL. Complete waste of time and money. Instead of teaching people how to write it would have been better teaching those that wanted to how to type.
Interesting to comparecivil service courses and military ones. CS ones generally last a day, employ a couple of facilitators who have probably never met before and are usually a waste of money.
RAF ones generally lsast one week or two, start on a Monday thus requiring travel on Saturday or Sundayand you usually learn something.
travels with her
When IPTs were formed (2nd time round, not the late 80s model) IPTLs were given the authority to drive a bus through the regulations. It was "their" budget and they could spend it as they liked. So you'd get the indirect labour (invariably the senior grades/ranks with no responsibility or accountability) swanning off on 1st class jollies and drinking the hotel bar dry on the IPT account (literally, on one notorious occasion) and direct labour (usually the lower ranks, but those with the signature) refused permission to attend the likes of design and safety meetings they were meant to be chairing. That would explain the situation Dalek describes.
This also serves to highlight the basic problem I've come across in many IPTs . The "pyramid" is inverted, with the most senior staffs surplus to requirements as they contribute little. And yes, before you ask, I've been an IPTL, but 23 years ago when IPTs were not bloated with untrained staffs each doing a fraction of a job!
Last edited by tucumseh; 20th Aug 2012 at 12:04.
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The MOD is not the military, the military is in places like Afghanistan suffering from the incompetence and self serving policies of the MOD. There may be members of the military in the MOD, some of whom have been promoted to the level of their own incompetence, some of whom additionally may be following their own self serving policies. That does not mean that the MOD is the military. It is not.
tuc:
So the rot set in under PM Margaret Thatcher and her SOS for Defence, Michael Heseltine. Organised and deliberate gross waste that was recouped (or at least that was the plan) by a direct attack within the MOD upon Air Safety, and in particular the budget for the provision of UK Military Airworthiness. Those responsible are known and evidence has been submitted to two judicial reviews, the civil police and the RAF Provost Marshal. Nothing has been done, not even an interview, as they are evidently "honourable men". Evil happens when good men do nothing!
There have been 62 deaths alone in Airworthiness related military air accidents reviewed in this forum, broken careers, and most devastating of all, a system that remains broken and will continue to be so until the MAAIB and the MAA are made independent of the MOD and of each other.
While I agree with the sentiments expressed, it is a simple fact that Labour were not in power when the policy was formulated (June 1987) and issued (Jan 1988) by AMSO to knowingly waste money on a scale that would make your eyes water.
There have been 62 deaths alone in Airworthiness related military air accidents reviewed in this forum, broken careers, and most devastating of all, a system that remains broken and will continue to be so until the MAAIB and the MAA are made independent of the MOD and of each other.
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Morale
Sad that 2* in post 20 believes his own spin. My experience at HQ Castle Grey Skulls is of very supportive grown ups and we do say no - especially to Centre. Moreover, my team are encouraged to question where value is dubious and to seek explanations of new words/jargon. Not surprisingly, less bull, higher productivity and more time for meaningful tasks.
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I always thought the simple cure for low Morale was in the word itself..
Mor Ale
.
Mor Ale
.
Last edited by NutLoose; 20th Aug 2012 at 21:15.
Whaddawewant?
On a miserable day on 85 Squadron at West Raynham in the early 1970s we used to shout "More beer, longer runways, bigger women". That seemed to cheer people up, albeit briefly.