Wyler,

to suggest that nothing has formally changed is incorrect...

All A6 postings, not associated with the CRC are on hold, personnel effected by this have been told by signal, no big secret but certainly a fact.

Scampton is dead and buried, I'm sure it's just a matter of getting the xmas holiday out of the way before they announce it. If you are in a blue suit then it won't be hard for you to get hold of the difference in costings for getting Scampton up & keeping Leeming open.

As for the SFC being purpose built, I visited your school for a brief recently and sat in a porta cabin for the day! Why not Leeming or, if the FC branch really is on the up, get yourselves into Conningsby, soon to be the home of the Air Defenders.

The portakabins at SFC are now vanishing (thank God!)

Wyler, spot on! As to management speak.... grrr.... take a few buzzwords and string them together, and you're practically an Air Officer!

"Pertaining to the newly-incorporated network-enabled capability doctrine, certain force elements at readiness can be generated, underpinning the overarching architecture of future C4I ops in the real-time digital battlespace, leading to a real capability advantage and directly augmenting standing computuerised elements of the overall force."

Phew! Bring me a pair of thick rank slides and a PSO at once!

Lads and Lasses,

Imagine my surprise when I got a few comments about starting this thread!!!

I AM based in Northumberland, I AM a female fighter controller(and im not even commenting on mating habits) and I AM in theatre...however there is more than one member of the Fighter Controller BRANCH in theatre...and I'm not well paid enough to comment.:p

*rushing now to change my ID* lol

Polo :ok:

PS Hello to all at Boulmer I hear its warmer here at the moment?!?:E

schizophrenia
 

Polo, But the thread was started by Tegan. :confused: :O

sw

Aggggh, you've blown her cover - don't tell them your name Pike....

PMSL.....been into Port Stanley yet ;)

SW,

The reason I commented is that I make very few posts on here, and it amused me that people assumed it was me. Sadly not...lol


And I dont dare go read the female controllers thread....

F n F No Im working far to hard to have any time off :p

Maple...still dashing to change ID :E

Polo:ok:

Ah, I'm with you. Fighter Controllers must be known as Mints, so it stands to reason that female ones must called Polomints...

Brit 55.

Why would we want to move to CY?? Its the home of SOME Air Defenders. In this day and age I fail to see the significance of colocating with one element. We also work with the Navy, so maybe we should move into Portsmouth!
I guess its the old chestnut about being colocated with the FJ aircrew to improve Contoller capability etc etc. Some mileage in that BUT, sorry, despite our crappy Branch name, controlling Fighter aircraft is a very small part of our job.
Command and Control in Joint Battlespace will not IMHO, be enhanced solely by having some Fighter Controllers parked next to CY Ops.
Yes I know thats a very simplistic view and there is benefit to be had by closer links, but that is only one small part of a much bigger picture.
Point taken about the A6 posts and I too am expecting several 'announcements' early in the New Year!

Tablet

Nice One! A complete paragraph of random b*****ks. Rank slides in the post!

I don't envy anyone looking forward to a tour in the CRC with no base around it? I thought Scampton was to be parenting Kirkton? What about FQs etc?

As to English Heritage....any semi-competent estates officer should have seen that one coming! The issue of listed buildings is enshrined in statute and has been for some time...there's even a register.

To me it would have been logical to move it all to Colt given thats its near the remote sites of Neatishead and Trimingham and therefore cost effective, although being an outsider I don't know whats planned for both in the near future.

The amount of money spent on the School at Boulmer there is not a chance in hell it will be moving by 2030 let alone 2010!

Wyler,

fair point about the extent of your Branches area of expertise. I only really get to talk to your WCs after they have talked us to death over the radio in OTAE! I was under the impression that they were some sort of god like people and that the 'lesser people' at CRCs simply made tea ;)

ChrisMcQuaker,

since when has the MoD looked at previous financial spending before turning 180 and doing something completely different?!?

Brit 55

God Like?? Never!! Gobby, definitely!

My personal prediction ref Scampton/Boulmer

CRC Scamptom will stand up early 06. CRC Boulmer will remain open TFN. Will possibly move to another location in the distant future depending on other NATO type things.
SFC will remain until such time as there is a pot of gold to fund a rebuild...when?....until the 12th of never..
There will be no back tracking on the closure of Boulmer, more likely a 'delay' and review followed by a delay and review....and so on.

Sir Topham Hat

Just give in, you know you want me!

It's made the BBC.......oooh err:hmm:

RAF bases get listed

Well, thats buggerd that plan then!

Will the CRC personnel have to come to work in WW2 dress?

I hope and pray that RAF Scampton is saved because it is a very famous Bomber Command station, perhaps the most famous. I had a family member there with 57 Squadron on Lancasters when 617 Squadron were preparing for the Dams operation. I stayed in the Officers Mess just prior to its closure and wandered around the airfield taking photographs (with permission) and the history of it oozed throught the ground, through my feet and into my very soul. I was truly walking in the footsteps of heroes and it was a very humbling experience. I often go up to Lincolnshire to visit the old Bomber Command bases and I always end up at Scampton at dusk and try to imagine what it was like in those dark days. I am a civilian and I know that what I have just written is unfair on serving RAF personnel and their rightful concerns about allowances, accomodation, postings, etc, but I feel that concerns about budgets, money, allowances, should not be allowed to dismember this "hallowed ground". God! how I hate the 21st Century and the tyranny of accountants.

Tony Fallows
Hampshire

I sympathise with your feelings Tony. Scampton will survive IMHO. It may not be the once thriving and bustling station it once was but there will be life there. Even in the worst case, the history will be preserved and some of the problems being faced now are for that very reason.
I agree about the accountants. I bet Guy Gibson did not have to fight with Civil Servants every day just to get the basics.

Tablet

Your 2nd post said it all - a concise and detailed report

The place is a wreck and beyond economical and practical recovery for the taxpayer

Sell it off and hit the developers for a windfall tax when they apply to build homes at rip-off prices

What's the problem? Nostalgia?

Do English heritage wish to retain run down buildings full of asbestos to remind our yoof of today (who have no interest) of the good old days just after the war ?

Don't get me wrong - I have done 42 years - 32 years flying - and have been to many 1928 format stns

Having dined, slept, and seen all the history in these messes, it's not difficult to imagine how lovely those times were - in my younger days, I made a point of going for a run around the perri track before dinner - then you saw the history of things that had long disappeared

However, this is 2005 - a very small, enthusiastic bunch of people are involved in this preservation process - they must eventually wake up and smell the coffee

Can you expect to pay for, or run, an estate, that's not even breaking even, let alone giving value for money ?