Soldiers given extra Christmas leave as a 'thank you'
 

In response to the MOD’s announcement that the army is to be given an extra 5 days leave this Xmas as a "thank you" for its "exceptionally" busy year, the RAF has announced that, for every year’s service, they will be paying their airmen 365 days salary.

According to the Sunday Times it was to save money on heating and lighting costs.

It's probably a cost-cutting exercise. Some bean counter has worked out they'll save 'n' Pounds by not having to ration or provide heating for 'x' number of soldiers for the five days.

I see you beat me to it, GG.

I remember back in 1973-4 when 'they' sent us away from RAFC between Christmas and New Year, then turned off all the heating to save money...

It was very cold at the time; living abroad I had to come back a day or so early and used to go out in my car to get warm as my room was b£oody freezing...

But it cost them thousands when the heating was finally restored as damp had set in, which ruined miles of expensive wall paper etc.....and, of course, everyone turned their radiators up to max chat!

Penny wise, pound foolish!

When we had the peace dividend in 1990/91 in the run up to GW1 it saved a fortune in heating and lighting. Same as happened in the 46/47 winter when units were closed for weeks.

I would go with the Sunday Times. Another way to save money would be to abolish chinagraphs in March.

Perhaps one of the biggest saving in a long stand down is the frequently nugatory runway de-icing etc.

BEagle,

You beat me to it. Given the current policy of managed decline, i.e. only spending money on infra where absolutely necessary, the current delapidated state of many buildings surely puts them at risk if we have a harsh winter - which if the press and Met men are to be believed is on the cards. Turn the heating off, freezing sets in and hey presto, save a few pounds on the gas bill and spend thousands repairing the damage. But hey, that comes out of a different budget, so it's ok :ugh:

"Turn the heating off, freezing sets in and hey presto, save a few pounds on the gas bill and spend thousands repairing the damage."

Exactly.

In the late 70's, I think around 78 - 80 when the UK had a really cold winter,
we left out heating on in Hereford but it still froze the pipes so I agree, the damage can be way more than any saving.

.

I remember Brize putting singles in quarters due to the lack of accommodation and the heating being on 24/7, thermostatically controlled by opening the windows :E

It always amused me the way the RAF had fixed periods that the central heating would be on, because when it was turned off in the blocks the electric consumption must have gone through the roof as the singlies turned on their electric heaters.

500N


That may have been the year London ordered the thermostats to be lowered to save money, which may be ok when you're that close to the equator. In our (REME) workshops the pen recorders showed the temperature didn't rise above -10 for two weeks. Normally enhanced maintenance would kick in but we weren't allowed to spend the money. Repairing the damage took weeks, just to save a few grand. But they would be different budgets, so that's ok.

In my last light blue job I ran a computer system - two main frames running back to back. For the long Christmas break I would shut them down and return to work a day early to fire them up again. It also meant I could call the contractors first thing the next day to fix them.

Last time I simply closed the processing and left everything else running. Two-weeks later they were still running sweetly.

I understand that they did something similar at a certain northern RAF base only 2 (or was it 3 ?) winters ago. Sadly that particular part of Scotland experienced one of its coldest periods (-15, or -16) for several days. The heating had been turned right the way down to save on costs. And lo, a number of buildings suffered from burst pipes due to the cold weather (Scotland? Cold?? In winter???). Cost of repairs far exceeded cost of saved fuel.

As a complete aside, the weather, stunningly clear, very cold and dead flat calm, meant that not a single wind turbine stirred to disturb the Christmas peace. :E

A common mistake that people make with comms kit. Leave it alone and it will be fine. Switch it off and it will fail on run up.

Bear

The Staish tried to close Boulmer in a similar manner in the mid 80s. Then the unions got involved.

Sorry, they said, our civvie members have to be supervised and the heating has to be on etc.

But, said Staish, they can have the time off as week and still get paid!!

Can't do that, said unions, not unless all our other members working on RAF stations get the same deal, or get paid extra for having to go to work.

Station stayed open.

BB, I was just obeying orders :)

The last time I ignored the orders. Large heating bill but less work for me :)

Certainly the Brize lecky bill in the Mess must have been huge in the period AFTER it became cold and BEFORE the official heating date [and the converse]. I certainly had a substantial heater. Dining Room and ante-room still damned cold though! Solution: import kettle and microwave or even mini-oven. The bar warmed up nicely from the bodies of course.

To those of you who have done well - Well Done!

To everyone else - well done anyway!!

So should we and the Navy consider reporting our respective Services to the Equal Opportunities Commission, or is it simply that we haven't worked hard enough this year?

Quite honestly we are talking about our government here, of whichever political persuasion, and whatever they enact it will be unwieldy, unmanageable, irrelevant and in the end will fail. Its what the UK government does best at enormous expense.
Cynical? Moi?

Since the RN and RAF troops under Army command will also be getting the time off, I don't think it's so much an "equal opportunities" case as one of single-service leadership. Or lack thereof.