TOFO

"Security should come before convenience these days anyway."

And afterwards.

"Please adjust your dress before leaving". :}

Depends what the service clubs are. When you are offered a squillion foot of tarmac to fly off with approach aids virtually a stone's throw from one's abode it would seem churlish to refuse...:)
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Thomas coupling

I have a vague memory that it is socially acceptable for anyone retired from rank OF-4 and above to continue to use that appellation in civvie life afterwards, i.e.

Lieutenant Commander - RN
Lieutenant Colonel - Pongos
Wing Commander - RAF

Those who didn't achieve such exalted heights before leaving should never try to boast of their stunted attainment afterwards.

Re the carrying on of rank, I understood that senior officers could continue to use their rank as a title. So Sqdn Ldr and equivalent.

I was introduced at a function once to an elderly gentleman, 'Captain ****'. I asked him what his role had been in the Navy to which he brusquely replied 'Royal Logistics Corps actually.' I didn't press the point that he perhaps shouldn't be using the title 'Captain.'

Cruel but I feel I shall file that one away for future use...:)

Four Types,

I can't quite work out if you're being serious or attemtping a wind-up. If you have business on a base, you can gain access according to the current requirements. If you want to go to the mess to socialise as a non-member, you have no right of access. And why should you have?

You can always get a mate to bring you in, but I would be very disappointed if a guard on the gate were to to open the gate to you on the basis of your "Don't you know who I am? I served here for 35 years!" Hardly counts, does it?

You left, you handed in your ID, you have no need nor right to enter the establishment. It's the same for all of us that have left. We are not a part of the Armed Forces and cannot, therefore, expect to be able to walk freely in their secure areas.

I'm surprised anyone would think otherwise.

So after 35 years of Service, that's how you view your co-workers. Boy do you have some high expectations. Make sure you insist on your civilian colleagues addressing you by your rank - or better still, calling you Sir - if you can get a job.

I once saw an ex-Wg Cdr join a company still thinking his rank counted for something.
I watched his steep learning curve increase daily as he found that all his "Good Idea's" were taken up by the bosses and had to be made to work...by him alone!

I knew a Wg Cdr who commited suicide shortly after he left, his wife said he just couldn't cope. He was a very decent man as well, I'm sure some here will know him.

Not all ex-Wg Cdrs feel the need to carry their rank around, thank you.

Thing, he was a good chap.

Plus an oddity, former army Captains from cavalry regiments, if they are working with HORSES!!

A certain Capt. Mark Phillips is an example.

The Army have always been a bit of a mystery to me. Don't they have Lance-Sergeants in some regiments? Having said that, I'm all for keeping tradition alive and the Army seem to be good at it.

Re the carrying on of rank, I understood that senior officers could continue to use their rank as a title. So Sqdn Ldr and equivalent. - Thing

I'm sure that we've been here before but, for the avoidance of doubt, the link http://www.debretts.com/forms-addres...ormer-officers shows that the ranks which may be used on retirement are actually:

Royal Navy - Lieutenant Commander

Army - Captain**

RAF - Squadron Leader

** Curiously enough since it is one rank lower than the rank indicated for the other two Services, but would cover both Thing's RLC man - and Mark Phillips!:ok:

That said, I know very few officers who either use, or insist on the use of, their rank - many Admirals and Air Marshals included....

Jack

Thanks for that UJ. I know an ex CAS and knight of the realm who is very laid back and unassuming. But never mention that he's retired as he will point out in no uncertain terms that in actual fact he's not...:)

For a few years after I'd left the RAF, I was still able to gain access to the station as I was a civilian member of an on-site club and had the relevant pass.

But I watched the place getting tattier and scruffier as the years went by, with fewer and fewer people in blue around the place. Not that they were in the latest fashion of combat pyjamas, they simply weren't there, although a handful of scruffy civilian contractors were wandering around instead.

A real shame. So I left the club, handed in my passes and preferred to live with memories of happier times, rather than the reality of 21st century squalor...:(

Worst ever was going back to RAFC a couple of years ago - to find no aeroplanes (apart from a few plastic pigs) and no students. The place was like a morgue.

My dad was one in the Scots Guards. Wore 3 white stripes and was in reality a corporal. "Real" sergeants wore gold stripes.

Re retired rank. An admiral, KCB, moved to a Cornish village after he retired. He introduced himself at the pub, and the landlord asked him how he preferred to be addressed. He replied "Admiral, or Sir John - either is fine". He was somewhat taken aback on his next visit when a regular called out from the corner "Hello sailor!"

I think we met and I share your sentiments.

I have, over the years, come across a couple of ex-RAF people who signed themselves as "Flight Lieutenant ********* RAF (Retd)" in correspondence.

My experience
 

8 Sqdn birthday bash at Waddington this year.Organisation was brilliant waited at the Officers mess for a large coach which took us all to the airfield where a big hangar had been decorated with a "Sentry"and a "Hunter "plus of course all the dining tables etc,meet and greet with a G&T and a mingle with the people in blue uniforms then the dinner with anecdotal stories read out!All in all no complaints ,there were ten of us old OAP types and we actually wandered about to the 8Sqdn HQ were there is a memorial wall with members names on it.I believe there were about 500 people there and it was brilliant .

Union Jack said:

Royal Navy - Lieutenant Commander
Army - Captain**
RAF - Squadron Leader
** Curiously enough since it is one rank lower than the rank indicated for the other two Services, but would cover both Thing's RLC man - and Mark Phillips!


And James Hewitt.

Seems that friendship with da laydees of the Royal Family confers on some the right to continue to use one's otherwise undistinguished military rank in private life.

(Rumour has it that Hewitt failed the exams to Major three times and that he finally achieved that rank after leaving the Army. Quite how or why I can't fathom).

I can't hear the rank of Major without thinking of Major Major Major Major in Catch 22. Shortened of course to Maj. Major. I am a bad person.