Unfortunately it would be a case of what other people thought we were!

Lord, would somebody the giftie gie us
To see oursel's as others see us

Not often you can say you've received a gift from the MOD!

Yup, it's water under the bridge for me, and I was a "square peg" etc, but FWIW the same year I ran the London marathon in under 3 hrs 30 I was written up as as barely fit or something suitably derogatory for physical fitness. When I belatedly found out and had the cheek to question both the first and second RO I was told that since it was done on my own time, off "company" property and wasn't a team sport the running didn't count.

I left 2 years later......TBF I guess both myself and the RAF won.....I sneaked a look at a few reports before I left I have no wish to go there again.

Wiggy, the other problem with an annual report is that many RO don't remember more than a couple of months unless you pissed them off. Some don't even know you.

I've requested mine in pdf format, so we'll see if they save trees or not.

I vaguely recall that there was a short-lived Officers Confidential Reporting system between the F1369 and OJAR. F6500 (?) or similar I think. Anyway, Spectre 150 was working in a busy staff job for a 1RO who was destined for, and achieved, VSO status. The new reporting system was based on a new numbering system which the 1RO rigorously applied - unfortunately not in my favour. The list of low numbers looked very stark but I had little time to suck my teeth and protest as the 1RO was posted and walking out of the door on a Friday afternoon. But I had faith in the system, the 2RO was there to provide an element of 'checks and balances' and all would be well in the end.

When the 2RO read from his narrative that Spectre 150 'lacked the intellectual rigour to mark him out from his peers' I knew I was doomed. What came as a bigger surprise, and a most welcome one, was when the 3RO Air Officer called me in - he was a fearsome man with a reputation to match - instead of cutting me off at the knees and throwing me out of the HQ as I expected, after asking what I thought of my annual assessment, proceeded to metaphorically tear it up and threw me a lifeline in the form of a 6 month deferral and a new report from my new incoming 1RO.

This was all in the days of open reporting - wonder how it would have panned out in the old closed book system.

Spectre, Miss PN experienced something like that. 1st tour, first report, and very weak reports from 1st and 2nd. She had worked very successfully on an oil spill that would have taxed someone far more experienced. She had been directed by the station commander who had good oversight of her job.

One wonders if the two junior RO benefitted on their reports.

Going back to the 50s/60s there was clear evidence of favouritism, especially as the executive cadre was almost exclusively Cranwell which was almost exclusively pilots. There were several cases where the flt lt was promoted to sqn ldr when his sponsor made wg cdr and so on up the greasy pole.

I think my family know me better than did some King Cnut I had the displeasure of working 'with'.

In one year I was reported as "short & slight" and "short & stout" by two different 2ROs. I was 5ft 7in and weighed 9st 12lb throughout the year ...

But in a hundred years or more all of the existing members of your family will be dead. So unless you or other relativeS maintained detailed diaries, your descendants will know very little about you.

One of my great grandfathers was killed in WW1, A grandfather and his son were killed in WW11, My father was a commando and fought in Malaya in WW11 and is now long dead. I know all of the dates, but with the exception of a few fading photographs, I know nothing about their experiences. Written records would be very precious to me.

Having received the military information I requested two months ago, this morning another envelope arrived from the Army Personnel Centre Disclosures people with a covering letter thanking me for my original correspondence and providing me with a substitute Certificate of Military Service.

Weird; never asked for that, I still have my original red book. They also sent a record of all courses attended including grades/results and all postings with dates.

NEO

Well, it arrived. Very thorough. It even includes photocopies of letters my mother sent from Australia when I was fifteen, asking about qualifications needed etc.

What show up though are how subjective the various reports can be, and how much pressure must have been on superiors to produce something. My reports vary from "excellent, keen, proactive, good flying ability" to "uninteresting, no leadership ability, barely average pilot"

I think I'll keep them, particularly my mother's letters, but they aren't going to affect my life. I left just after my 30th birthday, and I'm 70 now, so water not just under the bridge, but several water-cycles gone.

Not just then. In the late 80s a friend of mine was given Spec Rec by 1 RO, endorsed by 2RO and Stn Cdr (A top bloke).


Got to AOC who downgraded him "As he wasn't aircrew"

Has the process or product changed ?
 

...
Obtaining a Full Service Record

In January 2023 I helped a family obtain the full service record for their recently deceased Fleet Air Arm father, whose 12 year 'short service commission' ran from the 50s to the 60s. His entire service record was provided comprehensively and very promptly by paper photo copies of almost everything, including confidential reports. My resulting comb-bound printed copy was nearly half an inch thick.

In December 2023, I helped a still well alive Fleet Air Arm pilot to apply for his own 30 year service record from early 1950 to the 1980s. The detail supplied electronically was minimal compared to that provided a year earlier and was in part incomprehensible if one is not IT literate, or if one has no access to JPA. Quote - "This Data is taken from the Data Preservation Repository as of 11 Dec 2023. It should be read in conjunction with the Data held on JPA."

There are obvious differences between our two requests - viz -

· The latter bloke is still alive.

· The procedure changed in April 2023 from 'cost you £30' - to 'free'

While I take this up with the relevant offices - does anyone here have any recent experience or views on the subject ?

Q1. Has the 'request a full service record' process changed ?

Q2. Did we fail to ask for what we actually wanted ?

TIA ... LFH