My post was intended to illustrate that nothing has changed in the past 36 years, not an attempt to start any sort of decline :ok:

NEO

This situation relates to the entire Defence Estate. It is little wonder that retention of new recruits is so poor ... the recruiting puff should be 'done' under the Trade Descriptions Act for lying.

That the organisation as a whole, and individuals from top to bottom of the MoD, and Forces, whichever part they work in, allow this to happen on their watch is shameful. And then to see the Ministry of Truth trot out their usual meaningless platitudes just rubs salt in.

I never lived in MQs, but lived in some woeful single accommodation. But let’s not normalise it. Let’s not just talk about it how bad it has always been as if it’s some sort of badge of honour. The people who allow this to happen, today, in 2021, should be hanging their heads in shame.

Whilst holding between courses once, about 4 of us were tasked by OC Admin to go round to a list of MQs which were on the list for maintenance / repair work and had been for some time! If I recall correctly, we each did 4 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon before summarising our day's work. The idea of doing so many in such a short time was so that DoE / MPBW / PSA / Doomwatch or whatever they were called at the time couldn't possibly catch up on their lack of progress.

Some of the MQs were truly shocking - Ty Croes springs to mind where families were in quarters with just a hardboard partition party wall. Yet on the same sight a 22 Sqn master navigator was living in some palatial ex-colonel's residence - lucky chap!!

We also exposed contractors who deliberately waited until 16:30 before reporting back to OC Bogs and Drains, so that they could claim mandatory minimum overtime payements.

Is today's problem that no-one is supervising the state of disrepair of the estate, or what? It was quite bad in some OM at one timr too - but at a Mess Meeting we voted out a proposal to spend money on new curtains for the 'Ladies Room', asking that perhaps the hot water in single rooms should be fixed first....

What is this 'hot water' that some of you are going on about? I have become an unwilling disciple of a chap named Wim Hoff, although after 18 months the purported health benefits have yet to emerge.

​​​

If any son or daughter of mine said that they wanted to join the military I would break their legs first.

.

Would have thought they should be able to make their own decisions.....with or without your agreement.....

Not Marrienburger Strasse, but Peter Nonnenmuhlen Allee.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....8c1c9d7862.jpg
59 PNA Back Garden

Far from being a badge of honour it's a shameful illustration of the place in the list of priorities the upkeep of service accommodation holds and has always held. Serve your country from a slum :mad:

NEO

I don't know how much it's changed in the last fifteen years, but I remember visiting Coltishall once, some time ago necessarily, and being tremendously late because we couldn't find the entrance.

We noticed some approach lights in some of the fields either side of the road, and concluded that we were somewhere near some sort of aviation facility, so kept driving and turning right. Past some more fields; oh, here's an emergency gate. Yes, that looks like a military airfield - oh, look, a Jaguar struggling valiantly into the air! Past some more fields. Past what appears to be a very poor-quality council housing estate. That's odd, why would they house people all the way out here. Hmm, still can't find the entrance to this facility used by our most dashing front-line gods of the sky. Past some more approach lights. Keep turning right, keep turning right, and hmm, we're back at the poorly-maintained council estate again.

Are you seriously...

Yes, that's a frontline RAF flying facility. Honestly, it looked like Pripyat, post-explosion.

I believe that Colts ex-quarters are well envied within Norfolk now that they’re occupier owned.

I raised a Gen-App to leave Odiham's quarters in the mid 80s due to the cost of coal fired (ineffective) heating (Post miners strike we could only get Polish hard coal) and my baby daughters both getting Croup from the amount of Dampness. We bought two Calor-Gas heaters to combat the damp but brought their own problems with them. We were asked for typical heating bills over the past year.
Several others did similar Gen-Apps to my knowledge and the next year mains gas was laid in and we all got connected.

I understand the Station Commanders have little or no control on maintenance budgets .. all are centrally controlled by nfi empires!

Whether it’s quarters, Messes or blocks, we’ve done a brilliant job of showing our people just what we think of them - very very little. Frankly I’m surprised more hasn’t been made if this as an issue. It’s beyond incompetence and verging on negligence on the part of those whose job it is to manage contracts and deliver outputs.

As for the comment about Stn Cdrs have little say these days. True. It’s part of the reason my CO resigned his commission mid-tour a few years back (“what’s the point - all I can do is sign a leave pass”) and part of the reason I turned down the chance to run for such a post. All the stress and issues, and no levers, money or authority to do anything about them apart from make up embarrassingly bad excuses on behalf of a contemptuous system that treats people this way.

I recall the tale of the Airmen's Quarters at RAF West Drayton back in the 80s as the Station was starting to run down. Offered free to the local council, who declined to take them on as they were declared uninhabitable. The site was demolished instead.

Just as Coltishall was turned down by the Home Office for use as a prison or detention centre - the standard of accommodation was too poor for the intended use. Oh dear.

There have been other local authorities who have declared sites as uninhabitable - absolutely nothing to do with the money to be made from redevelopment with a much higher density. The same happened at Bracknell, the whole site flattened despite the FQs being in good nick. A developer once admitted that when you have road access and utilities on site, every 3rd house you build is straight profit.

Much of the problem with the estate goes back to the sell-off under the Portillo regime, which was designed to save 1p on income tax; MOD received £100M at the time, compared with the £1.5Bn that went to the Treasury. The consortium that bought the stock has done rather well out of it. And the funding of maintenance was left with the single services for 10 years or more, during which time one service in particular treated accommodation as a savings pot.

As for throwing stones at the people trying to manage this, one of the biggest handicaps for them has been the contract, let some years ago by another part of MOD, which had a key performance target of 95% completion of works in the required timescale. If you are one of the occupants who fall into the 5%, you will not be happy, but try getting a tradesman to come out to your private home on Xmas Eve because your heating has failed. That is no excuse for trying to move people into properties that are clearly not fit for use. I was told at a media briefing some months ago that the new contract goes live in March, so hopefully that will fix some of the issues.

But it is a prison.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-18273659

Fortissimo … oh, yes, Bracknell was a lovely OMQ patch. Presenting the best of the RAF for all the Foreign students, perchance? Ours was lovely!


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....02acef11c.jpeg

But we never had a “bad” OMQ in all our years occupying them until we retired. Perhaps we were lucky with where we were located?

Mellchett 01

How right you are! I can say no more!!

Bill

Bill,

As someone who idolised the RAF and all things air, space and Light Blue from a child, it gives me no pleasure to write such things. But boy, have the past few years been a disappointment. It’s only as I get more senior that I see things for what they are.