RAF Strategy 2022
 

Full document here:

https://www.raf.mod.uk/documents/word/raf-strategy/

Summarised as 'trying our best not to upset anyone out of fear of being cancelled' ?

I went through it - it doesn't actually say much of anything except the new approved catchy strap lines.

Nonsense ! You are just some old stick in the mud that wants simple statements of actual military capacity and capability. Don’t you know the future is all about delivering strategic effects with an agile and adaptive force structure, peopled by a diverse and inclusive work force ? Get with the program man !

They also have to reach out in a responsible but sympathetic manner to the whole of society

Also, the chance of winning means bringing that diverse workforce into uniformity, homologous thinking towards common goals and ensuring that we are pulling together to succeed at all costs! Diversity is only good if you pull people together…otherwise it can lead to division (which comes from the same Latin words as those for diversity dividere and divisio). Sadly, it seems that current diversity measures seek to divide us rather than unite us, in my humble opinion. So if the RAF’s future, and indeed the wider progression of mankind (and I choose that word deliberately to provoke debate) depends on it, then we need to do it better than we currently seem capable of doing - cancelling, ridiculing and active exclusion of majorities over minorities is never going to work.

CGS quoted in today’s Times as saying that the army needs to train hard because cyber capabilities won’t help you cross a river. It would be nice to hear something like that occasionally from a light blue VSO rather than the constant flow of D and I, beards, braids, space and polo shirts.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6dc2d4e5a9.jpg

Timelord - Indeed and I would prefer that RAF Strategy didn't include such overt self-serving political ar**-licking either. The direct references to the Prime Minister is rather creepy given that we work for Her Majesty's Government - the PM is not a head of state or a directly elected president.

Not forgetting “ levelling up”. That must all mean something to the Senior Officer’s mind because it just looks like a collection of vague aspirations and pc buzzwords to me.

And “retiring legacy equipment…….limited utility……future Battlespace” like, er E3, C130, T1 Typhoons and Sentinel.

Exasperating.(Yes, yes, I know I am retired but my taxes still pay for this drivel)

That is quite amusing.
I will willingly admin that, in my early 70's, all this modern jargon means little to me. And I suspect to many others as well.
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But this so called strategy paper lends little to actual strategic thinking and more to 'trying to be all things to all people'.
Nothing really specific.
Nothing really contentious.
Just blah blah blah language.
Well done sir for saying lots about, well, nothing.

Harsh, but, exceedingly fair....

I could not see the tripwire policy mentioned anywhere, have I missed something?

Probably inclusively embedded in “we make an indispensable contribution to the UK’s defence across the entire continuum of conflict, whether delivering decisive effects in our own right, or as a critical cross-domain enabler. ” It possibly means “we will drop bombs on people if requested”.

Now that made me laugh :}:}:}.

I used to write bullsh1t for a living (true) but occasionally I like to read the words of a real expert :E

I read this and I would despair, but I got over that and left. The RAF is in a death spiral of woke culture, political correctness and abject failure to accept their role is to kill people and destroy things. The RAF of today is more interested in beards, uniform design and not offending people than defending the realm. I remember being in the Falklands in the 90's and our OC Admin (Wg Cdr) was unofficially known as Ms.Doubtfire. I recall vividly that she was extremely unhappy at her deployment to MPA as she stated in the Mess, many times, that she hated aircrew and was extremely proud of the fact she had made it from IOT to to Wg Cdr without ever being posted to a flying station. Seriously. It is people like her that have destroyed the true ethos of the RAF.

I believe the RAF should be a fighting force with delivery of lethal force as it's raison d'etre...but it is not, although it most definitely used to be. It is now a snowflake driven, diverse, inclusive and weak organization that is terrified of offending anyone and will run from disagreement or personality conflicts at the first chance. Should an organization be any or all of those things?...Ideally it should be inclusive and diverse, but only to the point that it does not impact combat effectiveness . Can't run 8 miles and be ready to fight at the end of it? Get out. Don't want to carry a gun into combat and kill people? Get out. If you need help to achieve these goals then that help should absolutely be provided, but achieve them you must...or get out. There was a pilot on my last Sqn who failed the fitness test for 13 years in a row - he never passed it!!! He was as fat as butter and his hobbies were sweating and fighting for breath, but apparently he showed a 'positive attitude' to fitness as he went for his weekly sessions with the PTI's...but he never tried hard, never stopped hitting the feeder for pie and chips 5 days a week, and never got thrown out despite his obese size and unwillingness to change his habits. He was off 'sick' constantly and hardly ever flew. It made a mockery of the fitness test (If it is a TEST, and you can fail it for 13 years but remain in your job, what is the point of the test?). Our Airmen and NCO's openly laughed at him - he was a complete joke. The RAF fixed it in the end though...they promoted him to Sqn Ldr and gave him a Unit of his own. Great.:ugh:. That will help his fitness issues...and how the hell does he tell his own people to keep in shape? What if one of his people fails the fitness test...what will he do, call them into his office and say 'welcome to the club' and offer them 3 donuts and a coke'?

I would despair, but the RAF is reaping what it sowed. You wanted snowflake, diverse and sensitive individuals? Well, you got 'em. Best of luck.

^^
I always thought the fitness freaks were usually way up their own jackseys when it came to aircrew and fitness tests. I flew 27 years, 6 tours, 2 conflicts and I was assessed as "above the average" (B cat or CR(A) in all of them. I never indentified physical fitness as being a significant factor in aircrew skills in anybody I ever flew with. I knew some fatties who were awesome and some jocks who were lazy chisellers (and vice versa) but the overwhelming majority of all of them regardless of shape size or mile and half time were awesome people and fantastic professionals.

PS

My marathon PB is 3 hours 8 minutes and 23 seconds, just in case you think I'm a lard arse sounding off.

PPS

The only female Wg Cdr Admin I served with was a 10/10 in every sense. I had the priviledge of sharing my final dining out night with her...she stepped aside and allowed me to deliver the main speech. What a player.

Apparently we now employ one-armed engineers, according to the front page. A truly inclusive Air Force.

You need 2 of 'em...keeps the numbers up.

Provoke debate.

As modern English is ostensibly derived from Germanic dialects and vocabulary, it should be noted that the modern English word Man derives from the Old Germanic word Mann, meaning Person.

Mankind, Humans and Humanity are not gender specific, but address both Males and Females.

I'm sorry, chaps, but when you are led by a CAS, who is known as "Wiggy the Woke", you are not going to see punch policy papers pointing out what the RAF should really stand for!

I thought it was there to support the Army :)

I'm sure James MacLachlan would have approved.