I tried to watch the Kay Burley interview clip but found it too excruciating and simply couldn't make it to the end. That someone so lacking in presence and mental agility is now CAS depresses me beyond belief.

Regrettably I cannot agree more! Is this what the RAF has now come to.

Can Wigston survive the onslaught?
 

Can a King Crab move sideways? :rolleyes:

Jack

I'll let you get away with that, as it's both funny and almost accurate. :ok:

If even a smidge of what is alleged on the latest fast jet performance YouTube offering is based on fact, wiggy and his team need dragging out in stocks and pelted with turds. What an utter laughing stock he’s presiding over. Imagine taking alleged sexual harassment victims down to your house iot seemingly coerce them into not seeking help outside of the RAF….

Is this all being swept under the rug?

I have to agree with you, dervish. Other than blighting a Gp Capt's career, there has been little apparent damage done by this ill-thought-out and illegal policy by an ill-thinking CAS. I say apparent, because the Tim Davies video posted by Ewan Whosearmy implies that damage had already been done to those recruited, to those not recruited, and to the RAF, prior to these recent events. We shall see, what the bemedaled buffoons (ack Anthony Aloysius Hancock) need to realise is that the truth will out. It always does, and faster than ever these days. What we do know is that the Star Chamber in general has been orchestrating a cover up of the illegal actions of RAF VSOs for some thirty years. As a result many aircrew, other Service personnel, and civilians have died, and more will do so yet until it is admitted to and reform follows. So, whatever befalls this CAS, the next one will still be tarred with this brush, as will be the rest of the RAF Leadership. Never was there a clearer illustration of the old maxim, Evil Will Triumph if Good Men do Nothing, to which I hastily add Women of course. Time for them to stand up and be counted. Their silence is deafening!

Can I also thank you for your kind words in an earlier post? :-

You are too kind, but I am a mere spear carrier in this campaign, as are others. Perhaps I should invoke the same maxim? No-one who reads these pages can be unaware of the airworthiness crisis that infects UK Military Aviation now. An unairworthy air force cannot prevail. We must have reform of Air Regulation and Accident Investigation. Delay only threatens yet more avoidable accidents, more avoidable deaths, and potential disaster for this nation (I write this on Battle of Britain Day!). To all good men and women, your Country needs you, Now!

I have now seen the video and it is not the best publicity for the RAF!

Had I been caught in Kay Burley’s trap, my response would have been something like: ‘There are many criteria we take into consideration in our manning and training plots and we are mindful of the need to address diversity and inclusivity targets. We did consider prioritising those aspects but judged it could not be done for a variety of reasons. These reasons included the legal position and need to take the best on offer, regardless of any of the ‘ities’ which there might be’.

Had Burley continued in the same line, I would have said ‘We’ve dealt with that matter and unless you wish to discuss the real focus of the day, shall we end the interview, so we may both pursue something more productive’

Old Duffer

I suspect la Burley would have stopped him half-way through and pointed out the continued lie!

Notwithstanding his role in the whole Mull of Kyintire disaster, it might be worth comparing ACM Bill Wratten's interview technique : BBC News | NEWSNIGHT | Chinook transcript
(Sorry, I could only find a transcript)

You can't say "manning" in this day and age.......guess what.......it offends, and is deemed sexist !! :mad:

You have to say something like "staffing" :(

Oh, the irony.....

To quote the great Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) in 'The Thick of It'; "who was it that did your media training, Myra Hindley?"

wow Willy Wrotten really did a piece there. Arrogant ass.

Thank you TIGER G for pointing out my error! I am not repentant, however, as I seek every opportunity to kick back at 'wokeness'.

My current line, when challenged , is to say that having passed my 'three score and ten' I am exempt from all this PC nonsense and will speak as I please - I don't deliberately set out to be abusive etc but I decline to be influenced by (a) the current fashion to find offence in everything and (b) that it is me who has to 'adjust' my behaviour.
I think we might be drifting the Thread a little too far for the Mods but it is relevant to the CAS and his performance on this occasion..

Old Duffer

And he lied too! As did CAS. ('The aircraft was off course by some miles').

MoD's technique relies too much on the interviewer not being sufficiently briefed. CAS must have known that his staff are leaking papers and e-mails on this BAME/women issue left, right and centre. He authored a report on the subject, and it's in the public domain, so fair game to the media. Is he stupid, or is someone not briefing him just exactly what orders have been issued on the subject, in his name?

The trouble MoD has is remembering who has lied about what. If the subject hadn't been so serious, its performance in court in the Jon Bayliss case was hysterical high farce. When exposed after the event, the law prevented the court from taking action. That's left to members of the public, as is the case with the current issue. MoD is in no position to complain. It should come clean.


‘If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything’. (Mark Twain).

VSOs with different Ideas?
 

I have read Mr Wrattens response in the Paxman interview and I was struck by the following bit

SIR WILLIAM WRATTEN:

“So the analogy further is then that the interests of senior Royal Air Force commanders are parallel with those of the chief executive of a commercial organisation. That seems to me to be an extraordinary accusation, which impugns the integrity not only of my colleagues and me but also of the chief executive of Air France, who also may have something to say on the matter…”

Is it me , or is that not what ‘Wiggy’ is doing right now? Trying to turn the RAF into a ‘Woke’ Commercial Organisation?

More that "You cannot compare senior military officers to mere civilian CEOs as we are clearly more important and aligning our superior values with those of a CEO somehow demeans the CEO"

Talk about arrogance.

The only arbiters of the performance of the VSOs are the politicians who appoint them. His future is linked to their politics and not his performance.
​​​​​​

This. The Royal Air Force was devised with this in mind. It was the price that had to be paid for its very existence by its founding fathers. The disadvantages emerged in WWII, but the real damage has been done long since. Those of my generation were favoured with VSO warriors who knew the importance of comradeship, duty, sacrifice, and service. The long period of peace since (not withstanding post-colonial and expeditionary conflicts) has seen the rise of the professional VSO, and such values have given way to ambition, self-advancement, and ruthlessness.

I generalise of course. Self-interest was present in WWII, just as dedication to duty doubtless exists still within the higher echelons of the RAF, but the present CAS armed with a personal agenda is a child of our times. No doubt the corridors of power reverberate already with talk of a palace coup, and the old adage that one should be careful what one wishes for springs to mind.

I would venture that this is no way to run a whelk stall let alone a modern air force. It is VSOs that have rendered whole RAF fleets to be unairworthy and enabled a cover up that prevents necessary reform. It has to stop. They have to stop. The RAF needs leaders, not managers. Where are they?

The group captain who resigned over wokeness led by example.