"BTW I saluted an Army Captain a few weeks ago as was riding past on a bike. Bless him, he actually sat up with arms straight to return the compliment."


I remember a senior CPO when he was riding a bike saluting my Dad in exactly the same way, stiff arms and eyes right!

When only a humble deckie on a yacht, after being invited on board one of HM ships by a friend I was at school with, saluting me as I left.

Maufe asked, Is there a better system - ... than one person one vote etc?

How about abolishing political parties as an entity?

At a stroke you would avoid the need to fund party machines.
You would avoid the tactical voting.
You could vote for the man you think will represent the constituency best rather than against him because you don't want his party elected.

When the best are elected the ones who can secure the greatest support amongst those elected is asked to form a Government. The runner up becomes deputy.

The early US Presidential elections had the opposing candidate appointed as Vice President. That was certainly interesting and certainly fully representational.

We used to salute Winny and he wasn't even pm by then.

Ah, good point. Notwithstanding his prime ministerial rank or time in the Admiralty, he was a retired Lt Col (CO of 6 RSF in 1916 after his resignation from the Government after The Dardanelles). While not 'required', saluting a retired senior officer is an appropriate mark of respect. Now if we ever again have a Prime Minister who has served...

never mind all this old tosh!

Can one assume that the RAF officer (DAMO?) in question is only employed to salute dignitaries!!!!????

In this age of defence cuts, shurely shum mishtake......

Yes wotsit, and the padre only works on a Sunday...

As Officer of the Day (in RN establishments) or Orderly Officer (for the RAF) this is one of the expected duties which pull you away from your Sqn/desk etc. Saluting VIPs is all part and parcel of this and it's usually when you don't do it that its picked up on, not when you do!:hmm:

No, you misunderstood me!

Is this officer solely employed to salute people? ie. he/she doesnt have a desk to be pulled away from....

Cant believe we would waste a military salary (presumably quite well paid) just on this????

Yes wotsit he is the Saluting Officer. After IOT he moves to professional training which consists of learning how to salute various dignitaries and the subtle differences required when saluting foreign Officers and dignitaries. As we are now in the times of being tri-service so is the course they do at Shrivenham.

Man, glad I didnt join up, I would have been gutted to have gone through all that officer training to wind up as some glorified mobile saluting unit. Surely some scientist could invent some kind of automated saluting device to undertake this arduous task?

Makes you wonder ........

WHAT IS THE WORST JOB IN THE RAF??????

WHAT IS THE WORST JOB IN THE RAF??????

OIC Daft Question-answering?

CG

I recall seeing a photo of Mrs Thatcher, when she was PM, in RAF uniform and wearing the rank of Group Captain - does the PM automatically become an honourary member of the RAF in that rank?

SM

Respect. Probably one of the biggest fishes landed this year :D :D

Hi again

Iv just bin thinking about going to the AFCO, but rather than make myself look silly in front of the staff I was wondering:

WHat grades do you need to join the RAF as a saluting officer. Im a really keen ATC cadet and reckon that the job could be pretty cool, getting to meet all them cool people like the Prime minister and the chancellor. My CO reckons I could make Cpl soon so im used to leading bodies of troops. My sarge reckons im the best Cpl he has seen and he should know cos hes 17.

I think being a pilot is a bit poncy and a little on the homoerotic side. Saluting officer is the life for me :)

Do I need a degree to do this and if so, what would be the best degree to do???

Good news wotsit. You can combine being a Pilot and saluting at the same time. You see pilots do a course called ISS which stands for Individual Saluting Studies. This course, providing they pass, enables them to be called upon at short notice to stand in for the DAMO (Duty Appendage Moving Officer) if he or she is on leave/OOA or on another course. The course is run and administered from Shrivenham and you are given an ISS tutor who will see you through and mark your coursework. There is of course an exam both written and practical at the end.

Hitler was also democratically elected, it didn't stop him from being a bad egg.
These are all fair points...normally. However, when I joined up, the illegal, deceit-shrouded and lunatic invasion of Iraq was not even a twinkle in the deranged staring eye. Add to that the remarkable discourtesy Bliar has shown with regard to tradition, whether it is the refusal of his missus to curtsey to Her Majesty or the tearing-up and flouting of constitutional safeguards.
The Commission is addressed to the "trusty and well-beloved" recipient and signed by the Sovereign. The key word is "trusty". Although the Sovereign is constitutionally responsible for appointing ministers, in a modern democracy it would be impossible to remove an errant minister. Bliar was entrusted with sweeping prerogative powers and has abused them extensively, to the detriment of this nation and world security. The supposedly sacred bond of trust has been shattered. I came to this conclusion in 2003 - during the Hutton inquiry - and resigned, quietly and without fuss.
I suspect that most of those in uniform would like to give Bliar two fingers but (in the unlikely event of being in this position) would feel it to be unwise, perhaps even inappropriate (I have some admiration for those who can remain so dispassionate despite what has occurred) and I suspect those who feel as strongly as I do have voted with their feet already.

Il Duce You stupid Woman (well he never did say stupid man) how could you think she was an honourary member of the RAF. She was a WOMAN. She was obviously at risk of getting a chill. Clearly the gallant Group Captain lent her his coat.
:)

The RAF Northolt Station Commander is employed for that purpose, while the OC Operations runs the station. Its a bit like a Royal Navy ship, where the Captain is a figure head and a First Lieutenant does all the proper work while the POs run the ship.

The fact that Groupie failed to show up and Mr. Blair was met by the Duty Saluter was possibly a subliminal message?

Pontius N, I bow to your superior intelligence. Of course, at that time, it would have been the WRAF. This particular photo was of the formal type - as one would see a senior officer sit behind a desk, pen poised, ready to make important decisions, smiling that knowing smile ("I'm in charge, you can relax now").

Il Duce, touche :)

Mind you I got to shake Ted Heath's hand.