I’ve never seen one in the flesh. If they are in as you put it in the ‘firing line’ why are they not more visible and making decisions.
What do you want them to do?
I’ve engaged with 2 directly about various things and have nothing but good things to say about both. They both care about the organisation and its people, they responded appropriately on each occasion and they have been sympathetic to my questions and reason for asking.
I think you’re just a disgruntled former volunteer with a chip on their shoulder, at least that’s how you come across. Nothing is ever going to be good enough for you and you’re only here to cause trouble and moan.
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Having been part of this organisation and seen how bad it is in parts, I’m just relaying the experiences I’ve and others have had. if you can’t handle that, well I have no further comment to make on how you perceive comments. Yt’s a free fire forum to comment on and not censored in any way unless it’s liabelous or defamatory.
Defending the indefensible at times is not practical.
quite possibly.
a friend of mine heard the SW RC recent speech given soon after appointment but long enough to know what was working and what wasn’t and seem to make it clear that fixing what has been put in place but isn’t working should be a higher priority than changing policy, making new ones or changing what/how we do things. lets get what we do now right before we try change something else.
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I see you’ve ignored the question I asked. If you think the RCs are so poor, what do you want them to do?
I didn’t state they were all poor, just that they need to be out on the roads more visiting Wings and definately Squadrons to see the work on the ground of what works and what doesn’t.
RCs are in effect the same as NHS senior managers, those below who rely on their patronage have a habit of not ‘speaking truth unto power’.
ACM Glenn Torpy when he was AOC 1 Group when on a visit I believe would get rid of the station execs and sit in a crew room and talk to the people ‘at the coalface’. This allowed him to get a feel for the people he commanded and their issues that affected their day to day life and work. Has an RC ever done anything like this or even just ‘dropped’ into a squadron when he/she is in an area without Wing staff being present.
I suggest that you watch the Gerry Robinson documentary about NHS management.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIl0b7dWHHY
The same is applicable to the ACO.
There was one AOC who would arrive on base with a false ID as Cpl / Sgt Smiff & find out more in a few hours than all the feedback given to him by his staff over the year!
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And, it told him which of his staff were telling him the truth and who were telling him what he wanted to hear. Shades of ACM Cross AOC Bomber Command, it is said if he was told that white was white and black was black he was happy but if he found out white was black then pity help them.
I would say actually do things.
I’ve met a few over the years and never been impressed as they have spoken about things, yet not been able to make them happen.
I think in order to get a real idea of what’s concerning people is do an anonymous suggestion/comment box. An old councillor had threel of these, in the library and two local shops and he said he found out more, as people were more willing to say things if they weren’t identifiable. He had the idea to stop getting stopped constantly in the street, which while nice, took up time and he could never remember the conversations properly. He had a box to put the road they lived in, so he could see where the problems etc might be. He said there was a lot of rubbish, but there was a lot of things that recurred and as an elected individual he could look to take action. May be we should elect RCs and CACs on a 3 year basis, if they don’t deliver, no job. This is a process we are all familiar with.
Any of us can care, listen, be understanding, nod sympathetically and make the right noises. As my nans would have said “fine words butter no parsnips”, In essence words mean nothing. If you had engaged with a politician or local council official and had a similar response would you be as ‘understanding’’? Or is the understanding an acceptance on your part that they are marionettes and in reality can do nothing independently.
But these people are paid a goodly sum and there is and has been very little tangible coming out of their level for years.
The problem with that is that you end up with the scenario where they are not at their desk dealing with the other issues that are on their desk such as P1 CP cases and staffing issues. As well as most Regions and Wings having issues with permanent staff that the RC’s are coping with due to the uniqueness of the MOD and civil service. I’d rather the RC sit at his desk and keep the organisation running, much the same as the Commandant should do but this seems not to be the case at the moment as there is a strong pull for her time around the RAF AC.
I know the new RCs spend a lot more time at the coal face getting the lay of the land but that is ultimately the wing commanders jobs not theirs. If the Wing Commanders aren’t honestly feeding back then they are doing their volunteers an injustice.
Lets not forget as well the organisation is ran by the CEB and not the commandant in all reality so every decision is made by a group of people, often making that process slow and laborious, especially if one particular RC is known to be a bit of a pain.
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I’d love to know what Bob’s connection to the Corps was or is, certainly has some jaundiced views. From what I hear the ‘new’ RCs are definitely out and about and acting in the manner of the AOC1 Gp mentioned.
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Our one does the rounds and lo and behold people don’t turns up, except muggins and the adult SNCO(s). When they do turn up all they do is get in the way. The last visit we had a couple of young CIs got the 3rd degree on why they weren’t in uniform, both of them said because they don’t want to. They’ve both told me they don’t want to from day one, so that’s the end of that, I’m not banging my head against a wall. I then got a moan that I’m not developing staff, which put my back up straight away, as most staff do other things, which I pointed out. Gettiing staff to do other things ie developing staff is completely separate from dressing up twice a week.
I was on a Civ Com and for a very very short period a chair, as I resigned due to the lack of integerity in the organisation.