I have recently decided to join my local ATC Squadron as a staff volunteer. I have close family ties to the RAF and being an ex-cadet myself, I thought it would be a good way to carry on my passion for Aviation and give the cadets something back for everything I got out of it as an ankle snapper!
I have just completed my DBS (the new CRB) forms and my first question is about that. I (like many others) had a rebellious stage in my early adult life when I was 18 and I was given a Police Caution, basically for being a bit of an idiot. I know that this caution will show up on the Enhanced checks. My caution was not for anything related to children or sexual activity, it was for altering a cheque that was given to me. (Yes, stupid I know) What is the likely hood of me being turned away from the ACO with this caution in place? I have not had any dealings with the Police since then. I am now 32 years old so its well over 14 years ago since I received the caution.
The other question I have is, providing my forms come back all ok and are approved, can anyone give any guidance on the application process for the VRT? The Squadron is keen to put me through it and so am I, so any advice you can give me would be most appreciated.
I stand to be corrected but I donāt think a caution from that long ago would even appear on a DBS.
Either way, the best approach is to be honest and declare it. If you try and hide it and it is found out you are opening yourself up to a whole world of grief!
DBS clearance is currently taking about 8 weeks (I have a pilot going through it at the min and it is somewhat painful). The commissioning process is likely to be dependent on your WSO availability for interview, then wing then region if thatās now the process.
2 friends of mine came back from oasc 2 weeks ago and still havenāt heard anything. I have heard it taking nearly a year from start to finish.
our Adj has a case of either ABH or GBH (i forget which) on their record which was like yours some time ago (late teens) and they are permitted to carry on regardless.
At worse you wont be allowed near money, but as Sqn Staff the closest I get is to the canteen or the odd camp fees which is typical sub Ā£100 so canāt see it being a ānoā
with regard to VRT the process changes between Regions and Wings (in some cases Squadrons!)
so as an over view. get your feet under the table as a CI and see how you get on over 18-24 months. even you start the process tomorrow it is likely to be 12 months before appointment once you have gone through the various hoops (of course waiting for the DBS to return could be 2-3 months of that).
get involved, see how you get on for a year, how much commitment you are willing to put in, and if that fits with a VRT role. (if work patterns or family life means you can only make 1 in every three evenings is that enough to reach the āmagicā 12hrs/month?)
work out what (if any) specialism you want to go down. AT, shooting, aviation subjects, fieldcraft, radio, DofE, 1 it will give you something to do on and off Squadron and 2 will help with āpersonal developmentā.
unskilled Staff are just tea drinkers and in some cases get in the way. that doesnt mean you have to be an expert but have something āusefulā that can be incorporated into the training program, far too many (and ours is an example) Squadrons have 10+ Staff yet looking at the monthly program only 3 of those are assigned to some level of instruction be it drill, classification teaching, or running a radio exercise.
you could be āback stageā staff like Stores officer or Adj which are not classroom based Cadet facing but i would suggest getting out there and serving the Cadets you are they to help
after 12-18 months youāll know and can raise it with Sqn OC and WSOs.
once you have worked through the Wing process there is a OASC to attend (Officer selection at RAFC Cranwell over a weekend) and upon successful completion you then have ATF (week long course at RAFC Cranwell)
Thanks everyone for the advice. I will be at the Squadron this evening and will be speaking to the OC about my DBS clearance. I agree that being upfront about it now is the best way.
Thanks also for the advice on the VRT application. At the moment, I am just regularly attending and learning all about the Squadron. I myself am from an IT background and already working on IT related bits for the Squadron such as a new website. I always enjoyed shooting as a cadet and wouldnāt mind getting involved with that again, but Iām honestly happy to do anything and any future course that will help the Squadron moving forward.
At the end of the day, Iām not too worried as to how long the application takes overall, just happy to be getting involved with it all again. Maybe one day in the future my son will join too when he is old enough!
There is FILTERING of convictions & cautions depending on timescale & specific offence. Some cannot be filtered but always remain āliveā for DBS purposes.
One of the LINKS with the DBS document gives more detail.
Of course the list of offences that will never be filtered is quite long and includes such gems as:-
Violating female heir to Crown
Meeting for illegal training
Brothel keeping
Ill-treatment of patients
Piracy (Yarr!)
Possessing dangerous articles on aircraft, aerodrome or air navigation installation
and
Organising or training quasi-military force
As i understand it CRB/DBS donāt āexpireā either, once held that is all that is required, it is individual organisation which insist on resubmission
[off topic]
what i dont understand is in todays modern world why when someone is caught doing something they shouldnāt, the police donāt check their name against DBS applications, and upon finding a match inform the relevant organisation and authority.
as a for instance if a rape/robbery/violent abuse occurred by a CFAV i would like to hope it would be in the papers/media and thus difficult to hide and as such come to the attention of the ACO (or which ever organisation in question)
(as we have seen in certain examples over the last 3-5 years of rape, fraud and grooming)
why the need to renew every 5 yearsā¦? if something was SO bad that i got kicked out the organisation for it, how would i have kept it secret for 4.5 years? and why go to the bother of submitting a new DBS clearance request if i knew it would be rejected?
seem to be unnecessary cost, admin and distraction to prove someone who is clean is cleanā¦
Dbs clearance are now on a ārollingā basis however, you need to register your certificate on the Dbs website within 2 weeks of receipt for this to happen.
Any issues found when it comes to renew then the individual and employer will be notified and a new DBS application will need to be completed.
As I think others have mentioned, a caution 14 years ago shouldnāt present any issue. Especially if as you say it isnāt connected with kids. I know a member of staff with a criminal record for theft. They originally joined as a civ com member, is now a member of staff and was even in uniform for a while.
The ultimate arbiter of whether or not someone with a ping on the DBS get a job is the organisation that asks for the DBS. We know a girl who at 19 was cautioned for possession of cannabis. She applied for a job at a day nursery aged 21 and despite this coming up on her CRB, as was, got a job and went on to get the qualifications for the job and now runs a nursery herself. If the organisation feels the risk is acceptable then itās on their heads.
I do think the suspension of staff with a timed out clearance is a load of BS, when as said a new member of staff can do things with cadets as long as they are supervised and new CWC just walk around squadrons. The fact it takes weeks to get a DBS in the ACO is a nonsense, as people I know who work in schools and local govt get them done onliine and they have their certificates back in 4/5 days. If I was to say to a potential new member of staff go away and if this is clear, you can come back and start, I donāt know if Iād expect them to come back. But thatās another topic.
With respect to suspension, if the Corps gets into the transferable DBS scheme, if the member of staff has a clearance through somewhere else, could they not just use that one and enter the details on SMS.
[quote=āsteve679ā post=23916]what i dont understand is in todays modern world why when someone is caught doing something they shouldnāt, the police donāt check their name against DBS applications, and upon finding a match inform the relevant organisation and authority.
as a for instance if a rape/robbery/violent abuse occurred by a CFAV i would like to hope it would be in the papers/media and thus difficult to hide and as such come to the attention of the ACO (or which ever organisation in question)
(as we have seen in certain examples over the last 3-5 years of rape, fraud and grooming)[/quote]
IMO generally I donāt think the names of people should be disclosed unless they are found guilty, especially in sex related cases, as accusations can be made by people looking to make mischief and ruin someoneās life when there is no foundation to the accusation. To that end if the police said so and so has been accused and later they were acquitted and the Policeās actions meant their reputation etc was tarnished, I think the Police would be open to some form of legal action themselves by the person involved.
If something like you suggested happened it would highly unlikely it would be a secret for long. The ACO is like work, the pub etc etc someone does something and before you know where you are itās out there, especially with itchy fingered souls with nothing better to do using social media.
Yes, thatās another toic GHE2. Itās also not an ACO issue as you state. Itās an MOD-wide issue affecting all regular staff, volunteers and cadet forces. So donāt try laying blame where it isnāt derserved. :ohmy:
In percentage terms how many regulars need enhanced clearances compared to CFAV?
Then in percentage terms how many regulars need an enhanced clearance in terms of actually getting started in āthe jobā as it is the critical factor? No clearance and people canāt be CFAV.
If you are in a company and one areaās working practice affects your work, and this is identified as a problem by those working in your area and once highlighted your senior management then donāt try and change it they do carry some blame.
Letās remember this affects the ACF as well, so two areas of complacency.
