Sorry not convinced. I don’t allow it, not because the rules say you can’t, but because in the social media / online silliness some pedant somewhere would see it and get far too excited, and start sending tedious emails, copied in to all and sundry, which always get deleted without being read fully.
Like cadets wearing gauntlets carrying a standard became a no no. Lord knows why. We never did rifle drill years ago with gloves on as it was bloody dangerous. Who ever thought doing drill movements with a shiny wooden pole, weighted with a flag wearing something like cotton gloves was a good idea, needs some help. But again to avoid the BS we comply. If social media / online reporting or photo sharing didn’t exist there are a lot of things I would do.
Thing is if it happens and no one gets hurt in the process, is it a problem? Who is going to get hurt if a cadet wears N’1s and or gauntlets?
For me the issue with wearing No2 comes when everyone else is in No1’s. Fine if you are a marching body but when you are a one off you look like you didn’t get the briefing.
So, if JLs get away with it, it makes a mockery of the rules as this is a central based course and HQAC cannot enforce rules across the Corps if they don’t enforce them with one of their pet projects!!
The argument that people wear scruffy No1s and No2s look smarter is contradictory. The person who is scruffy in No1s will be the same in No2s. That is a question of standards not type of uniform.
I am not suggesting that all cadets wear No1s, just CWOs on duty when the rest of the staff wear them. It differentiates them from the rest of the Cadets as they are a Cadet WARRANT OFFICERS and they should be different!
I was very proud, when I was a CWO, when I wore my No1s, why should we stop our current CWO feeling this way?
If decent quality no1s were avaliable to kit out all CWOs i would fully support that…in my opinion a CWO should hold an executive role whilst on parade. I wore them as a CWO when i carried out a role.
The reality is that the quality is hit and miss and it would be too much to expect them to source them (prices vary). Ensuring they make the relevant alterations i think you would end up with a hit or miss level of presentable CWOs…and the RAF have more important things to pay for i guess
(Also, another tick for people getting mad at JLs for wearing stuff they are regulated to do, yet QAIC still wear mutha trucking FLYING SUITS TO DO POWERPOINT!)
You know they only wrote that exception in because JL’s had been doing their own thing for years
Ideally, people would petition for a change in regulations (supported by a “business case”) and wait for that to become active, rather than inventing their own rules and hoping the regs catch up at some point.
Ideally perhaps, but it seems that breaking the rules is the only real way to effect any change in them these days. The delay in AP1358C is really taking the Michael.
Meh what works for the RAF works for us. The RAF short sleeve shirt under jumper with ties came in cos all the admirers did it and harassed the bosses!
Only DS cadets from previous courses on QAIC wear No.4 dress to the grad dinner not the students graduating that year so there’s usually only 3 or 4 max. Not entirely sure if any sort of permission has been sought to do this…
I’m guessing you’ve not been to Grad Dinner. Because whoever told you only the previous grads wear No.4 and not new grads is talking out of their hoop.
You have to admit though, all No1 jackets would look better for a flagship course than that. (Dinner is great for no.1 jackets as not having a full set is less noticeable at the table and in the evening.)
I reckon QAIC should just start wearing all 1s jackets and watch the dress regs change.
I think JL is actually mentioned in the dress regs when it comes to No. 1s. I distinctly remember reading something about it usually being worn as No. 4s.
