We’re not all SC cleared.
If the implication could be taken that Civilian MOD contractors are SC cleared then why not all CFAV?
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Please correct me if I am wrong here (as if you need an invitation!) but aren’t contractors issued an ID for a particular job at a particular site or set of sites? I imagine the guys building the new facilities at Cranwell won’t be given free access to Coningsby…
I understood that contractors were typically issued contractor passes by a station. If we tried to follow that route wouldn’t it mean that they’d need to get a pass from their parent station, with the risk that it wouldn’t be valid anywhere else?
Or if CFAVs are on a central database that the station could access then could issue a pass for the duration of the visit.
How do contractors say BAE who might need to access more than one site get on?
What do they get?
Say a Babcocks bloke going to do a shift at a different AEF, how do they get on?
Do they have a company ID or an MOD ID?
None of this is difficult, unless of course you are an organisation that likes to try and distance itself from one of its constituent parts.
Where I work in a school and have to visit other schools, my ID for work, because it has a photo on, is accepted as proof of who I am and because I am suitably DBS cleared, if I know who it is I am visiting I get a visitor badge and wander off to see them. This is no different to when I had a 1250 and pitched up at the gate, said I am here to see, got a pass and off I went.
For whatever reason HQAC either don’t know how to or don’t want to make things easier for CIs, despite the hype.
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My old FS was a driver in MT but employed by Serco he had a contractor pass and could use it to access anywhere. I don’t think we ever went somewhere that made him get out his MOD90 in or out of uniform.
Secure military bases aren’t schools.
I would guess that getting onto military bases is a decision for the MOD not HQAC.
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Contractor passes are issued by stations and show the station’s code - in practice though they are accepted most places.
At RAFC OCdts are issued what is essentially a Cranwell contractor’s pass in a different colour, it was accepted by most other stations.
How many people just pitch up to a military establishment without a reason to be there? What sort of response would you get it if you turned up with a MOD 90 and said; “Oh I was just passing and thought I’d come in and have a look around.”
Surely the ‘membership card’ for CIs states they are a member of the ATC and will have business on their military establishment. That’s all our “official” cards in effect do. They don’t grant us access to ‘all areas’, without cause to be there, if they did, it would be a nonsense. The fact the CI Membership can’t be used like that, just further exposes HQAC’s attitude to CIs. Security clearance and so on is to all effects worthless, and like a clear DBS is no guarantee that people won’t ‘act inappropriately’.
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in fact i did just that…
I was on a driving tour of Scotland and passing Lossimouth i parked up, walked through the gate after flashing my MOD90 and took a photo (selfie) of the gate guardian (as proof of my visit) which is within the wire about turned and walked out again.
look the part, show the evidence required no one will question it - it is the hiviz vest and clipboard disguise scenario.
oh absolutely but RAFAC are dissolving themselves of responsibility by indication it isn’t official else i guess they take on the responsibility of the owner as part of the issuing process???
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Did you ask permission for the photo? Lossie are very fussy about photography on station.
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All the more reason not to ask them… 
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, the gate guardian is clearly visible from the guard room and the armed guard on the gate.
They obviously didn’t mind then!
I vaguely recall, as a very young CI many, many years ago, that I had more problems getting into RAF Lyneham to take some cadets on a jolly flight than I had getting into Sterling Lines to steal some ratpacks and some freebies…
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Hardly going on the station and wandering around. They probably had a laugh at the bloke wanting a selfie. Although in certain parts of HQAC wandering around and taking selfies would be seen and perfectly acceptable as normal behaviour.
Sad to think that HQAC are happy enough for CIs to be part of the organisation, but then to all effects disown them.
Why do we have HQAC at all?
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Somebody has to provide a sinecure for FTRS people (Failed To Resettle Succcesfully) courtesy of a pprune poster.
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First test of these cards attempted today at my local RAF station.I of course have an MOD90 so no problem.I was accompanied by one of my CIs who has just got one of the shiny new cards.We presented at the Guardroom and when the card was produced it was met with blank looks all round from the guard force.They d never heard of it.Nice to see HQAC letting our so called parent service know that they are issuing new photo cards to RAFAC staff.
Up shot was the CI was allowed on the station anyway as they couldnt issue a temporary pass as the computer was down.So he was escorted by me.
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I am pretty sure it did, but perhaps the words were too long and there weren’t enough cartoons in it for the MPGS to fully absorb the information.
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was this not conducted about 6 months ago?
i got a feeling there was a copy of the email shared to Station commanders which included a “SAMPLE” card showing them what to expect…
As much as we like to bash HQAC for everything up to and including the weather, they can’t realistically be held responsible for people not reading an email they’ve sent in good faith.
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