CI "Membership Cards"

Have they asked us CIs?

I think it’s turd.

And we have MOD90s, why do we need silly cereal packet, Mickey Mouse “membership” cards.

How much time, effort and money has been wasted on this crap?

Time, lots
Effort, C-
Money, 50p

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Once again the CoC missing the mark when it comes to making volunteers feel valued. This has been a real issue for CI’s for years and it is something that the Commandant said she was very keen to resolve, if this is the best solution they could get they would have been better off saying “sorry we tried nothing we can do”.

Why can’t CI’s have the standard Civvy Staff ID card, I used to have a member of staff who worked for Serco on a Station and his card got him better acccess than my MOD90.

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Thats because SERCO own more of the real estate and provide more of the services on a station than the RAF

Good grief, it looks like something you could knock up from Vistaprint.

We have ID cards for school just like most workplaces and I’m certain they could give each Wing a machine to make these. We visit schools and many have a temporary sticker based ID badge, which seem to be easy to do.

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I used to print membership cards for people buying season passes in an old job I worked at. Enter their details into a computer, click print, and bish bash bosh a nice professional looking durable card came out of the machine. I can’t imagine it’d be very much harder to sort something out for us poor maligned CIs to have something which identifies us as something more than just a random off the street.

I enjoy the sheer arbitrariness of what colour pass you’re going to get when you arrive at guard room. Will it be red? Will it be green? Who knows? Either way it’s never made a blind bit of difference to me, nobody’s ever stopped me on a station and asked for ID.

Will it be accepted as official ID to access a military base?

If yes, crack on.

If not, give “career re-assessment” guidance to the person(s) responsible, take a breath, allocate the task to someone who can make it work.

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Problem is MOD 90 is a military ID card not issued to civilians. But I agree we have other types of ID cards in use within the MOD like the contractor card with day MOD/ Cadet Forces then maybe Air Cadets as department with CI as role. If it was me I’ll tell them to stick it. And just make them wait at the Guardroom for me while ingot s temp pas

Yes it is. ATC NCOs are civilians and when the CFC is stood up so will officers. So there is a prescient.

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But issuing them to CIs is tantamount to admitting we are all the same and there are still those who like to regard CIs as bilge rats, as they aren’t in uniform.

But from whenever they finally get round to it, no volunteers in the ATC will be military in any sense of the word. We will all be civilians.

At this point you do have to wonder why we need to have RAF uniforms at all, we can all do what we do in some form of civilian attire. My favourite thing is AT and there’s no uniform in sight, sports apart from shirts I don’t know maybe an embroidered polo shirt with a name badge and black trousers. Three or four polo shirts per member of staff and similar for cadets. Might upset those who like to do the “do you who I am” bit, but they can always leave.

The membership card is simply meant to show that the person holding it is a legitimate member of the organisation and not just some parent, hobo or random person. It should aid guardrooms when issuing a temporary pass.

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So should a list or headcount. CIs, uniformed staff and Cadets shouldn’t be rocking up to random bases at random times.

Does that include the hourly rate of all the staff involved that should have been doing something useful.

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However not every base requires pre-notification of attendance for legitimate visits.

Teflon. Did you accidentally walk into an ATC squadron when you went to join the scouts? And then just stuck around as you were too embarrassed to say you made a mistake? From your posts you seem to be completely anti all of the elements that distinguish us.

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The worrying thing is that actually does look like me…

CIs have as much a need to attend “random bases” as any other CFAV, for courses, to use the range, pick up weapons, visit stores and any other number of arranged activities or events which are pre-arranged, which the main gate know naff all of.

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Hardly, I think after more than 40 years man and boy I’d have realised.

The point is when I first joined as a cadet the uniform did set you apart and you felt you were part of something different just by virtue of the things we did and other groups didn’t. But now there is very little to set us apart activity wise and you have to wonder who is the uniform for, us or the RAF to make them look more prominent in the 99% of the UK they have no presence. There are a number of staff who get as excited about the uniform as some people get excited being near a steam train or whatever tickles their fancy. I have never been one of those as I’ve only seen the unform as something you wear because of what we are in and has little to do with what we actually do. As uniformed staff the RAF are putting more and more distance between them and us and it their doing not ours, so clinging onto the remnants like we do, serves little or no purpose. We are at the point of being the neighbours you wave to hoping and praying they don’t come knocking.

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i could accept that if the alternative they have now is not accepted.
be it drivers licence or passport CIs get issued passes without too much trouble. (and how I have got by when waiting for an expired MOD90 to be reissued)

This card will only raise more questions of its authenticity and value unless it can be flashed at a guard on the gate and waved through - else it is a waste of time, money and effort as i don’t see what it offers over readily accepted forms of ID that the Acado van driver will flash to complete his delivery…

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While I recall the uselessness of the previous certificate of credentials, if this is promulgated correctly to all stations it may actually serve its intended purpose. If it gives a CI a greater chance of getting an unescorted pass at the gate rather than an escorted one then it is worthwhile.

Whether it survives contact with the plethora of varying standards and systems in force at the many places we may need to go remains to be seen. they are trying to do something that was actually asked for by those it affects.