If this is the case, we are slowly becoming amorphous. OT slightly when I saw the new RAFA badge I like the majority of the branch thanked our lucky stars we had the old one.
Does it really matter if squadrons have non RAF coloured t-shirts, polos etc? We’ve had black for years, because it is forgiving in terms of a couple of days wear and cadets quite like it. The majority of squadrons I’ve seen have black or “olive” green to appeal to those who think they are in the military.
Why is it in 80 years of the existence of a air cadet organisation, which for the large part the RAF has been benign and happy to nod over the fence to, in the last few it seems to want to run us, but at a time when it removed the VR(T) commission such that now none of the volunteers at squadron level are actually in the RAF. I personally feel we can trace the RAF’s renewed interest to around the last 9 or so years when budgetary controls, because of misspending and failed projects, hit, they needed to find something to tinker in and they picked on something that it knows least about and then systemically failed, while through the HQAC puppets imposed all sorts of nonsense, that we never had, because we didn’t need it.
Are you forced to buy one? Are you forced to wear one?
Fundamental question: what business of yours (or HQAC’s) is it what other people choose to buy themselves and wear when not in uniform?
If what D&C produce and mandate cadets and staff wear is contrary to the stated regulations then they should be gripped, however if it just turns out that people we pay handsomely have completely failed to do their jobs and write appropriate regulations, and now they are scrambling to catch up and spilling this stuff out on the hoof, then they can sod off - ideally into Lincoln’s thriving late night Fried Chicken retail sector.
You’re right - it is something they should have sorted sooner. As with everything else, they’re playing catch-up and I don’t think that’s a surprise to anyone!
I think there’s a line to be drawn and don’t disagree with an amount of mandated branding and a degree of consistency.
As for the D&C polos, I haven’t had to buy or wear one, but I have had to look at it and it smacks of a stag do in Magaluf. I usually frown on wearing sunglasses indoors, but it’s necessary just to hold a conversation with whichever dayglo traffic cone you happen to be talking to.
Surely the point of branding is to sell your brand, not HQAC’s brand but the Squadrons brand.
My unit has a distinctive colour one which no one else on our Aing uses so if we turn up to say a sporting event we are a big block of colour which shows where we are.
How dull would it be if everyone turned up in the same shade of blue, you might as well be wearing uniform.
Except your also voicing your objection to the use of bright colours, ones which for many Squadrons (and at least one Region) are a large part of their identity.
I also still make the point that making us add the corporate branding when we already have our individual crests which identify who we are would be serve no real purpose but to increase the cost of the garments to the cadets.
…and I hope they don’t go the route of only navy or sky.
Off the top of my head, I think I know the region you mean and suspect that their accents will give them away just as much as a bright top.
We have uniforms, cap badges, logos, banners, gazebos and whole host of identifiers for the public; Sqn identifiers and logos to differentiate from each other. Why do we need to look like a Spanish school on a cultural exchange trip?
Love them- to be perfectly honest I wish more people did this sort of thing, especially in the future, when the cadets and civ com are having to pay for it and the regs don’t specify a thing. Uniformity only goes so far when the organisation we’re part of fails to provide the basics for the mandatory training we’re supposed to do. The top really need to take a long, hard look at themselves.
In terms of dictating colours for sqn t shirts etc, they can foxtrot oscar. Who the hell do they think they are?
Nah. If it is civvies then game on, but the uniform needs to confirm to a standard pattern and it matters not one jot who is paying for it.
The recent issues with the ID badges where squadrons were failing to sort the simple paperwork and permit the supplier to be paid what they are owed means that I fully support squadrons having to pay for these badges themselves. That said, there needs to be a mechanism for the squadrons to then reclaim that cost from HQAC. That way, the supplier is paid (up front I assume) and the squadrons stand to bear the cost of their incompetence.
The problem was that the system from HQAC was fundamentally flawed.
Why do you ask? Because we as the people ordering had no idea if the order had been passed to the manufacturer. The Squadrons are then being accused of not sending the paperwork to HQAC to say that the delivery had been received, maybe it hadn’t been, but the the Squadrons would have no idea ifthe order was on the way or not!
There were easily half a dozen options for changing the system and they have chosen tge one where they abdicate all responsibility and blamed that on the Squadrons despite their system being at fault in the first place!
I think that Daws does raise an important point - one use of sqn t-shirts, etc is to distinguish between units, for example during sport. All very well for the RAF to have specific “recruiting” clothing (given that they’ll almost certainly have official team kit for competetive sports) but worth remembering that in the ATC clothes may have to do more than one thing.
As usual they threw a needless layer of Admin Process and bureaucracy into it like they are wont to do with most things.
New or existing process: “I know what this needs - another form!” (later: “people aren’t sending them back and the system has failed, let’s blame the Squadrons and punish them with a new process and cost”)
PTS roll-out: “I know what this needs - another booklet!” (but let’s not actually produce them and send them out)
1st class booklets: “the auto ordering system isn’t working, so instead of fixing it, let’s change it to a manual ordering service” (but let’s make it so that doesn’t work either)
MOD Form 492: “I know what this needs - a new name!” (later: “actually, no. Now that people are accustomed to its new name let’s just change it back”)
Much of this has come about recently as some YTS type can faff around on Word and create forms etc without any real idea.
We don’t need to go that far back and changes were glacial, as people would have to take the time and trouble to even start talking about a change to happen. If a change was needed it was needed and not some BS renaming / renumbering a document to prove they still exist and for some still get paid. I seem to recall the only real change we saw in drill in over 25 years came in c.2000 when “attention” became “shun”.
Too many times recently I have seen ‘please see the below’ in emails. I don’t know where it has come from but it is terrible English.
‘Please see the message / attachment below’ is perfectly fine.
It’s missing out words. It’s like when children say ‘I’m going Macdoanlds’ when they mean ‘I’m going to Macdonalds’ why is it dufficult to write in proper English?