My experiences as a CI

Wonder if Service Instructors would be allowed to be key holders under this new scheme.?
If so not quite as bad. Still total rubbish though.

How many SIs are there?

Difficult to know for sure.
The stats I have a copy of are from 7 months ago and don’t break down except Officer, SNCO, all other. They were tallied for a planned Wing Parade.

I guess across the Corps depends on area and proximity to MOD bases.

That would be an interesting stat, the number of Service Instructors across the Corps.

The attendance is an average across the Wing. Like a headline figure for Uniform percentage attendance and CI attendance.

So using the 2 together I could infer the above.

Why has HQAC suddenly got a downer on CIs?

Same at my squadron.

They don’t wear a blue suit, so that makes them immune to threats from above but now they have reduced uniformed CFAV to less than a traffic warden in terms of powers, just wait to see what happens next.

Scenario; early Sunday morning CI arrives at HQ to take cadets flying at a station a considerable distance away, cadet has left something inside, no keys. Does the OC get a nice early phone call to come and open up?

There are lots more scenarios!!!

CIs are part of the staffing structure of the Corps. Just because the don’t jump to attention and salute someone like the rest of us have to, doesn’t mean they don’t give as much time and support to their Squadrons!

I suppose as they are demotivating the uniformed staff, they didn’t want CIs to miss out of the treatment!

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If our Sqn went to one day a week that wouldn’t work. One night a week is put down to sports and practice for wing teams etc. The other night is put towards exams and lovely power point presentations. I couldn’t imagine just doing one day a week when we have such a busy Sqn.

Does anyone have anything that shows for definite that only uniformed staff will be key holders in the future?

Nope, I’ve onlÅ· heard it from the 1 poster on here, nothing from any of my other contacts. Anyone asked the question on the Valuing the Volunteers page on Sharepoint?

Yeah… I’m not getting involved with keys.

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That is absurd.

To my knowledge we have a grand total of two SIs in my Wing, and obviously they have their own commitments and responsibilities so I don’t think it really matters if they can be issued with keys if CIs can’t.

I suppose I’m fortunate in that my unit has a keypad door lock rather than a key - suppose we won’t be allowed the door code and will have to sit twiddling our thumbs until someone ā€˜more responsible’ arrives. At least in our old building you could pry open the fire exit with your fingers if you were locked out…

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Well theyve hacked off whats left of the uniform staff so have to move on to a new target.

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It’s nothing new the way they mistreat CIs.
Can’t do this, that or the other has been the mantra from HQAC ref CIs for well over 30 years if not longer. When I was CI we were told I couldn’t do things, didn’t worry me, less things to do.
What HQAC forget is no CIs and the Corps would all but cease to operate. If lost the CIs at the squadron I would be well and truly rogered.

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I’ve said it here before, policies made by people who have never lived outside the fence in the big nasty wide world. They still think they control the chess set and can move the pieces as they wish.

Now with the CFAV reduced to, not being in the RAF, reducing them to less than traffic wardens they have even less power over peoples life.

If CFAVs in all forms but in particular CIs start to say ā€˜sorry well maybe not, I’m off’ think of the numer of Squadrons that merge or close down, re-organisation and reduction in Wings and Regions equals FTRS sinecures are reduced. Now that would never do would it?

I dont understand this attitude, as CAC had always been singing the CIs praises,
hug a CI, they are the backbone etc so why the sudden change…

no, HQAC have never - in the 30 years i’ve been involved (however tangentally) with the ATC - been pro CI. they might have put a tweet out, but that doesn’t change what they’ve been doing all day, every day, for decades.

i think it comes down to control - CI’s have always been a bit ā€˜semi-detached’ from the train set by dint on not being paid, not being in uniform, and having a great deal more ā€˜no thanks, i’m washing my hair that weekend…’ latitude in their service - HQAC (and a large proportion of the uniformed staff in the ATC, to be strictly fair to HQAC…) have never liked that, which is why we see the ā€˜only a CI’ thing, the pressure to go into uniform, and the erosion of what a CI can do.

this, of course, is hilarious given that thanks to HQAC’s recruitment and retention efforts, the ATC is so short of OC’s that CI’s are doing the role…

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As an ex CI myself I agree with you regarding HQAC, but Dawn seemed to think the organisation couldn’t operate with out CIs at one point and now this… a bit strange

If the organisation couldn’t operate as we know it couldn’t, why make CIs lives awkward and make them feel like the proverbial fart in a spacesuit. Take something as simple as HTD, I still have to sign a form basically saying their claim is OK, which I don’t have to for unformed staff.

If they are as important as they say, open every single thing in the ATC to them no restrictions, "pay’ them and give them positions of ā€œimportanceā€.

Back in the early 90s when I was a CI the MOD took a fright when they discovered that civilians were range officers and running ranges and handling ammunition and weapons."What are these CIs? " they said.When they discovered what was going on all range tickets were pulled from CIs .However as soon as the pens pushers realised that CIs were doing it all for free the tickets were restored immediately.Funny that.

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