Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal awarding criteria in the ACO

I was told last year by my Sqn CO that nearly all uniformed CFAV weren’t eligible for the QPJM, due to the ACO’s self-imposed two year stand down during the main part of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Leaving aside our personal opinions on the value of awards and medals, I thought it was unfair that we weren’t receiving that award, since we were ordered to stand down, and I presume nearly all of us returned to volunteer on our squadrons as soon as we could.
During those two years none of us CFAVs were suspended or resigned, so we were still in service, thereby fulfilling the 5 years service prior to the date of the Platinum Jubilee required for eligibility of award of the medal.
For my part during the stand down, I posted many articles of relevant historical or aviation interest on our Sqn closed group Facebook page, and had around half of the members looking at them, even several ‘likes’ for some. These articles would take two or three hours to edit and fact check, so around the time spent on an evening parade. That’s what I did to keep our squadron on life support, and other remote learning was carried out within our Wing, so I know a lot of work was done by many others.
Equally annoying is the fact I don’t know who made this decision within the ACO: it must have come from the mysterious ‘Them’ who exist at the heart of large organisations.
…a bit late for a moan about the non- awarded QPJMs, but I’ve only just joined this forum, and would be interested in getting any further info on this topic. :grin:

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Lots of people qualified for it and specific rules were put in place to support volunteers getting it who did virtual sessions or similar during lock down.

Have you read the DIN or IBN yourself or just believed your OC?

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It wasn’t just five years service. Each of those years needed a minimum attendance. They didn’t need to be consecutive but one of the five had to be 2021/2022. They did reduce the number of days required in 2020/21 and 2021/22 though so it was possible. Probably too late to appeal a non award now, but drop your WExO an email.
I got it, as did several on my contingent and I know plenty of ATC who got it.
One thing though, it wasn’t RAFAC who set the criteria, it was MOD

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Welcome to the forum.

I’m afraid you’ve had your leg lifted by your boss. There was no self-imposed stand-down, many squadrons were operating remotely, and due to this remote operations, many CFAVs gained their QPJM.

Also surprised that your Wing never picked up on this!

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I did no official remote work, so I wouldn’t have qualified if that was required by the ACO. In my opinion, everyone should have got the medal who had completed five years service, and remained in the ACO afterwards, regardless of what they actually did. That way the award criteria remains simple, clear and objective as originally intended, rather than someone having to make retrospective hoops for us to jump through…we can’t go back and do that, Time Travel not yet being on the Classification Syllabus.
I did receive a QPJM after all, as did our Sqn WO, but those were awarded by other non-hoop making public service organisations in which we served during that time.
Thanks for the clarification, tho.’ :+1:

The enhanced requirements I’m told were as a direct result of people taking the pee with the QDJM.

Just unfortunate COVID was in the middle.

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Thanks for the Gen, fellows.
In the field of non-awarded medal hard luck stories, mine doesn’t beat my grandfather’s: he earned the Arctic Star by serving on HMS Kent on a convoy escort to Murmansk in WWII.
By the time that medal was instituted in 2012, he had been dead for thirty years. :thinking:

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I’m surprised people say the rules were made stricter for the QPJM The rules were basically the same for the QDJM. The QDJM required 5 years effective service including 11/12 as a mandatory year same as the QPJM. Quoting from the DIn which has been FOId

  1. Effective Service. Is defined as:

(a) A minimum of 15 Training Days (TDs) per year (which can include
days at annual camps); and or

(b) Those who have attended for duty for a minimum of 144 hours per
year and completed all such regular, periodic training and compulsory
training required in a qualifying year; and or

(c)
Those who have attended for 40 accredited parade nights in a
qualifying year.

What has caused the stricter following of the rules this time is that the evidence of meeting the requirements was easier to work out due to a much more extensive Digital systems this time round and I think a lot of wings just did 5 year back of were they in service and didn’t bother to check the “effective service requirement” in 2012 Saying that if someone wants to appeal not being awarded the QPJM Im sure they can do so I heard a rumour of a CFAV somewhere up north getting awarded the QDJM in 2022 (only 10 years late)

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During the main covid year, 2020/21, you only needed 7 days qualifying service over the whole year, with parade nights counting for 1/4 of a day. In 2021/22 you only needed 10 days service. With these requirements, many were able to count these as qualifying years. Additionally, the years did not need to be continuous, so if say you didn’t get the 2020/21 year but got the 2021/22 year and 4 before covid, you would still qualify. The 2021/22 did have to be a qualifying year.

It was pretty doable, even with covid, unless you were made to sit on your hands and not even do virtual parade nights for all the time we were closed.

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What is this :rofl:

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Erm why…

Especially if this is the case…

Then this…
Are you winding us up.
You can’t be issued x2… or rather shouldnt.

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This may be controversial but…… In my opinion Cadet Forces Adult Volunteers in all services should not have qualified at all for any of the Jubilee medals. My reasons for this are mainly, civilian instructors were not included in the distribution many of which work just as hard, if not harder than their uniform colleagues. There are other youth organisations such as Scouts, Guides, and similar who were excluded. A full time regular service member with 4 years, 11 months would not qualify even if they had been on operations during the time from 1997 and beyond.

I did qualify for the Golden and Diamond medals but I declined to attend any presentation ceremony. They were sent to me in the boxes and that is where they remain to this day. I’ve never worn them and in fact gave the Golden one to a friend who somehow lost theirs.

I have my CFM with bars to recognise my uniform cadet service and that is enough, although I do think CI’s should receive some similar recognition.

I realise this will be unpopular with some on here, but as I said, it’s my personal opinion.

I was issued 2x golden and diamond JM’s.
One for qualifying service as a police officer and the other for CFAV service.

Shouldn’t happen but it did…

Shows the lack of scrutiny the previous JMs had?

Maybe in the ATC, but other cadet orgs don’t rely on civilian instructors so much. Uniformed staff in mine do way waaaaaay more work than civilian instructors.

Regulars and reserves also have their own long service medals, so the presence of the CRM is irrelevant. The medal is more to mark the occasion, not length of service.

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Uniformed staff recieve them due to the affiliation to their parent sevice and lets be honest, we arent the scouts. We provide a level of service above and beyond that of most other youth organisations.

Its very noble of you not attending any presentation ceremonies, however, certainly for the Golden and Platinum there was a specific edict that said there shouldnt be presentation ceremonies / parades. Its quite amusing to see people ‘awarding’ jubilee medals to each other.

CIs do get long service recognition.

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You were supposed to decline one or the other if you had already been issued one. It rests with the receivers integrity.

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Like I wrote, I didn’t raise my inquiry about eligibility to discuss what value Jubilee Medals have: I was awarded the Golden Jubilee Medal whilst I was in the RAF, and at the time felt that my RAF LS&GCM had pretty much covered the fact I had served Her Majesty for at least five years. After all, campaign medals are awarded no matter how much extra time put in or danger one is in when on operations: I earned the 1962 GSM by serving a mere 32 days in Northern Ireland - the qualifying time was 28 days, but at least I was out on patrol for nearly every one of them. But then I’ve never resented the ‘base rats’. We’re all part of the team, and I did enough time at both the sharp and the blunt end in my career.
Uniformed CFAVs In the ACO are eligible for and deserve service and jubilee medals because we are RAF Reservists - that also means we get paid below minimum wage for any pay claims we put in: the UK Armed Forces have a waiver on pay legislation in that case. If we weren’t in the RAF, we would either have to work for free, or get paid the civilian market rate for our service to the nation and its young people.

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We are given less the the NMW not because of any historic argument about (definitely not current) “raf reservist” status but due to Section 37A of National Minimum Wage Act in which cadet forces in their own right are excluded. National Minimum Wage Act 1998

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That’s no different to all of the other organisations that receive them, Police Staff don’t get them only Police Officers despite how hard they work.

Personally I wouldn’t have the minimum amount of days for a volunteer organisation. We have plenty of valuable staff members who bring a lot to the organisation who were excluded because E they can only offer 1 night per week even though they are providing more than others who turn up every night.

If they were going to insist on minimum amounts think that any 5 years qualifying service in the 10 year period and still a member of the organisation at the date of issue should’ve been enough. Otherwise you could be excluding people who were on Maternity Leave etc plus this time anyone on a unit that hadn’t really recovered from Covid.

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Oh dear. Imagine a police officer without integrity…

They can have one back if they want them. Not made aware I was supposed to decline?