AVM Walton decided that wasn’t for her it seemed. First nurse to command RAF medical.
Sorry did check but couldn’t see for looking.
The regulations I suspect changed when the military hospitals closed as we had a hospital co who was a doctor. His hospital his train set.
1 Like
Perhaps it should be suggested that the RAF only promotes women to Air rank…. Do you think that would get sign off from CAS 
I am after some stats on the corps. Last week I attended some Equality, Inclusion and Diversity training delivered by our ASPIRE rep. Still lots on LGBTQ+ some BAME but little on gender equality. Also with the RAF getting it’s nickers in a twist over this I was wondering how the RAFAC is getting on with this.
The RAFAC has about 30% female to male ratio. This is mainly cadets but the adult ratio is broadly the same. I asked the question of how many of the Senior leadership team fall in the groups of female, BAME etc given that all of our employed Gp Capts are white males? An answer could not be given. Given that the RAFAC has been recruiting females since 1980 and fully integrated since 1990. It has had 30 years to integrate females into all levels of the rank structure. Has this been achieved?
Another statistic that could not be given is what is the percentage of females in the RAF.
Are there statistics on how many Sqn Ldr and Wg Cdr are minorities? Both female and BAME
Given the RAFAC is 30% female, this is perhaps 16500 of our membership. The numbers for BAME and LGBQT+ are probably in their hundreds so are possibly numbers not statistically reliable. How the corps treats women could be a bellweather on how it deals with EI&D across the board.
Stats I am after are;
How many women are Wg Cdrs, also how many women command wings?
How many women are Sqn Ldrs, also how many are sector commanders?
How many women are sqn cdrs?
Anecdotally, while women are being promoted to higher ranks they are not being assigned command positions within the RAFAC. Statistically there should be 11 wings in the RAFAC commanded by women. Is this the case?
1 Like
Slight challenge on statistics - what is needed is the % of RAFAC adult personnel who are Female & then what % of commissioned officers are female.
It is that stat that will give a better idea but perhaps a more accurate sample space would be “what % of commissioned officers with 12+ years of service are female”. you can then apply that stat to how many actual oc wings are female & determine if representation is high or low.
All good questions though!
All something you could get under FOI.
1 Like
AFAIK, there is just one female OC Wing.
The point as to how many Gp Captains are female in the RAFAC (leading aside Honorary appointments) isn’t really valid. There is only one CFAV at Gp Captain rank and they are male - The others (at HQRAFAC, 2FTS and Regions are RAF/ RAFR).
Until recently the last two CRAFAC were female.
2 Likes
Found this (after a very short search), rather interesting reading.
On 1 April 2021, there were 16,740 women in the UK Regular Forces, accounting for 11% of total strength. The proportion of women in the Reserves is slightly higher at 15% (5,650 women). Women are best represented in the RAF, where they form 15% of UK Regular personnel and 23% of Reserve personnel.15 Dec 2021.
If that was OC B&G Wing she has moved on to a HQ job.
Does it matter what they are in terms the tick lists, as long as they are OK at the job?
TBH I couldn’t care less who gets to be CAS or underling, as they have zero impact on my salary. IMO they are people who have managed to worm their way through the system, being nice to the right people and treading on others, just as in any other walk of life.
AVM Walton is a doctor not a nurse.
1 Like
Ah, my mistake.
I must be getting them confused with another higher up. I think I got her role mixed up with another internal RAF role. Which is the first time a nurse held it. Apologies.
1 Like
And that’s the one you are thinking of, that ended in an employment tribunal.
The RAF has not learnt its lessons, AVM Byford take note.
3 Likes
That must be it.
1 Like
I really hope either of the AVM Marshalls become the next CAS, either of them would be a breath of fresh air at the top!
OC North Scotland Wing is a woman, Wg Cdr Christine Copsey. I can’t think of any others though.
1 Like
OS Sussex Wing is
2 Likes