Wooooooah…
Youre spot on… I do need to sort my belly out and lose about 7 years
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Let me know how once you’ve figured it out!
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You jellybelly!
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Another missing point… What about those of us CIs that would like to go into uniform but are not allowed to due to outdated rules on appearance? If WOHQ can be in uniform with visible tattoos why can;t anyone else?
We have the same policy on tattoos as the RAF now. Not all visible ones are acceptable. It depends on the exact location and image depicted
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It’s chicken & egg. They’ve been doing it for ages & at time when we had far more uniform staff then we do now.
The way to break the cycle is train CIs to do the uniform roles so they are prepped before the jump & make sure you have plenty of CIs to back fill.
Unfortunately volunteering across the country is in a difficult glut particularly scheduled volunteering at a specific time like ourselves rather than more flexible as-hoc volunteer.
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I fundamentally disagree. The way to break the cycle is to put most CIs into uniform and take away the perceived ‘jump’.
I have very good CI’s, however they may not be able to do the 12 hours a month or want to go into uniform. What we do need to change is the ability to join into Uniform rather than do 12 months as a CI blah, blah
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I mean, you can direct entry as an SNCO I thought? And really, we should be maybe aiming for that as a default?
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If it was default I wouldn’t have a Sqn.
All of my CIs asked if they have to go into to uniform as if they did they wouldn’t want to join as adult staff.
The uniform aspect to the out sider can be an actual barrier to recruitment & recruiting any volunteers is a lot harder.
The only two I know of at my Sqn who joined in the last 15 years wanting to go into uniform were utter nightmare Walter mittys who had to be managed out.
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Doesn’t seem to happen in the South…
The choice should exist as a formal option
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By default, I don’t mean forced. I mean a mentality shift for those of us recruiting staff.
Right now the default seems to be if someone is interested then they get pushed to CI. We should be encouraging those joining to go direct to SNCO. Still allow CIs of course (I am one, I know the feeling!) but the default mentality should be to encourage people towards direct SNCO, rather than CI
SNCOs may also be appointed as direct entrants and it is not necessary for an applicant to have previously served in any capacity before their appointment.
The policy allows direct SNCO already! 
I admit it isn’t easy though, and currently the norm seems to be encourage a few months as a CI, but then inevitably turns into a few years and then they never go into uniform. points towards myself
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I think the key thing is trying to map the volunteers journey & understand why people join in the first place & then what keeps them volunteering.
That aspect of the psychology isn’t ever been really examined.
An even bigger issue is the societal shift to wanting more flexible volunteering - something they can do ad hoc
For the cadet forces & other scheduled volunteer organisations this is a big challenge and something I don’t think we’ve really started to adapt to yet.
Final point is fundamentally CIs are cheaper. There is less training costs & less cost in terms of uniform so are more effective in terms of return on investment.
Until the fundamentals have been looked at, the philosophical doctrine will just be pure guessing.
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I agree, 100%, but think that local rules are getting in the way. How does one attend a pre-uniform course if not already a CI (or cadet)?
If I was to leave RAuxAF, uniformed options in the CCF and even ACF would be far more attractive than being forced into a ‘civilian’ position while I waited for a PU course. Why do we even have certain roles labelled as ‘civilian’ when everyone (with the exception of regular SIs) is a civilian?
Also scrapping 12hrs a month.
I mean what’s the point of such an arbitrary commitment that’ll scare people off?
Why not scrap that, accepting there are many ways one could contribute, and then once they’re in, allow the inevitable creep to kick in…
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Totally agree - I have a Sgt, ex combat Medic… but cant commit to the 12 hrs a month, but can do weekends such as Exercises, or other events where Med is required. Im in danger of losing him…
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The 12 hours can be at weekends or admin behind scenes - it doesn’t have to be parade nights (although some wing Cdrs try to imply this)
It’s not unreasonable to have a minimum volunteer hr commitment but there are ways round it.
Could they not be a CI?
It’s useful for when you have people who like the rank & uniform but don’t add any value & refuse to resign.
Most CIs do the 12hrs any way as it’s effectively one parade night a week. The fact that it isn’t tracked or logged is part of the problem for maintaining engagement.