Uniform Initial Issue - What do I get

As a newly appointed officer I received a uniform req form from Cranwell with instructions to pop down to clothing stores at my parent station and pick up my new uniform.

I can almost hear the guffaws of the person typing the letter now!!

  1. Parent station wouldn’t issue kit until I had my MOD90.
  2. MOD90 requires a passport photo of me wearing a wedgewood shirt.

(just let that sink in for a bit…)

So, having stolen a badly-fitting, way-too-small shirt and tie from sqn stores I take a passport selfie and submit the MOD90 application that came with the appointment letter to my OC.

  1. The MOD90 form can’t be signed by your OC - it must be an approved signatory from Wing, so second application form is submitted.

  2. MOD90 cannot be applied for until I have BPSS. Even though BPSS form is very similar to the commission application form. And I already have SC because I’m a SAAI too. BPSS forms get submitted.

  3. approx 2 months after being appointed I get my MOD90. SO I book an appointment to go see Stores

  4. Most uniform is picked. Tailor measures me for trousers and … my size is larger than the largest they have on the shelf. So I’m given a 10-page ‘outsize uniform’ form and told to go back to tailor for him to fill in. With a warning that outsize uniform items are currently taking a YEAR to come into stock. …
    yes, 12 months

  5. Fortunately, tailor suggest i try the next size down and, apart from being designed for someone 7’ tall they fit - so now I only have to wait 2 weeks for the trousers…

  6. With the end in sight, the stores guy is just double checking everything else on the list and happens to mention “this form you’ve been given is out of date - the JSP it refers to was superseded 3 years ago… And i have no idea what this item is (referring to one of the coats…)”.

So, for those of you still reading:
AP1358C (version 3.0, dec 2018 as per sharepoint today) says:
0104. RAF GAI 1033 lists the entitlement of free-issue clothing to officers on first appointment and the mandatory items which are to be purchased from their initial outfitting allowances at the appropriate stages of service.

and

  1. JSP 886 Vol 6 Part 5, details the following scales:
    a. Scale C704 – C705 – lists entitlement to initial free-issue clothing for ATC Male and Female commissioned ranks.

gov.uk confirms JSP 886 was withdrawn on 4 October 2016 and has been archived. The Defence Logistics Framework (DLF), accessed through the Defence Gateway, has become the authority for defence logistics support chain policy. BPSS gets submitted…

I cant create an account on Defence Gateway becasue my service no (as shown on my MOD90) is not recognised.

And finally, GAI 1033 is not in ‘key documents’ on sharepoint. (there are only two GAI’s there).

Top Job!!

Is there a CURRENT official document that the RAF will accept that shows what CURRENT uniform an RAFAC commisioned officer should recieve for initial kitting?

PS, i’m rapidly running out of hoops - I’ve jumped through all the ones I had. Anyone know the NSN so I can get some more?

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That is nuts. I’m pleased I just didn’t bother yet and raided the contingent stores for kit

I’ll try and get on defense gateway in half hour or so, might be able to help.

My parent station a- let me on without a MOD90 (just had to bring the letter inviting me to initial kitting and ID proving I’m that person - every station should do this), and b- just issued me what they’re supposed to even though the form is out of date.

Sounds like you’re dealing with some extremely painful jobsworths.

Don’t hold your breath with the kitting anyway, they’re out of stock on most things, notably shirts.

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Thank you

Just wear a Sqn polo and chinos. Or greens.

Had already taken the form to stores when another staff member went to collect new cadet uniform. Paperwork was handed to the Cpl. It was only when my first tailor appointment was made and, at the prospect of going on-station for the first time on my own, I made a comment about possibly only being issued an ‘escorted’ pass ‘cos I didn’t have the MOD90 that this saga ensued.

At one stage, I even phoned ATF to see if they had any sway… Was given a contact name and no to pass on to stores but that made do difference.

To be fair, when I DID get back into the stores, the guy was helpful and spent the best part of 90 minutes picking items for me.

It is just that there appears to be no way of knowing whether I have everything.

Are air cadet officers athorised to create defence gateway accounts? I tried previously and my service number did not work also!

Yes, it’s required for some shooting stuff now and there is a link between SMS and DG.

Have a search in sharepoint for the doc on how to do it.

Can you post link here. As I have previously had a thread on this, asked my wexo and all was useless.

Do you even need BPSS if you have SC? That’s why I’ve not done BPSS (thank christ) because I’ve been told my SC is good enough.

To my knowledge as well BPSS is an internal thing and doesn’t look like it gets sent to an outside agency, but that’s a gripe for a different day.

An SC includes a CTC which includes a BPSS. It shouldn’t require one, but some people like to do their own thing. You’ld like to thing doing a SC on someone wouldn’t miss something that a lowly BPSS would find.

How long has it been since you got the service no? JPA is not linked to DG so it requires the info to be sent across in whatever antiquated method they use. For the ACF this is monthly I believe.

You do when you next apply for a MOD90.

That is rather stupid. We don’t.

Essentially - as I understand it - BPSS is the foundation on which the SC house is built, so you can’t get an SC without one. The issue in the ATC is that it turns out we weren’t doing them properly (by dint of having the wrong people do them) so our SCs shouldn’t actually count either.

Happily someone went for the sensible option rather than the nuclear one, so instead of immediately revoking all ATC staff security clearances, they have instituted a rolling programme to fix it over time.

It is internal, the forms don’t go anywhere past wing/region for checking.

May as well get it done as soon as you can as you’ll need it upon renewal, SC renewal or a new MOD 90.

what MattB said and:

as i understand it BPSS proves you are who you say you are, not that your an undesirable person.

look at BPSS as a Identity fraud check. I haven’t had mine yet, but understand it is a case of showing WExO/other suitable person, proof of ID with a photo (Passport or Drivers licence)

those elements are not and never have been checked for SC or the previous CTC, so if you had a fraudulent identity you could claim to be the squeaky clean John Smith and get all the passes and clearances required, when in fact your Joe Bloggs and have a colourful history making you quite the character but as no one checked you are indeed John and not Joe (ie by checking your identity*) no one is the wiser.

or at least that is how someone explained it to me. :man_shrugging:

BPSS checks you are who you claim to be
other clearances check your history to ensure you’re “sound”

*i accept that if someone is commiting ID fraud then they will have also gone as far as change their DL and Passport

Never needed it for all my previous MOD90s. This has to be a RAFACism.

If you mean previously RAF-issued MOD90s, that’s because your identity had already been suitably checked out by them previously.

The RAF’s argument is that we in the RAFAC haven’t had our ID checked by the RAF, so need to do the BPSS to tick that box. We should have always been doing it, but that bit of paperwork never filtered down.

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getting back to the topic at hand? I’m sure we could resurrect a BPSS thread . . .