Funny, because you are 100% wrong. I would expect the OC to know about the shooting as much as they knew about the hill walk.
This sort of simulates the workplace. People moaning about ânatural wastageâ and having to do the same or more with less people. Moan for a while, find itâs not as bad as first thought and for any new people itâs the norm.
I donât deny that losing a few quid for a day out wouldnât be good, but we need to look longer term and actually look at the underlying reasons for âpayingâ people. It cannot be for recognition that you do more at the squadron or even considered as such.
If people do genuinely feel Iâll bend over and take it, because for upto 28 days I can get a few quid (do HQAC see this as a reward for being a sqn cdr?) when for those 28 days you are doing something over and above and beyond the bog standard parade night and working a darn sight more hours than you would for a day job. I would be dumbfounded if someone at annual camp, other camps and AT weekends, regarded themselves as only working â9-5â, it is effectively double (if not more) than that, which makes the hourly rate for a Flt Lt (paid) something closer to ÂŁ5/hr. How many of us work for ÂŁ5/hr or less in our day jobs?
The only people I can see genuinely making out of VA are Wing Staff who do sod all compared to squadron staff and when they do itâs is invariably for things they can get paid for. Iâve watched people attend inter-squadron events as OCs or sqn staff, get âelevatedâ to Wing and they disappear, when they could attend and help out.
Can I ask where SIâs fit into this argument?
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What do they get currently?
I get nowt, Iâve been told I can apply for MMA but I hear conflicting information. So I havenât bothered chasing it.
So it doesnât affect SIs.
Arenât service instructors technically on duty for all they do with the ACO anyway? So effectively you are being paid⌠.
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this is what i understoodâŚ
Yeah thatâs my understanding. Thatâs partly why I havenât bothered looking into it, it also doesnât make much sense for me to be paid for something I volunteer forâŚ
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I think weâre getting into semantics but if youâre on duty youâre not volunteering, youâre doing your job and so you are being paidâŚi think?
Itâs a secondary duty for us, as far as Iâm aware. Secondary duties are pretty far ranging. Itâs an odd one, itâs not duty in the eyes of the AFCS. After a RTC travelling to a night shift after a cadet evening I was told I couldnât claim compensation because it wasnât duty travel.
and thatâs kind of my point - Iâve already found myself putting more hours into my Sqn than most of the uniformed staff but I volunteered to give something to society, not for financial reward.
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Exactly. I gained a huge amount from my time as a cadet. I absolutely believe it allowed me to join the RAF, itâs my way of giving back. I wouldnât take financial reward for it. Although I still donât know if Iâm classed as on duty or volunteeringâŚ
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How very strange! Looks like a bit of a grey area (but thanks for sticking with us!)
No grey area with service helpers - itâs all fully detailed in GAI1026 for Regulars. Basically you can claim motor mileage but itâs on your own unit UIN so you will need whatever permission from your UIN budget holder. No other allowances permissible. You are also on duty.
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Marvellous, thatâs cleared up a lot.
I did guess I might be âon dutyâ, kinda defunct about an allowance anyway, wouldnât take it.
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But itâs on a Home to Duty basis so given that I live right on the cusp of the qualifying mileage, Iâm entitled to nothing.
As I say though, I didnât volunteer for financial reasons.
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I started as a CI so there wasnât a question of pay. Now I have been in for 34 years as VRT its different. My wife and I spend my pay doing things together. Its her compensation for me not being there if you like, She thinks Ive done enough now I am 62 so while the pay continues then so do I. I like doing fieldcraft and shooting / SAAI, and id do it for nothing as long as I wasnât out of pocket. Iâm self employed so I have to pay someone when I go to camp so my pay goes straight out again. The nub of the matter is that without pay I will leave because I value my wife higher than the corps and I subsidise it enough in other ways. Oh and by the way I have been suspended for three months and another time a year. I have had two written warnings from the Wg Cmdr and a verbal warning - funnily enough my other hobbies dont include this sort of treatment. I also wanted to do a BELA. I could do one with the county for about ÂŁ300 over a shorter timescale. Wing wouldnât pay for this course which was the same and would have been considerably cheaper. So I didnt get a BELA.
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Which wing is charging more than ÂŁ300 for a BELA? (or BEL or LEL or LL?)
Ours is ÂŁ140 which includes certification and all campsite fees. I canât see what else would need to be paid for?
I think he meant that it was an external organisation charging ÂŁ300, not the wing
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