FROM THE DIRECTOR From the Director J
eremy Clarkson first came to my notice many years ago when he wrote a column for the back page of Performance Car magazine.
The nearest I’ve ever come to emulating him was when, for a few months and as a secondary duty, I penned a ‘motoring’ column for the unit magazine at HQ RAF Germany. Each month I’d trot over the road to the NAAFI car showroom and beg one of the dealers to let me loose in a top of the range BMW or Mercedes to ‘test’. I usually ended up in something like a base model Rover or Ford – and only then if I promised to write nice things about it (which was a real struggle when faced with a Vauxhall Chevette). But based on Clarkson’s rise through the ranks of motoring journalism, I still retain the faint hope that my contribution to each edition might yet lead to me being filmed behind the wheel of a Bugatti Veyron, whizzing across Europe, or biking the length of Vietnam – and being paid lots to do so……..
Well, it’s an aspiration, I suppose.
Aspirations are important: Something to aim at, something that’s usually better than the ‘here and now’ and an objective that can be as realistic (just get to the end of the week) or as unrealistic (be paid to drive a Bugatti across….) as you want. At the Families Federation we hear from many of you about your (usually!) very sensible and realistic aspirations linked to RAF life: Promotion, decent and affordable accommodation, allowances that actually compensate, less family mobility that means the kids don’t have to change schools every 18 months, the opportunity to own your home and for spouses and partners to enjoy gainful employment and meaningful careers. And many more besides.
Your Federation is still extremely busy handling the issues that people bring to us, gathering evidence from our visits and surveys, and reporting the findings to HQ Air and the MoD. But we are also being asked to contribute more and more to the development and implementation of new initiatives and programmes of work that will eventually lead to many of you hopefully fulfilling those aspirations.
Much has been written about the New Employment Model (NEM) and at last the consultation period is here, which gives you the opportunity to say what you think. Your contribution is vital, because it will not only influence how your aspirations are met (or not) but also for those who follow you – the people joining the Service now and in the future. So, please take the opportunity to influence the process – it’s important.
Another major initiative underway is the introduction by stages of the Armed Forces Covenant. We know that many of you are still cynical about its motives and its value – and it can be hard to be positive when your pay is increasing at less than the rate of inflation, allowances have been cut and your pension changed from the one you signed up to – but the Covenant is beginning to make a real difference. Okay, many of you won’t know what it can do for you right now but when the day comes that you DO need it, you’ll be really grateful it’s there.
The Families Federation has introduced some Regional Armed Forces Covenant specialists to help spread the word and to help monitor and report on its implementation. One of the issues that is concerning us is the gap between the aspirations (that word again) of the government and the execs in the agencies charged with delivering the Covenant principles, and the
actual delivery on the ground, where the story is often different and our people are still being disadvantaged.
Our new members of the Federation team will be out there working with serving members, families and unit Community Support staffs to help bring the Covenant to you and to identify both good practice and problems that need to be resolved. They’ll also work with local authorities and government organisations, service charities and the other services Families Federations to help achieve a joined up approach and co-ordinated action on Covenant issues within each region.
At this point (ie. The End), Clarkson would bring the story line back to his opening paragraph to link in a ‘witty’ way why his particular subject is the greatest/most rubbish thing in the world. I cannot work out a way to do that here, which is why I suspect the Veyron thingy will always be no more than an aspiration for me.
Enjoy the magazine.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64