I have no quality of life. I arrive at Unit very late on a Sunday night. I work approx 0730- 1700 and then I return to the Mess, shower and go to bed. All I look forward to is a Friday afternoon when I can get home for 48 hrs. I have never felt so miserable, lonely and depressed.
Currently we’ve got a good balance but my husband says he is very frustrated that he never seems to be able to complete his work. The short postings also mean he can’t see things through. We are now on our first patch, after SSFA and PFI. The community is lovely but the housing is not on the base and not near amenities so we do have to drive to everything. The subsidised rents partly make up for my lack of work. But it frustrates me that I have to keep moving work. I know I don’t make friends because I feel that we’ll have moved soon so is there any point. Facebook has been a lifeline to find out about areas before moving there.
I am 50/50 enjoying and not enjoying life in the RAF
My husband has served 25 years. Theoretically he has been successful and yet our quality of life is poorer than ever. I never see him. He has had frequent mistakes made with pay, allowances and most recently accommodation and nobody cares. He feels totally undervalued and under-appreciated. I have asked him to leave within the next few years because I have had enough. Now despite his loyalty and a family tradition of service he has agreed.
Would still recommend to a youngster to join the RAF although recognise it is very different to when I joined 20+ years ago and resource is much more stretched and with civilian contracts, less flexibility on working above and beyond, when required.
Personal difficulty as a wife is finding employment around the family
Forces life has got worse in the 13 years I have been serving. Although there are more associations available for my wife she feels quite alone when at a new unit. I grew up in a service family and my mum says it seems a lot worse than when she was a forces wife. I can remember always being at coffee mornings or days out with other families, even those without children, but that doesn’t seem to happen now.
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www.raf-ff.org.uk Image caption: This image was submitted as part of the RAF Photographers Photographic Competition 2005.
Source: RAF. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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