I don’t think that some regulars respect reservists at times. Just attended a nursing conference for RAF nurses where it was quite obvious that reservists were in the minority and the regulars thought they were far superior to reservist and civilian nurses even though they mainly work in the NHS! Very disappointing.
Every time a Reservist is deployed with Regulars they have to prove themselves. Most Reservists would rather be called up and deploy with their own Sqn rather than be deployed with a regular where they are not appreciated.
Whole Force. Really?? Nothing in its planning stages is done with this in mind - like Pay or SJAR’s. The reserve element is announced afterwards only when they realise they gave it no thought, and then because it’s been rushed, it is bodged. We seem increasingly distant, far more so than when we were working together constantly on operations.
It has taken 10 years for my Sqn to obtain a level of equality with the regulars in the trade and this is due to hard work of all reservist personnel and a continual mobilisation of Sqn personnel since 1998. Any watering down of reservist training will impact on this close relationship.
Reservist are valued by those whom have experienced working with then and not valued by those that have not.
I believe at a high level reservists are very much valued but I don’t feel like that when working with them on shift/out of area. This is particularly younger members of the regulars, I don’t think they understand what a reservist is all about and therefore the attitude towards us can be negative.
On deployment I felt we were very well accepted and integrated. There was a respect for our civilian experience. Recognition and integration with regulars has improved markedly during the time I have been involved. Generally regular / reserve integration works well in the RAF and certainly better than in the Army Reserve.
My Regular counterparts are very open about the value that our Sqn adds to the Regular RAF and as such Pers on our Sqn often feel highly valued.
I have had the opportunity to work alongside Regulars in a variety of guises, from sport competitions to teaching mental health to working in Ops centres. The response from the personnel I have worked with has been very positive. It is up to us to use our integrity and values and step up to the task, and get the job done.
There are still pockets of resistance in the RAF. Unfortunately, these people won’t be persuaded and we’ll just have to work around them. The lack of Reserves awareness within the RAF is still way too high. Much work still needs to be done in this area.
Valued by the top brass but not by middle management. 26
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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