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OOA Tour Length

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effinhell

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Just a quick question as to OOA Tour Lengths?

Is it 4 or 6 months or a mixture of both...is FI still 4 months?

also what about RnR?

update would be great thanks
 
Mainly 4, but 6 in certain posts (not many)

R&R is a week for Afghanistan. War Dodgers in the FI may get a day or two to explore the island, but no trip home.
 
muttywhitedog said:
Mainly 4, but 6 in certain posts (not many)

R&R is a week for Afghanistan. War Dodgers in the FI may get a day or two to explore the island, but no trip home.
Click to expand...


Agree with above except War Dodgers - so is everyone who gets SENT to FI a WD?

A friend of mine who is downgraded (and not with a glass back) has been to FI when she didn't have to - she pushed for it which I believe is a credit to her - perhaps more should do this or CM should (if not already) push this more.

If you do a 6 monther does this give you a 1 1/2 credit or just back in pot with everyone else and the chance of another 6 monther in 2 - 3 years time?

I am sure a CM will be along soon to enlighten me!
 
muttywhitedog said:
Mainly 4, but 6 in certain posts (not many)

R&R is a week for Afghanistan. War Dodgers in the FI may get a day or two to explore the island, but no trip home.
Click to expand...

Unless you're really important, then you don't get any! :PDT_Xtremez_14::PDT_Xtremez_14:
 
I don't want to be accused of rumour mungering and it's nothing you haven't heard before but I have been informed that RnR will cease for all 4 monthers wef 1 Jan 10. Nothing in writing yet but it was a 'reliable source' honest.
 
effinhell said:
If you do a 6 monther does this give you a 1 1/2 credit or just back in pot with everyone else and the chance of another 6 monther in 2 - 3 years time?

I am sure a CM will be along soon to enlighten me!
Click to expand...

not a CM but AFAIK your DWR date is the end of your tour, regardless of the length
 
Humble Scribe said:
I don't want to be accused of rumour mungering and it's nothing you haven't heard before but I have been informed that RnR will cease for all 4 monthers wef 1 Jan 10. Nothing in writing yet but it was a 'reliable source' honest.
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1 Jan 10 was an aspiration but it has been pushed to the right I'm reliably informed.
 
Correct. All personnel go to the bottom of the list when they return from either a FU or NFU OOA, or accrue a 90 day credit.

Whilst it may appear harsh, it works both ways, and those who for various reasons havent deployed since the last century (and have missed 3 or 4 turns), still only do 4 months and return to the bottom of the list.

Of course not all people who go to the FI are WD's and I take my hat off to your friend who is going there despite her affliction, whatever it may be, however there are an awful lot of our trade who are going there for the 2nd, 3rd, possibly 4th consecutive time.

An ex-drafter (and Mod) told me when I was volunteering for an OOA that he didnt consider people for MPA if they had been before unless they specifically asked for it, as there were plenty of "MPA Virgins around". If that policy is still being practiced, then how is it that the same folk go to MPA?
 
Its an instant halving of all the RAF OOA's seat requirement on an already overstretched AT Fleet, meaning people will stand a better chance of leaving on their End of Tour Date, rather than being bumped off to make way for someone's R&R.

Imagine how P1ssed off you'd be to have your EOT flt on 22 or 23 Dec cancelled so that someone else could go on R&R for Xmas....
 
muttywhitedog said:
Its an instant halving of all the RAF OOA's seat requirement on an already overstretched AT Fleet, meaning people will stand a better chance of leaving on their End of Tour Date, rather than being bumped off to make way for someone's R&R.
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Brilliant. Rather than fix the AT fleet fcuk people off.
 
Its a shiny thread mate - we do pens & pencils. If you want to have a pop at the lack of serviceable aircraft, you need to be slating those who fix them (or dont as the case may be).:PDT_Xtremez_25:

(I'll catch a big fish here....)
 
muttywhitedog said:
Its a shiny thread mate - we do pens & pencils. If you want to have a pop at the lack of serviceable aircraft, you need to be slating those who fix them (or dont as the case may be).:PDT_Xtremez_25:

(I'll catch a big fish here....)
Click to expand...

Who's having a pop? I just think it is a further erosion of our service life....death by a thousand cuts...
 
No RnR?

Whilst I can understand taking RnR away from the FI as they seem to work a close to normal work pattern, can I ask what is the 'normal' working pattern out east?

Is it 12hr shifts, 7 days a week or something more 'civilised' ? if the former you will be effin knackered after 4 months of 84hr weeks.....
and with no RnR will you still just have only a few days off when you get back or are they increasing this too?

Answers on a postcard...

cup of corrrfeee
 
effinhell said:
Is it 12hr shifts, 7 days a week or something more 'civilised' ? if the former you will be effin knackered after 4 months of 84hr weeks.....
cup of corrrfeee
Click to expand...

Generally yes with a 'possible' day off every 11 days, in the times I've been away on a sqn.
 
SgtScribbly said:
on a sliding scale, yeah, but not as bad as the malingering sicknotes who don't go anywhere
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muttywhitedog said:
An ex-drafter (and Mod) told me when I was volunteering for an OOA that he didnt consider people for MPA if they had been before unless they specifically asked for it, as there were plenty of "MPA Virgins around". If that policy is still being practiced, then how is it that the same folk go to MPA?
Click to expand...

I'm off to FI next year and 1, I'm no sicknote and 2, I've been before with no aspiration to go again, I've not been to the desert but want to, the ONLY good thing about me going to MPA is the wife's happy.
 
muttywhitedog said:
An ex-drafter (and Mod) told me when I was volunteering for an OOA that he didnt consider people for MPA if they had been before unless they specifically asked for it, as there were plenty of "MPA Virgins around". If that policy is still being practiced, then how is it that the same folk go to MPA?
Click to expand...

I'm guessing that was me - what I would say is that things have changed drastically in the last few years in terms of TRT and det locations. My aim was, at the time, to try to get people to the Falklands who had never been there. If someone asked to go back I would try to accommodate their wishes, and it was usually possible. The real problem down there is the ridiculous manning levels, having 2 SNCO cashiers for example takes the p1ss. The manning requirement meant that despite my efforts pers occasionally had to deploy again down south, particularly if they held a Q. I tried to alleviate the issue by getting more pers trained, in particular in Accts, to increase the pool of available pers.

For the majority of my time in drafting our considered view was that MPA was one of the poorer dets and the pain should be shared around. Clearly, some of the det locations now are much sh1tt1er and I would guess that some people may now go to multiple dets down south for 2 reasons:
1. More people volunteer to go there (To avoid the IDF threat elsewhere), or
2. The desk is sending people there who have done one of the newer, sh1tt1er dets elsewhere.

Just my thoughts on the current state of play, and could be well wide of the mark of course.
 
I think it's probably fair as it can be, I am sure CMs do what they think is right within the constraints that they probably have at the time (even Tommo :PDT_Xtremez_30:

The problem we have is TRT and of course med downgrades are very much part of this as are the screened posts/locations etc and whilst it is not wholly right, I do think they should send all the med downgrades they can down south, at least it helps the pool for the other places.

I also find it amazing that there are still personnel in our trade that have either never been anywhere or just once in say 20 years! These people really are the det dodgers and they should be hounded down and given an OOA IMHO!

Of course we are going over old ground again with this but it irks me and many others and needs to be sorted!

Increasing the number of 6 month dets is not the answer either as more glass backs then ever will appear!

RANT OVER !
 
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