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The RAF - No room for 'Guys'

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Last week WO Sara Catterall, Command Senior Enlisted Leader at NATO AIRCOM, RAF Diversity Ally & Gender Advisor (try fitting that on a name-tag) announced via Twitter that RAF personnel should refrain from using the term 'guys' when addressing groups of people (post since archived by her).

Her tweet has attracted interest and one comment in particular:

Imagine Sara’s average day at the base. Busy supervising an aircraft refuel? Er... no. Organising a bit of enthusiastic PT for the other ranks? Being RAF, definitely not. Perhaps a bit of weapons training? Ditto.

No, Sara’s day consists of sitting behind a very important desk in a very important office trying desperately to find an unhappy someone of Diversity she can be an ‘ally’ to, so that she can be seen to be fulfilling her role and to further secure her utterly pointless, but very lucrative, place on the gravy train.

Sara spends her days in her big, very important office, chewing pencils. Every time the door opens, she bolts upright and quickly shuffles papers across her important desk to look busy.

But the truth is, Sara isn’t busy. There just aren’t enough gender and diversity issues in the RAF to warrant her role, and any that do exist, will be dealt with at unit level. Sara knows this, the Head Shed know this and everyone dressed in pale blue knows this. Sara isn’t there because she is needed, or even because she has a role. No, Sara is there so that the RAF can trumpet it’s diversity credentials to the mountain tops, so that it can deflect any criticism that the Guardian might throw it’s way that there seem to be more men than women in its ranks for reasons that can only be sexist.

So Sara sits in her important office, behind her important desk chewing pencils, frantically trying to think of things to say that make her seem relevant and not just the window dressing she actually is, a sop to a media machine which itself sits chewing pencils, desperately trying to find things to write about.

But look! Sara has found something! Girls are being called ‘guys’! At last, she has something, something that will (accidentally) get in the papers. Her day-long campaign will make the RAF glow with inclusive righteousness, will make Air Vice Marshalls smile indulgently and will possibly make Sara’s very lucrative role a little safer.

But that’s this month’s story from Sara, what abomination is she going to uncover next month to justify that lovely salary? Thirty long days racking her brains trying to find offence in an organisation that is already achingly Woke.

With a sigh, in her empty, but very important office, Sara opens a drawer, pulls out another pencil and with a furrowed brow, starts chewing.
 

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Which is? You can't start a rant and leave it without telling.
Lets just say TW that there was an ever increasing lack of teamwork at my last section although it wasn't just there. Was finding a myriad of unhelpful Admin/MT/CS/Contractors and even people from my own trade. The Officers in our branch were incredibly becoming more condescending and patronising as they try to hide their ineptitude. Lo-and-behold anyone who should challenge poor conduct/behaviours/customer service. All this was contributing to making life harder and with the ever increasing B5 and "Op focussed - YES SIR/NO SIR" infantry type expected responses tying in with the down-skilling of the trade and branch. A certain trade "SF" unit was promoting people beyond their means (Peter Principle) and pumping them out to the rest of the trade. B5 attitudes but no actual man-management or technical knowledge of their charges.

I realise these statements may seem broadbrush but this was my perception of things and was a major factor in my leaving.
 
I wrote an email out to circa 140 pers this week, opening line, the usual "Good morning Sirs, Ma'ams, Ladies and Gents" had a reply from one of them (CS) stating that "Good morning everyone" would be better for unconscious bias and inclusivity reasons. I'm a JNCO so don't think the Wg Cdrs and Col's etc and above in that email would have been happy not addressing them appropriately.
 
Speaking as a former NCO, now a CS; I have to say I despair at times over how little my CS colleagues know about the services they are there to support. My guiding principle is always 'front line first' - will what i do benefit the front line either by improving operations or reducing hassle for the front line. For some of my colleagues, the end purpose of what they do seems to stop at what they directly see. I think that part of the problem is that with the steady reductions in budgets over the years there have been far fewer opportunities for 'familiarisation' activities and an increasing reliance on mechanical 'process' of doing things rather than a need for understanding and judgement. The focus on inclusivity & diversity etc training, on the other hand, is continually growing.
 
I wrote an email out to circa 140 pers this week, opening line, the usual "Good morning Sirs, Ma'ams, Ladies and Gents" had a reply from one of them (CS) stating that "Good morning everyone" would be better for unconscious bias and inclusivity reasons. I'm a JNCO so don't think the Wg Cdrs and Col's etc and above in that email would have been happy not addressing them appropriately.

Good morning Sirs, Ma'ams, Everyone.....

Not that hard is it?
 
I wrote an email out to circa 140 pers this week, opening line, the usual "Good morning Sirs, Ma'ams, Ladies and Gents" had a reply from one of them (CS) stating that "Good morning everyone" would be better for unconscious bias and inclusivity reasons. I'm a JNCO so don't think the Wg Cdrs and Col's etc and above in that email would have been happy not addressing them appropriately.
That's why I used 'Sir's, Ma'ams et al.'

No fucker can catch you out with that one even if they have multi-coloured hair, steal the alphabet and build so called 'careers' from it.
 
Half Bar
Bar
Tow Bars
Two and a half Bars
Three Bars
Four Bars
One Star
Two Stars
Three Stars
Four Stars
Mate
 
Main Gimlet
Massive Gimlet
Big Gimlet
Medium Gimlet
Small Gimlet
Non-comissioned Gimlet
Insignificant Gimlet
 
At least we use the term "Maam" for our Doris's. The Italians smash their heads into wings smack them on the @rse and chuck them in swimming pools. Allegedly

 
Drives me mad quite frankly, fortunately my most immediate colleagues are either currently serving, FTRS, or ex-service (and cover all 3 services) like me so we have similar outlooks and a high banter quotient during the day - my career CS boss despairs at us sometimes but has been around the mil long enough to know that when we're taking the p**s out of each other we're happy :) and lets us get on with it. The ones that have no military experience, on the other hand, and and have taken on board the full on CS, this is a financially driven, process orientated business, love everybody, never upset anyone, etc etc can be very frustrating.
Oldstacker!! Does it drive you mad or are you now just meh to it all???
 
I worked at Ascent Flight Training at an MOD building down in Bristol, it was mostly ex servicemen with a few 22 Group officers and a smattering of civilian educators.

The civvies couldn't get their heads round the things we got up to and we (middle aged) were forever the HR Director's office explaining why farting competitions and such like were normal behaviour.

Our team leader a retired USAF Colonel went into the HR Director's office one day, slammed the door on the way in and told her in no uncertain terms that if she carried on a large part of the multi billion pound contract was in jeopardy. We didn't get a squeak out of her from that point on.
 
I work entirely with CS, none of whom have served, although some do have connections through family. Although being PC is a hot topic, although my LM uses the phrase "guys" in just about every sentence, and I have no intention of bringing it up purely because it doesnt offend anyone there at the moment. We do have the occasional E&D briefing, but on the whole we just get on with our day and if someone is offended by the odd slip of the tongue, we apologise and thats it.
 
Her bio, for info


Warrant Officer Sara Catterall, Royal Air Force (RAF) has been Command Senior Enlisted Leader at NATO’s Headquarters Allied Air Command at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, since Sept 2019.

She joined the Royal Air Force in 1995 as an Intelligence Analyst and over her career has served in a variety of Joint Defence roles and operational intelligence specialisations both in the UK and abroad.

She has deployed extensively, including a number of tours in Afghanistan providing direct support to Special Forces and Air operations. In 2011, she received a 3* Commanders Joint Operation Commendation in recognition for intelligence support to tactical operations.

Prior to taking up post, she served at the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem, Germany, where she was the Baltic Air Policing Liaison Officer and more recently was the Station Warrant Officer at RAF College Cranwell, the spiritual home of the Royal Air Force.

(Current as of November 2019)
 
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