What is your manpower level like?

[MrMasher]

Whats your manpower level like for heavies (both riggers and sooties, we're all one!)?

I'm just curious. With the SAR world being posted it would appear that there arent many places for us to go.
Odiham has a couple of spare places as well as Lossie.

Rumours of places screaming out for manpower would appear to be untrue. If thats the case do we become overborne even though we all know there are places that need more manpower?

I would have thought that with 2 more C17's on the way 99Sqn would need a few more.
216 have had a manpower review and need more people although that is to be verified by some AOC.
Benson are having more Merlins.
What about this other yank aircraft we are going to lease?


Whats the real level of manpower like? Where are the pinch points?
Seriously. Its not just us techies winging about having to get out of the t-bar is it? Who is in dire need of more heavies????

 

[Realist78]

Whats your manpower level like for heavies (both riggers and sooties, we're all one!)?

I'm just curious. With the SAR world being posted it would appear that there arent many places for us to go.
Odiham has a couple of spare places as well as Lossie.

Rumours of places screaming out for manpower would appear to be untrue. If thats the case do we become overborne even though we all know there are places that need more manpower?

I would have thought that with 2 more C17's on the way 99Sqn would need a few more.
216 have had a manpower review and need more people although that is to be verified by some AOC.
Benson are having more Merlins.
What about this other yank aircraft we are going to lease?


Whats the real level of manpower like? Where are the pinch points?
Seriously. Its not just us techies winging about having to get out of the t-bar is it? Who is in dire need of more heavies????

Ask any of the Sqn's at Lossie, come on shift tonight to 16 jets, 14 U/S, 10 with lengthy rigger snags, qty 3 x 2 man teams to fix, going to be a long 'un! We could do with an establishment shuffle and trade some of the lighter trades for riggers.:raf:

 

[MrMasher]

Ask any of the Sqn's at Lossie, come on shift tonight to 16 jets, 14 U/S, 10 with lengthy rigger snags, qty 3 x 2 man teams to fix, going to be a long 'un! We could do with an establishment shuffle and trade some of the lighter trades for riggers.:raf:

Your place might well be on the cards.
We were asked today if we wanted to volunteer for Lossie or Odiham.
Bear in mind we put dream sheets in last year and our posting notices will be right at the 90 days notice.
There must be slots out there surely?

 

[Ghandi's Flip-Flop]

Ask any of the Sqn's at Lossie, come on shift tonight to 16 jets, 14 U/S, 10 with lengthy rigger snags, qty 3 x 2 man teams to fix, going to be a long 'un! We could do with an establishment shuffle and trade some of the lighter trades for riggers.:raf:

Well if my time on XV(R)se was anything to go by there will have been just as many light snags too. Most of which will have taken some creative fixing what with the complete lack of spares in Planet Tonka. So I don't think an establishment shuffle would help, just getting more guys full stop, along with a decent spares package on the other hand.

 

[MontyPlumbs]

I'm not sure what's going on in the rest of the RAF, but speaking from my perspective, our Mechanical trade manpower looks "full". However, when you find out a large majority of them are either inexperienced on type or just far too junior for the positions they are occupying then it makes for some interesting reading.

I did query the manpower posting from SAR and asked whether or not JFH would be getting some more experienced bods, looks like there are things going on behind the scenes at the moment as regards this.

I don't suppose you know if any SAR guys have been crazy enough to put JFH down as a choice? DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[MrMasher]

I don't suppose you know if any SAR guys have been crazy enough to put JFH down as a choice? DT_Xtremez_42:

Not me! Done Harriers already and Chinooks!
I fancy a change to be honest but I reckon I'll be out of luck.:S

I'm just trying to gauge where the manpower is needed from a shop floor perspective.

 

[dodgysootie]

Your place might well be on the cards.
We were asked today if we wanted to volunteer for Lossie or Odiham.
Bear in mind we put dream sheets in last year and our posting notices will be right at the 90 days notice.
There must be slots out there surely?

There are quite a few waafs here at Kinloss, I'm sure you could fill their slots.
On a serious note, you could do a lot worse than up here, I left the MIghty 203 at St Mawgan for here in 2001 and haven't looked back.
Good luck and as we say here at ISK:- non illigitimus carborundum.

DS

 

[MontyPlumbs]

Keep an eye out for something called MAOS in the near future and the schoolhouse principle being rolled out on other aircraft fleets in addition to the Harrier. The implications of this are huge, we have up to 60 trainees on the squadron at any one time and the Harrier force is relatively small compared to Tonkas. Imagine how many people you may have to get through the sausage factory if the PVRs continue to rise and the AMM courses continue to shrink?

I personally think every OCU in the RAF will be a very busy place to work if the training burden is increased as expected.

 

[Heilan]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that out of SAR at Lossie, I think there are only 5 posted south of the boarder. The rest are being either kept on SAR to hold the civvys hands or spread between Kinloss & Lossie.

 

[MrMasher]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that out of SAR at Lossie, I think there are only 5 posted south of the boarder. The rest are being either kept on SAR to hold the civvys hands or spread between Kinloss & Lossie.

Understandably they would prefer to stay where they are happy.
I believe there is a handover period, so yes the SAR guys might not leave straight away.

I cant believe there have been so few replies to this post. Everyone is always whinging about their lack of manpower and this would seem to be a good post to highlight it in.

An update on our heavy slots, 2 needed for Odiham, the rest are invited to volunteer for Marhamshire or Lossie. :S

 

[Heilan]

Yup! Apparently there have already been redundancies from the Civvys. Also, have heard, if it all goes pear shaped, those with experience on Seakings, will be re-posted to SAR. How long do you give it??DT_Xtremez_35:

 

[MrMasher]

The Falklands went off state. No SAR cover.
Contractorisation does work, doesnt it?

 

[Heilan]

*Cough* DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[duffman]

plenty of slots at marham engine bay DT_Xtremez_30:

 

[Realist78]

Well if my time on XV(R)se was anything to go by there will have been just as many light snags too. Most of which will have taken some creative fixingwhat with the complete lack of spares in Planet Tonka. So I don't think an establishment shuffle would help, just getting more guys full stop, along with a decent spares package on the other hand.

Nope, not nowadays (mostly). The riggers, over a protracted period get hammered for far more work than the bridge specialists (sorry, harkening back to earlier days, tv watching specialists) and actually graft harder than anyone bar none. I have to admit that over the same protracted period, it's the aforesaid flatscreen observers that will keep us back for a late night, usually due to decent lack of direction/expertise/poor fault diagnosis techniques/pretty poor hand skills (another rounded off screw for the riggers to sort out) to name but a few, sometimes their fault, sometimes not. We (royal) have trained? and bred a swath of box changers, that's if you can get the feckin boxes!!! Eggs in one basket at BAe Marham etc etc.

And relax...

:S

 

[Peter_Griffin]

Scream!!

Scream!!

I think 216 is screaming for more manpower, just had a major reshuffle and whilst it does what it set out to do there are less lineys doing the same amount of work for the same amount of time (ie all the feckin time). Add to this a few snags when the day's/lates heavy rects teams arn't in, a busy day of movements, a few people on trips/courses/guard/det or all of the above and it means that the guys in on shift are hammered non stop. Now before we get started on the whole "thats what you get paid for/life in a blue suit" row, please consider that we do probably 95% of our rects outdoors which is fine when we have a summer but crap over the almost non stop winter, also the herrick airbridge is vital to the image of our Sqn and the RAF (feckin tristar late again!) so when a manpower shuffle leaves us with precious few skilled men and a handfull of AMM's all being worked non stop for 12 hour shifts all year round in various conditions, ranging from ice cold and raining to boiling hot, its surley just a matter of time untill a bought of illness and zero slack in the system delays a herrick jet, the crap conditions leads to a work place accident or WORST CASE SENARIO flight safety is comprimised.
Rant over please sort it out and appologies for the crap spelling/grammer.::/:

 

[duffman]

''I think 216 is screaming for more manpower'' not saying that they're not but everytime i ring the drafter get told no chance for bzn, apprently no slots.

 

[mickeyccfc]

Hello all,
Guys believe me the manpower problems do not stop when you get out of the MOB! I am formerly a rigger in the RAF and we had manpower problems then! I have been out over 10 years now and run a shift of sheet metal workers for a large airline in Germany and we still have manpower problems!! The problem guys is that the work continually gets done!! Basically untill the day comes where we stand up and say enough is enough and we cannot do it anymore then nothing will change! I have a crew of 15 permies and about 20 contractors and although its hard work and a struggle we get the job done!!!

 

[MontyPlumbs]

Hello all,
Guys believe me the manpower problems do not stop when you get out of the MOB! I am formerly a rigger in the RAF and we had manpower problems then! I have been out over 10 years now and run a shift of sheet metal workers for a large airline in Germany and we still have manpower problems!! The problem guys is that the work continually gets done!! Basically untill the day comes where we stand up and say enough is enough and we cannot do it anymore then nothing will change! I have a crew of 15 permies and about 20 contractors and although its hard work and a struggle we get the job done!!!

Bet you get paid more for working your nuts off though don't you? DT_Xtremez_31:

 

[Albert Park]

The problem guys is that the work continually gets done!! Basically untill the day comes where we stand up and say enough is enough and we cannot do it anymore then nothing will change!

Couldn't have said it any better. We are constantly 'solutioneering', which is, as you point out, our own downfall.