A Few Questions

Hi guys,
My long-term OH is currently training for a position as an HM officer (specialisation meteorology).
There are a few questions I wanted to ask regarding leave, and obviously at the moment my OH is busy they don't have a minute to themselves and I don't want to ask them to take out precious time in order to consult with any of the commissioned officers. I don't want to nag them, I just want to be supportive, so I thought I would direct my comments here:

- The average length of deployment for an M officer seems to be two months on, one month off. Obviously this is quite short compared to full GS deployments, but I was curious if my OH would get any post-operational leave following the conclusion of a two month stint. Also, I know that currently serving personnel on nine month rotations get some time off in the middle. Would this (albeit a much shorter version) still apply on a two month deployment like this?

- For M officers, what would be the average split between air bases and ships?

- As an M officer, are you entirely located at RNAS Culdrose and RNAS Yeovilton? Or is it likely/possible you would serve at one of the RAF stations as well, in conjunction with the Met Office's own meteorologists? Also, my OH mentioned Northwood Headquarters as a place more senior M officers might serve at; I'm assuming this would be quite late in one's career?

- Obviously service requirements come first, but is any consideration at all taken in for weakling civilian partners like me (ha) when it comes to assigning deployments? Does it tend to be single people are given the longest, then engaged, then married then married with kids? Or is that simply not the case?

As I said, I don't want to pressure my OH into finding answers to questions when they're currently so busy, so I thought I would try here. There's not a lot about HM specialisations anywhere I can see, and I know for a fact the official RN website seems woefully out of date when it comes to HM.

Thanks!
Tamar

 

Apologies, if this isn't the right place to ask these questions or if they're rather on the simple side if anybody could direct me to the relevant information it would be greatly appreciated. As stated, this very much isn't my world!

Thanks,
Tamar

 

Welcome

I imagine the wall of silence was probably in anticipation of a qualified response or the assumption your OH maybe best placed to answer. Nevertheless, I'll have a stab, but would advise you simply ask your OH - if he/she cannot give you the answer and claims they are too busy, they are telling porkies.

Apart from the annual leave allowance (30 days + Bank Holidays), I doubt very much additional pre or post deployment leave would be accrued after a couple of months away. It may well be the odd extended weekend leave is granted upon return, but that's about it.

Generally speaking it's a very small branch with very few seagoing billets, so again, your OH is better placed to advise, but once trained, I'd be surprised if they did anymore than a couple of years on a ship and would imagine they would then crack at least two (maybe more) two year shore appointments before going back to sea. Snag is, with the carriers due to be coming online, it may well be that your OH is unclear of the projected sea/shore ratio expected.

I think you have already asnswered you query. Yes, they can serve on RAF stations

Unless there are bona-fide compassionate reasons everyone is appointed/assigned based on their rank/experience - whether they are married, attached or plug-ugly and single makes not one jot of difference.

Hopefully that gives a generic idea but again - ask the individual, they can't be that busy watching Carol bloody Kirkwood on breakfast telly, then drawing squiggly lines on maps before they have another siesta.
.

 

Is your last name Bridge?

 

Ah thank you Ninja_Stoker, that's very helpful.
And no, no it isn't?

 

There are currently 5 METOC Commanders serving in NATO Brussels, Huntingdon- Fleet COMOPS and UKMO Exeter.
That's about as far as you are likely to get

 

Odds are there will be a plethora of generic SO2/SO1 posts in which Metocs are employed out of branch further afield also.

SO1s are experts at everything

 

There are none. The last METOC R/Adm retired in 1998.
the METOC Branch currently has 11 officers on active service. Possibly a Naval Attache. I haven't looked in the Yellow Book or whatever it's called today. The current METOC highest rank is Cdr.

 

Cdr = SO1 = OF4

Are there only 11 Metoc Officers in the Navy? I knew it was a small branch but wasn't aware it was that small.

 

Am aware of that but you were referring to a plethora of generic SO2 SO/1's employed out of branch----there are none-- unless one or more serves as Naval Attaches of which I am unaware.

 

There are just 11 and will get fewer as technological science replaces 19th century weather forecasting.
Tamar needs to act quickly.

 

What is your source for that statement?

 

11 seems an incredibly low number for a military branch, even a specialised one. Does anyone know if there's been systematic cuts to the Meteorology branch (is branch the right word?) in recent years?

 

The Navy list and empiricism

 

It's not quite as dire.
I have found two more Commanders and one Lt.
METOC is a Branch
None currently serve at sea.
NATO Brussels, Norfolk and Defence College
Northwood
RNAS Culdrose
RNAS Yeovilton
Devonport
Portsmouth
Shrivenham
Exeter
MOD london
Commander is the current highest attainable rank

 

Ah that's interesting thank you Billy Q. I'm guessing the number at sea will increase when, as Ninja_Stoker said, the two carriers come into operation?

Also, looking at the Navy List, can someone explain the difference between HM and METOC? They seem to have both on their. I thought M officers were a sub-branch of HM? Forgive the confusion!