Travel restrictions to impact on operational capability?

The latest cost saving measure is the overseas travel budget with (reportedly no-one to travel overseas on exercise or for training until the new financial year).

MTO is going to be hit hard without question. The UKMTO Dubai team is already down to 2 because of long term gapping since May 06 and we used to bank on U/T deployments to fill what should have been an operational (FTRS or Mobilised) billet.

Now the moratorium on overseas travel is going to ensure that the team here can forget about even temporary respite until the purse strings are relaxed again (April 2007?)

One armed paper hanging has become almost easy in the context of this latest 'kick to the delicates' so we have both decided to take up eel juggling instead - always looking for that extra daily challenge.

What about other specialisations - are you grounded as well or have your grown ups got a grip on ways round all this (come on GSSR, Logs et al - if you have a light for the tunnel spill the beans and let us know)

 

I was meant to be going out to Dubers before January but with the travel restriction I won't be going and might be struggling to get my bounty now. :evil:

 

this does not seem to have affected muppets. e.g. flying a senior rate (tutor) + 3 killicks from gods country to collingrad to sit in a class being given training package brought by aforementioned. 2 killicks from the smoke also attended. smart money would have been to bring the lesser number to the greater. but hey, why let common sense get in the way of things !

 

I beleive the GSSR's at our unit are still getting to travel but as they are joining ships as SPO teams etc I guess the travel expenses are coming out of someone else's budget!!!

DP - surely if your gapped billet is an operational one then anyone travelling out to fulfil that role should have the travel paid from a none RNR budget??

 

Yes - but now we get back to the 'couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery' bit - the money is there for the Mobilised/FTRS deployment but the 2 words 'act' and 'together' will forever be destined never to meet.

Hopefully (!!!) someone will be out in January in the meantime we have a month and a half of eel juggling!

 

Argghh yes, the forever tangled red tape that always exists whenever a logical solution stares the right people in the face.

Well if its any help I could send you out a box of mince pies for xmas and you could either use them in the juggling routine, eat them or even use them as bait to snare more eels to replace the ones you will undoubtedly drop during your entertaining routine.

Have you thought of using electric eels?

I meant in the juggling act by the way, not to forward in the post to someone on the south coast to solve your problem.....

 

BB I am shocked and offended that you should even begin to consider my juggling skills to be so lacking in refinement that I may 'drop' some of my eels.

Mince pies sound good though. I was already starting to contemplate what to have with my cheese sandwich for Christmas dinner.

 

I've attended weekends at Collingrad where about 30 have attended - 3 from the local area and 27 from the north. Doesn't seem to make much sense to fly loads of people down. I suppose the other side of the coin is they have to choose the location before they know who would book on the course.

Having said that, the branch profile would show that most live up north so wouldn't it be better to hold the weekends in Scotia/Faslane?

Well, I think I've just gone full circle on that one! Off for a lie-down now.

 

Well DP I will obtain your address from some secret official source and get the pies in the post to you. You are of course expected to eat them in full mess undress :roll:

Well I thought with hanging wallpaper, posing for cosmo magazine your attention maybe somewhat distracted from the eels but it was ver rude of me to think such dark thoughts given your predicament and ability to multi task........

 

Fair point but sometimes the decisions should be based on more than budgets.

e.g. The decision to hold MW weekends at Collingrad was based on that fact that that is where the MW Training unit/element/section (delete as appropriate this week!) is located. Training in the actual RN school does play a small part in how students respond to the course.
In addition we have access to RN resources, (Mine Deck, Hunt bay, MTSSR etc). Classroom space for up to 5 classes (not at Faslane?) is available and there is a single routine for every weekend, regardless of the course. The very fact that we are there means we are liaising with our RN counterparts on a fairly regular basis. Collingwood can also accommodate everyone (most of the time), when Scotia cannot.

Not sure how this works for other branches, but since 2001 using the lead School has been very positive for MW.

 

The point is well made though - with regard to laising with RN counterparts - my experience is that you don't tend to see many of them on a weekend.

Accommodation on the other hand is very relevant - there is nothing so sad as seeing people trundle to an RTC for weekend training and then find them having to sleep on campbeds on the drill deck (not actually sure how 'legal' that is) and have to fend for themselves ref meals etc - doesn't exactly trumpet 'professional' in my book.

 

Sadly we are not grown up enough to use Collingwood without top cover, as a result a 'member of staff' must be there. Often this will be someone form the MWTE. I think doing this gets them off a duty, so they seem happy to do it. Either way, it means we are coming into contact with them.

 

Thie issue concerning budgetary control is affecting all aspects of service life. The most recent handed down from Fleet 'Travel Smart, Travel Less' is having serious impact on sport, recreation and ordinary business within the regular RN.

 

As in?
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Perhaps the Dubaipusser and his team can subsidise a couple of flights from their daily lodging allowance!

 

Grumbly - we lost the 'generous' allowance over a year ago and actually get considerably less than the permanent staff in the defence section at the Embassy who are also out here as 'married accompanied' with their own vehicles, spacious villas, weekends off, public holidays, 8 hour working day etc!!!

But thank you for giving me the opportunity to point this out to those green-eyed monsters in the UK who mistakenly think we sit here in the sun and do a forenoon's work followed by liberal 'pooltime' whilst being pampered by dusky maidens - oh if only!

 

Nice one - shows that nowt changes I suppose!

 

Slot me in for a dusky maiden or two please Dubaipusser!