Time for Army postcode

MANY tri-Service communities serving overseas are suffering problems with the British Forces Post Office (BFPO) postcodes. Being based abroad means troops often have to use the internet to buy goods from UK retailers.

More and more companies are using automated websites which will not recognise a BFPO postcode, declaring it invalid and prompting the user to enter a UK postcode.

Clearly we cannot use the normal postcode for RAF Northholt (where BFPO now resides) as this would mix up their mail with that going overseas. But how hard would it be for BFPO to ask the Royal Mail to create a dedicated postcode which overseas troops could use to direct mail to the BFPO mail centre?

Our addresses might then be something like:12345678 Pte A N Other,62 Materiel Squadron,6 Supply Regiment RLC,
BFPO 47, Middlesex HA4 *** United Kingdom.
I emailed Royal Mail to ask about this and was told that in principle it would not be a problem. After all, new streets are constructed all the time and new postcodes can be generated easily enough for them.
I have tried to chase this through the chain of command and have even written to BFPO myself without reply. Perhaps they didn’t get my letter. – Sgt P Tyler, 6 Supply Regiment RLC.

Maj Steve Roberts, D Def PCS, responds: BFPO are engaged with Royal Mail to identify a solution to this problem. I will speak to Sgt Tyler to explain in depth the complexities involved in what, on the surface, seems a simple solution.

What do you think? You can voice your own opinion on this topic on ArmyNet

Thwarted by policy

I WAS given an out-patients appointment at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham but the date was not suitable so I followed the instructions to change the appointment.

The military operator taking my call told me that I would have to go through my medical centre to change an appointment. I asked why, as a warrant officer, I was not allowed to alter my own appointment and was told it was “policy”. I asked for his line manager’s number, which he was not able to locate, so gave him mine and asked to be contacted at their convenience.

A major in the military patients’ wing called to tell me I could not change my appointment, regardless of rank, and that I should follow the policy and do so through my medical centre.

But my med centre does not know my availability so any new appointment made without my knowledge may again be unsuitable.

The officer told me his department deals with about 400 requests a week to change appointments. I reckon most of these are being changed many times over as medical centres make “blind” appointments.

Any civilian can contact a hospital to alter an appointment, so why can’t we? – WO2 (QMSI) A Blatch, 72 Engineer Regiment (V).

Defence Medical Services Department (DMSD) responds: DMSD cannot intervene in individual cases regarding administration, treatment or patient grievances.
If WO2 (QMSI) Blatch wants to complain about procedures regarding his administration at Selly Oak Hospital, he has the right to do so using the NHS complaints procedure.
He must go to the hospital or trust concerned and ask for a copy of the complaints procedure.
The following websites will give further information on the complaints procedure. Go to www.library.nhs.uk/healthmanagement and follow the appropriate links.

Two quarters are better than one

HAVING just read the letter in the May issue regarding the rules on cohabiting in Service accommodation I can fully understand the frustration of the soldier who can’t live with his partner and so will be separated from his child.

But we all know the Army is not going to change the rules that govern allocation of married quarters.

May I suggest an option that Brig Gordon did not mention in his reply? Once your partner has given birth to your child, and as long as you are both serving soldiers, you take full sole parental responsibility for the child, leaving your partner with full sole responsibility of the child she has from her previous relationship.

This will not solve the problem of you not being able to live together but will force the Army into providing you with separate married quarters as you both have full-time parental responsibility.

You can then each spend 28 days out of every 61 at the other’s house, giving you 56 out of 61 together. And as you are both single parents it is unlikely you will be sent on a six-month tour. – WO1 (ASM) G E Haworth, SA ES Org and Trg, HQ 4 Divison ES.

Higher car rate is cheaper than train

I WORK in MoD Main Building in London, live in a married quarter in Kingston and often have to travel regularly to Copenacre.

I am the only military person in my unit. My civilian counterparts get 40p a mile for travel in their own cars while I, a serving soldier, can only claim about 26p. This seems unreasonable.

JSP 541 states that the Official Duty Rate (ODR) can only be paid in exceptional circumstances and when there is no hire or Service transport available, which would never be the case in Main Building. JSP 541 makes no mention of cost in regard to ODR.

With increases in fuel the Private Car Rate (PCR) does not cover my costs per mile so I stopped using my own vehicle and started to use either hire cars or rail transport. Both cost considerably more than ODR. Rail and taxi to Copenacre is about £150; hire car about £100; ODR about £66.

This is a waste of money. Could the rules not be amended to authorise the cheapest practicable method of travel, and leave it to the chain of command? – Name and address supplied.

Brig Jamie Gordon, DPS(A), replies: You may have seen earlier correspondence on why it is that PCR/ODR rates do not totally reflect the rapid increase in fuel price. Hire cars may be more expensive but the price differential is not as great as you suggest, and one can get reduced rail tickets.
Your suggestion to amend the JSP may sound sensible, but I refer to para 04.606. You effectively lose control of your car and are constrained to using it only for future business travel.

Why can’t AAC attract degree in flying?

I READ on the Defence website that the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force have teamed up with universities to combine military training with academic skills so they can offer their personnel a degree level qualification.

The Fleet Air Arm has combined military flying training and education into a Military Aviation Studies Foundation degree, which recognises the unique skills needed for service in combat aircraft. The Army Air Corps also has winged aircraft in service and it takes almost two years to qualify as an Army aviator.

So why has the AAC not teamed up with educational bodies to recognise and accredit the training its aviators receive? – Concerned soldier.

Brig Jamie Gordon, DPS(A), replies: In line with the Army and Defence Accreditation policies, the Army Air Corps has recently implemented apprenticeship schemes for all phase two groundcrew and communications trainees at the School of Army Aviation. Work is going on to map aircrew training to civilian qualifications. Although AAC flying training is similar to that delivered for the RN and RAF, it is not identical and so needs a separate and distinct accreditation process.
It is also worth noting that even the RN Military Aviation Studies Foundation degree is not accredited for all flying training: it is only for specific roles.
To date, Open University degree credit points are available on completion of the Army Elementary Flying Training Course (30 points at Level 1) and various options are being pursued to accredit the rest of the training received by AAC pilots to bring it in line with the other Services.
Point of contact for AAC accreditation is the Accreditation Co-ordinator at HQ AAC, Middle Wallop.

‘Forgotten’ Palestine veterans back in the picture

ON behalf of all Palestine Veterans Association (PVA) members, I commend you on Cliff Caswell’s article on the 60th anniversary of the withdrawal of British military forces from Palestine (June).
Our members have long felt that the role they played in a thankless mission has been conveniently forgotten, should mention of it cause upset on political or religious grounds among our allies.
Although the PVA only formed in 2000, we have 1,193 members, all of them determined that the 784 men and women of the British Armed Forces who lost their lives in Palestine are commemorated. Members will gather at the Eden Camp Modern History Theme Museum for their annual reunion on October 18. Membership is open to all who served in Palestine between 1923 and 1948 and details can be obtained from me.
Thanks again for your tribute to the 90,000 Service personnel who served in the country which our members will always know as Palestine. – Nick Hill, PVA Administrator, Eden Camp Museum, Malton, North Yorks YO17 6RT(admin@edencamp.co.uk).

“END of Days” (June) was well written and Soldier has again given its readers high standards which others can only envy. Well done Cliff Caswell and Steve Dock. It was amazing they did not insult anyone, were politically correct, yet told the story fairly and illustrated the suffering of those who served. – Maj (Supt) Bob Mountwitten, “Yasham” Anti-Terrorist Unit (Volunteers), Israel Police, Jerusalem.

Where’s the X-factor for varsity cadets?

I NOTE with interest the withdrawal of X-factor from university units.

It is unclear from the MoD report what body of personnel this refers to: is it officer cadets only, cadetship officers, TA group A staff serving with the University Officers’ Training Corps (UOTC) or permanent instructors?

The only other reference to “University Units” within the report is with respect to the officer cadet bounties, so presumably it applies only to officer cadets? If this is the case, on what basis have UOTC cadets ever been paid X-factor given that they have not been mobilised as a body since the First World War?

Considering the level of eminence on the Armed Forces Pay Review Board (AFPRB), should we not expect a little more clarity? – Maj Martin Shakespeare, SO2 Business Continuity, HQ Land Forces.

Brig Jamie Gordon, DPS(A), replies: The withdrawal of X-factor highlighted in your letter does refer to university officer cadets. X-factor not only relates to mobilisation as you point out, but to a balance of 18 factors (see Pages 40-42 of the report).
Your last point in relation to clarity is unfair. The 2008 Armed Forces Pay Review Body report covers a wide range of complex multi-faceted topics and is necessarily high-level and tri-Service.
Army Briefing Notes (ABN) are designed to accompany and clarify issues and I refer you to ABN 04/08 in this instance, which also signposts where you can go for future information on this issue.

I HAVE just read the “No-bonus tour” letter (June) from the wife of someone doing a six-month tour in the Falkand Islands and felt obliged to comment on it.
Having served on six-month tours in both the Falklands and Afghanistan in the past couple of years, I cannot believe the naivety. Most personnel in the Falklands work a normal day and have a lot of down-time, when the local bars and Service messes do a brisk trade.
It would be ludicrous for them to receive the same bonuses as Service personnel on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. – Name and address supplied.

LIKE many other soldiers I bought myself a 350ml thermal mug. After making a coffee on a recent exercise, I tried to dunk a biscuit fruit from my ration pack and was shocked to find it did not fit into my mug. I snapped the biscuit in two and dunked it sideways. Because it did not have as much length, I could only dunk a little before scolding my fingers. If biscuits were made 6mm smaller, they would fit, which would increase morale. – LCpl, 1 (UK) ADSR, name, address supplied.

ON the subject of the monkey puppet (April), I have been in Afghanistan several times and often stayed overnight in small villages.
I learnt that the Afghan people have a strong sense of humour. They like jokes and funny things. I think the monkey is perfect to start a conversation. Soldiers should be disciplined but if a bit of humour helps to get the mission completed, I think it is appropriate.
Do not forget that during the times of the Taliban having fun was forbidden. – Carl Schulze, Defence journalist, Germany.

Thanks for decompressing us

I WOULD like to thank the team that organised our post-Op Telic 11 decompression training in Cyprus for running such an excellent package.

The Army should be given a pat on the back for this effort. Some may have been sceptical beforehand, but everyone left feeling that it was a very worthwhile experience. The Army gave us the opportunity to let off steam and provided some excellent facilities to do this.

The stand-up comedians were very funny, though they did take the mick out of me for a wearing a shirt. – Capt T J Cowdry, 1st Battalion, Scots Guards.

JPA ‘circle of death’ squared away

IN Soldier (March) you highlighted the SPVA complaints procedure and who to contact if iSupports were not resolved after ten working days.

As a regimental admin officer I was aware of this through the JPA Op Bulletins, although I did not hold out much hope. But after reading Soldier I have now used this procedure on four occasions and found the service to be excellent.

Capt Haydn Pritchard and his team have resolved long-term issues within a fortnight and the “circle of death” of iSupports has ceased.

For most it has not been an easy transition to JPA, but this is a positive step that hopefully puts an end to the drawn-out process of iSupports and the frustration encountered. – Capt Sarah Freeman, 3 Para, BFPO 772.

No refund of our fees 50 years ago

I WAS interested in the letter “Army should pay these fees” (March). I served in the Royal Engineers from 1942 to 1966, initially with the Engineer Works Services as a surveyor’s clerk and later, after obtaining my Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) as a chartered quantity surveyor.

I had to obtain that qualification at my own expense as there were no long quantity surveying courses leading to the RICS qualification, which it was essential to hold before one could gain a commission.

I remember the efforts made by our small band of officers to obtain a refund on our subscriptions. Equally unsuccessful were our efforts to persuade HM Inspector of Taxes to allow our subscriptions to count as a deductible expense. It seems that, 50 years later, there is not much change. – Maj (Retd) John A Lilley QSRE, Colchester.

My room needs price check

AT my last unit I was lucky enough to be accommodated in modernised sergeants’ mess single living accommodation.

It was classed as level 2, which I was very happy to pay. But I have been posted to a new unit and my room is just the opposite. It is barely big enough to swing a cat in and has a small sink. I have to share a single toilet and shower with five other people.

That would not be a problem but for the fact that I am paying the same rate as I did in my previous room. How can such opposites be on the same scale?

I was in a similar room to this one at a previous unit and was told it was of such a poor standard that all I had to pay for was amenities. – Name and address supplied.

Brig Jamie Gordon, DPS(A), replies: Something appears to be wrong. Each type of accommodation is divided into four grades for charge depending on its condition, conformity to scale and so on. You should not be paying the same for the single living accommodation you describe as you did for new SLAM accommodation.
Contact your admin office to confirm the Grade for Charge you are paying, and then speak to your quartermaster who can ask for a board of officers to convene to re-grade your accommodation.

I had to beg for my leave

I AM returning from a non-operational overseas posting and have been away from my family for three months. Yet I am struggling to get permission to take relocation leave as neither my losing nor gaining unit can afford to lose me for the ten days to which I am entitled.

Why do we have to beg for leave and why it is not factored into assignment order movements? I should not have to upset my new bosses by requesting an absence they have not planned for. – Name and address supplied.

Brig Jamie Gordon, DPS(A), replies: Problems with taking leave have been highlighted in Talkback with my responses and reference to the X-factor. I am sorry to hear of your difficulties in taking your ten days of relocation leave. It is fact that the needs of the Army come first, but I am disappointed that you can’t be spared for ten days – no doubt you fill a key appointment, but no one is irreplaceable.