We must adapt for change after the defence review

Chief of Staff Personnel AVM Mike Lloyd on how the RAF aims to meet the demands of the SDSR

With the loss of Nimrod and Harrier Force and a four-year programme to shed 5000 personnel, the RAF is facing its toughest post-war challenge.

Implementing the Government’s cuts while fighting a war in Afghanistan and maintaining capability in the Falkland Islands and the UK skies will create uncertainty, Defence Chiefs have admitted. As the Royal Air Force plans for the future, COS Personnel and Air Secretary, Air Vice-Marshal Mike Lloyd, says he is committed to getting the best deal for RAF personnel and is driving forward career and personnel policies that he says will enhance life in a slimmed down RAF.

Whilst the ink may still be wet on the SDSR and the actual details of how it will affect personnel on the ground are still unclear, the headline figures speak for themselves. RAF numbers will fall to 33,500 by 2015 and to 31,500 by 2020. A two-year pay freeze is in place and Defence Chiefs have warned there may be changes to pensions, on top of changes to personal and annual tax allowances.

AVM Lloyd said: “We have taken significant reductions in capability with the withdrawal of Nimrod and the Harrier Force, which is very sad because both forces have given outstanding service over many years and served their country well.

“A major concern is the compound effect that the outcome of SDSR has on our people. We are going through a period of uncertainty and change and part of the challenge is to look after our people whilst managing that change.”

No one is feeling that uncertainty as acutely as staff at RAF Kinloss, which is facing closure, and RAF Cottesmore, which may be transferred to Army use with the withdrawal of the Harrier Force. Staff from AMP’s Briefing Team and the RAF Manning team have already been dispatched to RAF Stations to brief Station executives and personnel and assess the options facing people.

Over the next few weeks they will be visiting most RAF Stations and units across the UK and the Diaspora as part of a planned communications strategy to engage with all personnel.

AVM Lloyd said: “We need to understand their requirements and outline what the opportunities might be in the future.

"There are no clear answers yet and it will take several months to work through the details of how to drawdown the RAF by 5000 people over the next four years and it is important to get it right. “I am adamant, however, that we will keep people informed as we progress, not just through the chain of command and the Briefing Teams, but also via regular personnel bulletins.

“Crucially, we need to keep a regular flow of information; even if we don’t know all the answers, I want people to understand when various decisions will be made. “In what are difficult times for the country, it is vital that we continue to do our very best to protect the interests of our people, and those of their families, who do so much for the nation.”

Along with the loss of Service personnel, there will also be a 25-30 per cent reduction in the number of civil servants currently working with the RAF, through voluntary and involuntary redundancy.

AVM Lloyd and the personnel team have spent months planning for the outcome of the SDSR. With civilians playing an increasingly prominent and operational role within the Service he warned the transition may not be easy.

He said: “Because we are now so heavily reliant on civil servants for the delivery of operations, any reductions in their numbers could have a knock-on affect to how we manage the drawdown of military staff – they work in harmony to produce the same effect.

“We have never had that situation before. We will be looking very closely at the manning relationship between military and civilian personnel as we plan the drawdown of personnel across the Service.

“Redundancy details released the day of announcement were very broad – we do not yet know for certain, but I anticipate that up to half of the drawdown might be achieved through redundancy, depending on the pace and precise nature of the reductions over the next four years. Being able to use redundancy is important because it allows us to preserve some promotion opportunities for those remaining and rebalance the people with the task.

“The pressure placed upon the RAF to reduce numbers while maintaining capability on Operations in Afghanistan should not be underestimated,” AVM Lloyd said. “The additional demands for new operational requirements such as manning Reaper and an additional C17 may further complicate the manning balance.”

“We must continue to deliver on operations while drawing down, but this will cause additional pressures on us to make sure that we can move people around the Service to fill the gaps during thedrawdown as and when they arise. We must make sure that we retain experience where we can and continuity so that we can continue to deliver on operations.

“We might see some instability as we move people around to plug gaps or man the operational requirements, but we will attempt to minimise the turbulence.”

AVM Lloyd added: “Fewer bases will help our intent for people to have longer tours in locations which will give families greater stability and so reduce some of the negative effects of the previous levels of mobility. In time, partners should be able to keep the same employment for longer and children should be able to enjoy greater educational stability. We are also seeking to support people’s aspirations for home ownership. We are leading the work on this within Defence as we see significant benefits for our people, but the current financial restraints, especially as we seek to secure greater opportunity for assisted house purchase, makes things even more challenging at present.

“However the long term goal is going to be greater stability in the future and therefore we are changing career management structures to be ready to enable this.”

While the Spending Review has had a profound impact on strategic planning across all three Services it has driven changes to the RAF career structure to the top of the agenda. Significant policy initiatives designed to further promote talent and expertise are now gathering speed.

Changes to career plans include a new package for junior ranks being introduced under Project APOLLO, a move away from the list-based appointment system for WOs and senior NCOs under Project ZEUS and the creation of an executive stream for those officers with the most potential under Project SIRIUS.

“Before the SDSR we undertook significant preparatory work and have been working very hard across the personnel staffs to ensure we have the strategies and policies in place to provide the best we can for our people over the next 5-10 years.

“Key to the success of these initiatives is the ability to sustain what Iam sure will remain a competitive ‘offer’. Whilst the current measures affecting pay and pensions all present deterioration in real terms for all of us at the moment, it is really important to stop and look at the whole picture at times like this.

“For some, there is always the view the grass is greener in civilian life, but, even if the economy does improve in a few years I’m still pretty sure that the complete range of benefits we will receive in the future, even if it’s not as good as our predecessors enjoyed in the past, will more than stand scrutiny with the packages available on the outside.

“The crucial thing for all of us, whether as someone in the early years of their career considering whether to commit to further service, or as a parent trying to juggle family and Service demands, is to make sure we understand properly the facts so that, if necessary in the coming years, we can make a properly understood choice about our best course of action.

“For my part, I shall continue to do everything in my power to enhanceour personnel policies, maintain the training programme, bring in recruits, continue promotions and keep the career management system open and agile so that the offer is still a good one for our people and attractive to future joiners.

”The next four to five years will see significant uncertainty and pain in some areas, as we adjust.

“However, in the long term, the future is positive, with a better balance of policy aspirations and resource and an employment model that acknowledges many different types of Service, Regular and Reserves and better reflects the aspirations of our people and their families.”