Volume 11, No. 50, August 24, 2006
Quicklinks
to Letters
Fix trade retention issue
Cause for
celebration
Left in a
real bind
Let’s have kit fit for task
Moved to
frustration
Games gratitude
HOW
TO GET A LETTER PUBLISHED
Fix trade retention issue
I READ with interest the letter “ORs deserve more” by WO2 D. Harris and the response by Assistant Director Industrial Policy Will Van Weerdenburg (Army, July 13).
What interested me the most was, in his response, Mr Van Weerdenburg states: “A project team has been established to examine further reform of the OR pay structure.”
Dare I ask, but what exactly is a “project team” made up of? Is it one of those made-up positions given to civilians or even to colonels or brigadiers who have exhausted their career advances? Do these people have any idea (more importantly, experience) of what duties and responsibilities a WO1 or WO2 have? Furthermore how long will this process take?
I only ask these questions because we had the privilege to be visited by CA Lt-Gen Peter Leahy while recently deployed with 21 Const Sqn on AACAP 06. During his visit the CA addressed the detachment and gave an excellently prepared speech on what the Army is doing and where the Army is going. While the speech was very informative, some of the questions directed at him were in regards to retention, mainly in regards to RAE trades (carpenters, plumbers and electricians) because of the nature of the audience.
What I found interesting was the CA’s responses. Since I joined in 2000, as an already qualified carpenter, RAE trades have been told our pay level will be looked into by DFRT as a matter of retention. The CA confirmed this for me in 2003 when I had the pleasure of his company for lunch one day while on deployment in East Timor, during which I gave him the opinions I and other tradesmen in my unit have on retention.
I also spoke to RSM-A WO Kevin Woods late in 2003 while on deployment in Solomon Islands on the matter. The issue has been raised to many people, many times in many different positions and rank, yet they seem to be giving us the same response over and over again. Six years and no answer, three of which it has been at the attention of the CA. Any answer, whether good or bad, is still an answer.
Other then being brushed off, RAE tradesman have to put up with ignorance from our own corps. In 2003, the then RSM-Eng visited my then unit, 1CER, and proceeded to tell the tradesman in the unit of his opinion that they were not wanted in RAE and that it would be better for us to be included in RAEME. This could be a good idea actually because our electricians might have a chance to go to pay group five like their RAEME cousins.
I recently found out that SCMA has raised the ROSO requirement for direct entry tradesman from four to six years in a hope to secure us for two extra years.
Why is this? Other than our recruit and Initial Employment Training (same as any other soldier), we require no further training. Surely this will deter tradesman from enlisting, not helping the problem of being undermanned.
I’m actually happy with my level of pay and conditions of service, but what really frustrates me is being insulted by my own hierarchy, being brushed off in regards to the pay level and retention matter, and constantly being ignored in these matters.
Cpl Daniel Thorne
SME
Moorebank
WO1 Alan Harwood, Corps RSM RAE, responds:
CPL Thorne has made a number of points in relation to pay, how this affects retention, changes to ROSO, attitudes from people within the corps and the frustrations of trying to get someone to listen and do something to fix the issues.
I am aware of the frustrations that are shared by many tradesmen within the corps. RAE construction trades were one of the first cases dealt with by the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal (DFRT) in 1995 and, as a result, are long overdue for review. A number of other cases have been heard in the interim and our tradesmen are falling behind similar trades in pay. Cpl Thorne should understand that the DFRT is not a retention tool. It is a process that looks only at work value. Achieving higher pay as a result of this process is a potential outcome and aids retention.
The trade manager for construction trades at CATC has spent the past two years working towards a DFRT hearing in 2006, and has progressed the case through the Employment Category Review Committee. Due to operational tempo and manning deficiencies across Army, there is a shortage of personnel to fill necessary Defence case officer positions. Case officers are responsible for presenting the trade-pay case to the DFRT. Defence is attempting to rectify this shortfall, and is seeking to appoint a case officer to present the case in 2007.
In regard to the changes to ROSO, the current instruction relating to this is DI(G) Pers 33-5. This document actually sets the requirements for Initial Minimum Period of Service (IMPS), which are different across occupations.
Altogether, some 19 different trades impose a six year IMPS: these include carpenters, plumbers and electricians. Provision of a six-year IMPS for a direct entry tradesman brings them in line with the conditions of service of RAE tradesmen who developed their skills under the Initial Trade Training scheme.
The issues affecting retention, pay and work satisfaction are complex: they are not easily answered with a few words in a letter to the editor, they are best resolved through good communication and advertising of the work being done at CATC and other trade management organisations within Defence. Both the trade manager and myself will be at SME at the end of August and will make a point of speaking to all the tradesmen at SME to ensure that an understanding of the trade review process is reached and what we hope to achieve for the construction trades.
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Cause for
celebration
- YOUR report on Reserve Forces Day mentioned that the parade in Sydney acknowledged the centenary of the Australian Army Cadets Corps and the 90th anniversary of the RACMP (Army, July 13). The parade also celebrated the 70th anniversary of the formation of No.22 (City of Sydney) Sqn, RAAF. The unit was formed on April 20, 1936, is still serving, and has the Air Force’s only VC in the Pacific – that of Flt-Lt W.E. (Bill) Newton.
Flt-Lt Alan Lyons
RAAFSR Health Services
RAAF Base Richmond
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Left in a
real bind
WHILE enjoying your excellent publication, I was pleased to see the paper has taken an up front approach to men’s health and watching for the symptoms of testicular cancer (Army, “Have the balls to check”, July 27).
But the solution so horrified me I was unable to continue: the adjacent article “Tourniquet could prove a life saver” and reference to a CAT was beyond my ability to absorb in one sitting.
I look forward to future articles on lobotomy administered in the orderly room and prostate checks administered by the ever versatile and rubber-glove-equipped Spotless people.
Chap (Flt-Lt) Russel Avery
No. 26 (City of Newcastle) Sqn
RAAF Base Williamtown
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Let’s have kit fit for task
RECENT graphic news footage from Dili showed every aspect of Australian soldiers operating in extremely volatile public order situations.
They have done a fantastic job under the most trying of conditions. However, why were Australian soldiers on patrol not carrying their personal weapons with slings fitted over their bodies and where was the public order protection equipment?
Slings, by design, have more than one function. They allow you to sling the weapon by your side so you can use both hands, take notes, handle documents and search suspects. They prevent the weapon from being stolen or dropped and, most importantly, prevent it being turned on the person who is carrying the weapon if a struggle or arrest turns nasty. Basic, life-saving measures.
While on the subject of equipment (always an emotive subject), what about ballistic visors for helmets and neck nape guards? A sling-fired ball-bearing will take a soldier down just as effectively as a bullet.
Shin guards, arm guards and ballistic vests can all be worn under DCPUs, offering basic protection without an obvious paramilitary display of force, and visors and neck guards can be fitted or removed in minutes to scale up or down the protection as the situation dictates.
Yes, I recognise the heat and humidity are both factors and we already carry half a ton of equipment. These relatively cheap, simple, readily available and effective equipment will stop injuries from thrown missiles, blast and petrol bombs. They are the soldier’s first line of personnel defence. Basic, potentially life-saving measures.
The media know how to make the most of any footage: in one particular scene early in the deployment, Australian soldiers were filmed chasing stone-throwing locals into a garden and an obviously frustrated soldier thrust a Minimi over the hedge to emphasise his message.
Public order does not require a machine gun to reinforce the point – where’s the balanced and proportional escalation of force? Rock throwing does not equal a threat with potentially deadly force in response. Batons or truncheons and good shields are sufficient in the first stages, followed by baton rounds and tear gas, if available, if the situation continues to deteriorate.
Thirty years of public disorder in Northern Ireland has led to the development of tried and tested drills, SOPs and equipment for most situations, all of which we can learn from or adapt to suit. If Australian soldiers continue operating in harm’s way – and that’s a pretty safe bet – then they deserve the very best in equipment and training.
Maj Phil Bourne
2IC, Army School of Logistic Operation
Gaza Ridge Barracks
Maj Tony Archer, SO Director General Preparedness and Plans Army, AHQ, responds:
MAJ Bourne, thank you for your correspondence in which you raised a number of concerns relating to the conduct of Australian soldiers on operations in Timor-Leste and the equipment being employed by them.
It would be well known to you that the best person to make a decision about what equipment, tactics, techniques and procedures a force employs during operations is the commander on the spot.
Coupled with this situational awareness, it is the commander’s responsibility, with the support of his superiors, to ensure that subordinates are provided with the required resources to achieve their mission.
Comd JTF 631 and his subordinate commanders deemed that the dress and equipment being worn by the task force was appropriate for the task of supporting the Timor-Leste Government to create a stable environment in which the political process could continue.
As you correctly point out, the sling can be used to allow the soldier to perform a variety of tasks. However, slings can also be extremely restrictive in conducting operations, particularly within an urban environment. Therefore, the decision to sling or not sling weapons falls to the local commander and is based on a balance between the likely threat and ability to perform the task.
With regards to the use of visors, personnel deploying on operations are now equipped with ballistic glasses and ballistic goggles to provide eye protection. This has been identified as providing superior protection to a visor and is a consequence of user feedback from personnel deployed to the MEAO.
There have been some delays in the receipt of this equipment in the quantities required to support Army’s current operational tempo due to a global demand for ballistic eyewear, but this is something AHQ is addressing.
You raised several issues regarding ballistic vests, in particular the use of neck guards. The latest version of Army’s combat body armour is a modular design that incorporates a high collar offering neck protection. This version has been made available to personnel in the MEAO and provisioning will be extended when availability allows.
In response to your statements on the correct use of force, Australian soldiers have an excellent reputation for understanding their rules of engagement and their ability to balance the appropriate application of force to the threat that they are facing. This is clearly evident in the members of JTF 631 as demonstrated by the positive response they have received from the Timorese.
In the end, it needs to be highlighted that images seen in the media are selectively chosen to elicit a particular response that in most cases is not contextualised. This was clearly demonstrated by Brig Slater’s Channel 9 interview with Jessica Rowe of the Today Show; don’t believe everything that you see in the media..
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Moved to
frustration
AS A movements clerk I would like to express my frustration with the new PMCC located in Townsville.
Although the staff are friendly and usually try to be helpful, the end result, however, is that members are being grossly disadvantaged.
I had several members who were travelling on courses on July 7, and on July 6 I still had not received movements for them. I rang PMCC after lunch to see what I could find out.
I understand they are not allowed to email travel itineraries until they are certified by whoever authorises them, but all I wanted was a Qantas booking reference so I could find out from Qantas what time the member was travelling and, if it was later in the day on Friday, then I could issue Cabcharges on Friday morning if I hadn’t received anything by COB Thursday.
I was told that this particular course binder was on the certification desk and they couldn’t give me any information until it was approved. I persisted as I found it hard to believe that there was no electronic record of this information, given that the itineraries are emailed as Word documents, so the travel clerk removed the binder from the certification desk but then told me it would now go to the end of the queue for authorisation and delay processing of payment to the member.
For one course, a member had submitted his student booking request extremely late but I had already received his movements, however two members on the same course, who had submitted them on time, were still not finalised the day before travel commencing.
By July 13 I had not received movements for courses starting on July 17, so I rang PMCC to inquire when I might receive these details, only to get a recorded message telling me that unless I was chasing movements for courses starting before July 17 not to bother them.
With any training that I’ve received in movements it has been spelt out that members are entitled to be paid their allowances for travel three working days before commencing travel. Even if this does not happen, if members and units have done the right thing and submitted student booking requests ASAP after the release of the course panel, surely members are entitled to find out when they are travelling earlier than the day before travel commences?
When I was frustrated previously with PMCC Canberra, I could always ring them up, ask for codes and book it myself in half an hour, however I am unable to do this now as PMCC Townsville refuses to give out codes.
The ADF has a history of outsourcing certain functions to civilian agencies and I understand that somehow this is supposed to provide cost efficiencies etc. I do not see how this is happening here.
Cpl Faith Marshall
7CSSB
Gallipoli Barracks
Brad Osborn, Director Travel Management, responds:
THANK you for your feedback in relation to PMCC Townsville. It is important to us. And so is our performance in relation to what we are being asked to deliver.
While we are working on improving the way in which we deliver services and communicate to our customers, perhaps providing you (and other readers) with some facts and figures about what we’re dealing with may assist you, to assist us, to support you.
PMCC Townsville took over processing of courses commencing after July 3. In the month of July alone they processed 2367 movements. Of these, a staggering 40 per cent of movements were submitted by units within the last 14 days before course commencement and 23 per cent were actually within a seven-day window.
What this means is that while every effort is made to process booking requests well in advance of courses commencing, the number of late submissions received often necessitates immediate processing to ensure members get to courses. This in turn delays the processing of other requests, and can result in the window between processing and course commencement narrowing significantly.
ATI 1-5 Army Individual Training Management Process (released Apr 06) clearly states that: “PMCC is responsible for moving trainees to TC-A sessions if the trainee is panelled against a funded session. A trainee’s unit is responsible for submitting a Student Booking Request (SBR) Form (AD 428) to PMCC in consultation with and on the trainee’s behalf within five days of the release of the panelling signal.”
Previously TC-A Trainee Movement Codes were only issued to units by PMCC when a nomination required movements inside the 14-day window prior to a session. With the move of PMCC to Townsville, and at the request of TC-A, late notice panelling was picked up by PMCC to assist units. Additionally, misuse of the codes has necessitated stricter controls and PMCC has been instructed by TC-A not to provide the codes to units in all but the most extreme circumstances.
While PMCC remains committed to moving personnel as efficiently as possible, and recognises that late call-ups and emergencies occur, much of the angst relating to trainee movements would be alleviated by submission of the vast majority of SBRs in the timeline specified in the ATI.
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Games gratitude
THE Victorian Gover-nment is very proud to have hosted the XVII Commonwealth Games.
The event was run against a background of support and participation by the whole community. Importantly, both the reality and the public perception of it being a safe event was critical to its success.
The ADF’s contribution to the maintenance of security at the Games and the careful management of the security presence was central to ensuring the general public had confidence at all times in their safety.
We are grateful for the support of all our partners in delivery of this event – all helped deliver something special to the Games.
To CDF, your leadership, vision and expertise were critical to our success and I would like to thank you and your staff for your contribution, hard work and dedication.
Justin Madden
Minister for
Commonwealth Games.
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