4 People and training
People
HARMONY
44. We noted previously Rear Admiral Johnstone-Burt's
identification of people as the 'least robust' leg of the 'capability
stool'. The deployment of personnel on operations is governed
within each of the services by 'harmony guidelines', which aim
to provide sufficient time within an extended cycle to cater for
operations, training and leave. Each of the services have, largely
for historical reasons, different guidelines. We were told that
not all fleets were achieving the JHC target of a 'rule of five',
that is, one tour on followed by four tours off. The Sea King
and Apache fleets are currently operating on rules of three and
four, which does not allow for adequate decompression, training,
leave and preparation for the next tour. Nor has the pressure
of repeated deployments been without consequence in terms of retention.
Nevertheless, the Admiral told us that he had found that
Retention is not as bad as I thought it would
be. At the moment, compared with the service averages in the Army
and Royal Air Force it is very small. We talk about the premature
voluntary release (PVR) rate; in other words, the rate at which
people resign earlier than they would otherwise. For the Army
and RAF it is a fraction, which is surprising. For the Navy it
is slightly higher than the average for officers and about average
for the other ranks.[80]
RETENTION
45. In evidence, the Minister told us that he had
been consulting with regard to "what we can do to improve
retention and recruitment and we are making some substantial changes
in those areas".[81]
This was something that the Admiral had already alluded to in
his earlier evidence
We are also looking at ways to retain our senior
NCO air crew who are gold dust with massive hours of experience
and are fabulous pilots. We are looking at ways to improve their
pay scales and pension rights to encourage them to stay on longer
than they might otherwise. In terms of the engineering shortages
again we are looking across all three services and all my fleets
at the moment. It is interesting that the Royal Navy and Air Force
are overmanning us in terms of our engineering support in order
to enable us to cope with the gaps and shortfalls, but that means
drawing people from the rest of their core area. As far as the
Army Air Corps is concerned the Royal Electrical and Mechanical
Engineers are helping us by doing a review—the Apache, Lynx
and also UAVs are our top priority—to make sure we get them
fully manned as best we can.[82]
46. Rear Admiral Simon Charlier, who told us that
"[w]hen we have surge operations, particularly in this joint
environment, it is quite right to place a priority on that and
take the hit elsewhere in the Navy."[83]
Operations in Afghanistan have now been made the highest priority,
what is known as a 'campaign footing', but this has stretched
the manning of the helicopter fleet. It is therefore unfeasible
to surge helicopters into theatre. Joint Helicopter Command is
to be commended for its efforts in delivering trained manpower
to the front line, and then giving personnel sufficient time to
do all the things at home that enable them to go back for repeat
tours. However, we believe it essential that the parent Services
examine the basic manning levels to enable personnel from all
three Services to be deployed and rested on an equitable basis.
Training
TRAINING PIPELINES
47. The MoD's memorandum states that the three Armed
Services maintain full command of the recruitment and training
of their helicopter personnel.[84]
Aircrew applicants for all three Services are subjected to medical
screening, aptitude testing and flying grading before attending
a selection board.[85]
All aspiring pilots begin with elementary flying training, first
jointly for six weeks at RAF Cranwell and then for between 13
and 26 weeks with their 'home' Service, before being divided into
either the Fast-Jet, Rotary or Multi-Engine streams. Rotary pilots
then go on to the joint Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF
Shawbury. In its written memorandum to our inquiry into Recruiting
and retaining Armed Forces personnel, the MoD wrote that "the
situation with Support Helicopter crewmen is also finely balanced,
although action taken recently to streamline the training regime
has released crewmen to the front-line earlier".[86]
48. The early stages of pilot training have been
"the subject of several reviews".[87]
Training at Shawbury comprises a combination of Ground School
and flying training—all pilots are trained in both Single
Engine Basic Rotary Wing and Single Engine Advanced Rotary Wing
flying, with RAF pilots being given further training on Multi-Engine
Advanced Rotary Wing—before transferring to Operational
Conversion Units, where they are trained on the specifics of the
aircraft they will fly in theatre and in the tactics and techniques
required to support the full range of flying required of a helicopter
pilot. Having completed OCU, pilots are designated 'Limited Combat
Ready', and progress to full 'Combat Ready' whilst with their
Units. Training for technicians is far more diverse, and covered
in detail in the MoD's memorandum.[88]
THEATRE-ENTRY STANDARDS
49. The question of the difference between the aircraft
that are used for training in the UK and those equipped with all
the latest UORs which are deployed in theatre arose during our
visit to Middle Wallop and RNAS Yeovilton. We described this problem
in the context of the UORs earlier in this Report, where we also
noted the Minister's commitment to minimise the gap. We also took
evidence on this issue during our session with industry. On the
question of the difference between training and theatre-entry
standard aircraft, Mr Derek Sharples from Eurocopter told us that
"it would not be cost-effective to use the same aircraft
for training, in particular for basic training, as is used front
line, because of course these are very expensive and sophisticated
weapons systems."[89]
However, he seemed later to concede that some familiarity would
be beneficial, saying "you should where possible familiarise
on systems which are similar to those you will operate in-theatre.
It is clearly cost-effective; it is clearly more efficient training;
and it clearly brings to the pilot more familiarisation with the
systems that they will ultimately be asked to operate in battle."[90]
This point was echoed by Mr Alex Sharp from Sikorsky, who commented
simply that "the more commonality you have in training, clearly
gives you benefits in the field - no question".[91]
Increased joint working between the three Services has shown
benefits in the same way that increasingly close working between
the military and industry has done. We recommend that the MoD
presses ahead with its programmes to consolidate and make more
common the various schemes in place for training helicopter air
and ground crew. The MoD should take steps to eliminate the time
lag between delivery of UORs in theatre and the upgrading of equipment
at home. In this respect, it is unacceptable for personnel to
encounter new equipment for the first time in theatre.
80 Q 111 Back
81
Q 195 Back
82
Q 109 Back
83
Q 116 Back
84
Ev 71, para 3.2 Back
85
ibid., para 3.3 Back
86
Defence Committee, Fourteenth Report of 2007-08, Recruiting
and retaining Armed Forces personnel, HC 424, Ev 106 Back
87
Q 125 Back
88
Ev 73, paras 3.15-3.26 Back
89
Q 8 Back
90
Q 10 Back
91
Q 11 Back
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