QV said:
MP 00161 you write well and your loyalty for the branch is admirable but...
Thanks but saying that rant proves my loyalty to the Branch makes me think you didn't read it very carefully.
Like it or not this is what the branch is competing against as far as money is concerned...
You're right the Branch can't compete money wise and this is something the Branch has publicly known since 2004 when a QL6B syndicate compiled and presented a service paper to the CFPM on this very topic (although you can't tell me that the headshed had any delusions about the reality of the situation from the moment the policy went into effect) but people need to get through their head that it
NEVER will be able to compete money wise which is why the whole recruiting incentive initiative got us to the problem we're now facing. Recently people have not been joining to be MPs, they joined to make a quick buck while trying to get onto a civie force. Like I said, this isn't a new phenomenon but the fact that we limited our potential recruit pool to only those who wanted to be "cops" has increased the problem exponentially because whereas before probably 1 in 5 wanted to be a cop at any cost, that ratio has risen to almost 1 in 1 for the newer recruits and it is certainly going to make life interesting over the next couple of years. People who are demanding more money at base pay, overtime, compensated time off, court pay, shift differential etc are just deluding themselves, there is
no way it is ever going to happen simply because what we do is not so "special" that it can't be done by anyone else and there is no mechanism in place within the CF pay system to give NCMs any incentives other than spec pay, unless they were to introduce a "MP Allowance" which would complete the process of alienating the Branch from the rest of the CF. Other trades do shift work, other trades face mandatory training on days off, other trades work stat holidays, other trades go on exercise and tasks for a hell of a lot longer than most MPs ever will, but none of them get any additional compensation for any of that over and above what is currently provided for in CBIs. If people keep insisting money is the only thing which is going to solve the problems instead of looking at other ways to sell the benefits of our Branch, the Branch
will collapse due to attrition, it will have the domestic policing task stripped from it and it
will revert to the role of Provosts with the primary tasks of providing security services and support to Ops.
What I do find amazing is while everyone is able and more than willing to quote chapter and verse the cash in hand aspects of jumping to a civie force and how bad it sucks to be us, no-one is overly keen to bring up issues such as annual leave amounts (you realize there are civie forces which won't let you take annual leave your first year?), sick leave, dedicated medical and dental care, geographic mobility (nationally and internationally), access to "perks" such as service flights at Christmas and space available basis, short and special leave, SCAN, CFCEP, SLT, Adventure Training, CCMs, Compassionate Postings, free access to Rec facilities, Base clubs, MFRC, Canex, Messes, free or low cost use of facilities for personal functions, CF sports programs at the regional, national and international levels, low cost life insurance, access to low interest loans, free access to financial advisers...need I go on?
Probably in another 5 or 6 years the civilian police force's thirst for recruits will be satisfied and demand won't be so high.
This problem isn't going away, particularly if the Branch continues to demand recruits have the diploma.
As far as the whole Mp vs mP and the "back when I got in..." debate goes - it is getting old.
You're right, there should never be any kind of argument of whether we are mP or Mp, the simple fact is we are MP; military personnel who have been given unique authority to conduct certain duties. Just because we are MPs doesn't mean we stop being soldiers, sailors and air...errr...persons and become "different" or "better" than anyone else in the CF, able to ignore the fact that we are still required to conduct our duties in a professional,
military, manner.
For MPs the old days of blind loyalty and obedience are over.
Word up, the days of blind loyalty an obedience have been over for at least 20 years. The big thing that has changed though is the ability of junior personnel to be able to discern when it is appropriate to analyse and challenge direction from their superiors. There still are times when a MP just needs to suck it up and get on with the task at hand, no matter what they may think of it or the direction they've been given. At the end of the day, EVERYONE in the CF must be able to figure out what is and is not a lawful order and respond accordingly, this isn't something only MPs have to deal with.
I find that blaming all the new guys for everything that is wrong is something that old "dinosaurs" are adept at....
Well, now we know what you think I am, thanks for being up front about it but, as FastEddy pointed out, reread my rant and see where I am laying the blame for the current situation. The new guys are merely the symptom, not the cause, although many of them behave and carry on in the manner of coddled, spoiled brats who have been recruited to "save the Branch", which disgusts me to no end.
By the way, most of my peers are very near to being pensionable...they aren't planning on staying in the branch and hoping to shape and change it and advance thru to WO, MWO or CWO ranks... and serving 30 or 35 years.... they are counting the days till they can get the heck out. So it ain't just the new guys.
This is not something you and your peers invented, it has been happening ever since the concept of the immediate annuity came out. Many of my peers who stayed into their IE left at 20, most of us who are still in are here simply because we still enjoy the career and the possibilities it holds. I, and my peers, are also watching the current developments with interest and if any of us do decide to go to pursue a second career in policing, we will hardly be the first to do so, I know at least one ex-MWO and several ex-WOs and Sgts who are out there doing the job while also collecting their pension. Do not delude yourself about the ability of WOs, MWOs and CWOs to shape and change the Branch. If you do stay in and advance you will soon recognize where the power to do that is held, and it is not in the hands of us simple, uneducated and misdirected NCMs, that is reserved for those at the heady rank of LCol and up.
Finally, think back to why it was YOU joined the MPs then take a look at most new MPs coming in. If you see yourself in them you honestly have to ask yourself why it was you stuck it out for as long as you have. I personally didn't join to be a "cop", I joined the CF to be a soldier who was privileged to be a "MP" knowing full well what that entailed, pros and cons, and I don't regret it for an instant because I've led a life I never would have led if I had gone to a civie force when I had the chance many years ago, and so has my family.