Interesting court martial on the horizon, General in the dock.

[History_Man]

I am guessing that he joined under parental pressure , and that the conditions attached ended at being commissioned ?
Either that , or he went puckle , to borrow a Northern phrase .

Was he the bloke who took his '58 pattern doss bag with him and attempted to join the FFL in Marseilles?

 

[Wee Hawken]

maybe in the TA?

or the Royal Signals!

 

[Truxx]

Oh I agree - you and I both did the same training. Being capable of driving those vehicles is essential for the rudimentary understanding requirement. It doesn't mean they should drive them as a matter of course especially if the implications of an accident whether to blame or not, means more work at a higher level than if the same vehicle was driven by a soldier.

My first CO (well, not quite being in an independent sqn) insisted all officers drove, particularly on ex. For the reasons you describe.

Rather sadly he took over driving from his driver who was on his chin strap then proceeded to fall asleep at the wheel. He dreamed that he was going around a corner and promptly drove off the auto bahn, breaking both his legs. His driver, luckily, was unscathed. Not sure how it was dealt with in discipline terms.

On his return to work the RSM presented him with an alarm clock.

 

[Bubbles_Barker]

My first CO (well, not quite being in an independent sqn) insisted all officers drove, particularly on ex. For the reasons you describe.

Rather sadly he took over driving from his driver who was on his chin strap then proceeded to fall asleep at the wheel. He dreamed that he was going around a corner and promptly drove off the auto bahn, breaking both his legs. His driver, luckily, was unscathed. Not sure how it was dealt with in discipline terms.

On his return to work the RSM presented him with an alarm clock.

Was that one of the French brothers or a predecessor?

 

[stacker1]

RAF Stn Cdrs used to have a dedicated driver (along with uniformed PAs), but under the likes of DCS etc in the mid-1990s these posts were got rid of. Net effect? Nothing. Drivers were available when needed, otherwise RAF officers self-drove. It is an anachronism, I agree.

Like a few things in the Army, it cant be wrong because they have always done it that way.

Serve to lead, my hoop.

 

[QRK2]

maybe in the TA?

Certainly in my bit of it, but then we don't really do 'officers' mess'.

 

[QRK2]

I am guessing that he joined under parental pressure , and that the conditions attached ended at being commissioned ?
Either that , or he went puckle , to borrow a Northern phrase .

Possibly on a return of service, perhaps from a Uni Cadetship?

 

[Moderator]

Only two too many by my count as 'spec's' is an abbreviation of 'spectacles'. Missing letter/letters = apostrophe. TBF it ain't the worst apostrophe crime possible.

Yours
A. Pedant

Dear Mr Pedant

I read with great interest your letter to the editor (21/01/2021) in which you point out that the use of an apostrophe in 'Spec's' (in lieu of one or more missing letters) is perfectly correct.

Perhaps, for the unenlightened, ill educated and plain pig ignorant of your readers, you’d be willing to explain the missing letter(s), as represented by the apostrophe in the word 'ain't'.

Yours
A. Nitpicker

 

[Danny_Dravot]

Like a few things in the Army, it cant be wrong because they have always done it that way.

Serve to lead, my hoop.

It's a Regt duty thing. As a junior SO3 in early 2000s I was certainly self-driving...

 

[QRK2]

Dear Mr Pedant

I read with great interest your letter to the editor (21/01/2021) in which you point out that the use of an apostrophe in 'Spec's' (in lieu of one or more missing letters) is perfectly correct.

Perhaps, for the unenlightened, ill educated and plain pig ignorant of your readers, you’d be willing to explain the missing letter(s), as represented by the apostrophe in the word 'ain't'.

Yours
A. Nitpicker

o

ain't

1. short form of am not, is not, are not, has not, or have not: 2. short form…

dictionary.cambridge.org

 

[stacker1]

It's a Regt duty thing. As a junior SO3 in early 2000s I was certainly self-driving...

In a lot of places officers didnt usually drive, even on exercise they would drag a junior to drive an officer all of 2 kilometres and hang around until hes finished,

However my main point was there have been several posts claiming officers didn't usually drive in case they had a minor RTA resulting in a lot of admin due to discipline.

There could have been a simple solution to that...

 

[Kinch]

o

ain't

1. short form of am not, is not, are not, has not, or have not: 2. short form…

dictionary.cambridge.org

Is there a short version of 'arrse ripped'?

 

[Auld-Yin]

o

ain't

1. short form of am not, is not, are not, has not, or have not: 2. short form…

dictionary.cambridge.org

It ain't necessarily so!

 

[Danny_Dravot]

In a lot of places officers didnt usually drive, even on exercise they would drag a junior to drive an officer all of 2 kilometres and hang around until hes finished,

However my main point was there have been several posts claiming officers didn't usually drive in case they had a minor RTA resulting in a lot of admin due to discipline.

There could have been a simple solution to that...

was that not part of their job though? Even as a Lt I had a troop driver/signaller - but only on ex/deployment.

 

[stacker1]

was that not part of their job though? As a Lt I had a troop driver/signaller?

Not in the Troops I was in, normally the whole Sqn was undermanned but we kept losing blokes for pointless driving tasks even the Troopies going on a O group got chauffeured around.

 

[Danny_Dravot]

Not in the Troops I was in, normally the whole Sqn was undermanned but we kept losing blokes for pointless driving tasks even the Troopies going on a O group got chauffeured around.

I suspect they have been supply/GS Sqns? Tpt Sqns def established for drivers/signallers to commanders and SSM

 

[Zulu_w]

Well, like all rumour and hearsay, don’t believe it until you see it in writing from somewhere official. And even then there are probably two other authorities that say something different. I can reassure you at least that DE officers very much ‘do’, including (horrors) driving things. I’ve been driving Land Rovers, for instance, since I was a Pl Comd. I know it raised eyebrows in other units, but there was never (at least in the 20 odd years I’ve been in) any official reason why we shouldn’t. Afraid I can’t speak much about the technical corps except to say that most of the ones I’ve worked with seemed pretty ‘hands on’.

I would always spell my radio operator at the wheel.

Quite often he was more chinstrapped than me and his driving was fecking terrifying. He had next to no night vision coupled with a devil may care attitude as he flung the LR trailor combination around woods at night like he was competing in the WRC series.

 

[stacker1]

I suspect they have been supply/GS Sqns? Tpt Sqns def established for drivers/signallers to commanders and SSM

Yes they were all supply.
My SSM in my last unit drove himself around, so toms could do something else.

 

[Bubbles_Barker]

I would always spell my radio operator at the wheel.

Quite often he was more chinstrapped than me and his driving was fecking terrifying. He had next to no night vision coupled with a devil may care attitude as he flung the LR trailor combination around woods at night like he was competing in the WRC series.

Absolutely acceptable and a worthy defence if it could be proven. As a subaltern I was established for a driver/op - most of the time there were never enough drivers for the 10 tonners so he would be repurposed and my Tp SSgt and I would spell each other day on/day off with a 3/4t LR & tlr and a M/C as we recce'd and established troop locations and ACPs.

Not ideal from a fatigue perspective.

 

[Whiskybreath]

Trying to work out why a 10 Regt Cpl would be guarding Ripon Bks when he should have been guarding Catterick Bks down the road a bit.

Had drink been taken in your escapade?

10 Regt provided the guard for Ripon Bks as all the JNCOs therein had far more important things to do. This frequently meant supporting the local economy (HM's, at the back gate) and both the Herforder and Jagermeister companies' bottom line. I do recall getting a nice mug of tea on waking up at Catterick's nick, and a friendly cheerio from them as I walked back to face the Boss at HQ 7 Int Coy.