RAF Pay

[peter1034]

Am on a mobile phone so if there's any comments as always about spelling and pronunciation I will willy slap you.

I've recently read a post by London Boy regarding RAF pay - basically 20 years ago he was earning more in a warehouse despite doing a professional job in the RAF. I also have read several posts on how people are much better paid in other public sector jobs that carry risk such as the civvy police.

What are eveybodies views on this? It would be interesting to hear.

quite frankly I know someone who earns a decent living in the army but I always seem to see people complaining about the pay?

cheers

Stinky Pete

[Ponomis]

http://www.armedforces.co.uk/raf/listings/l0049.html These are the pay scales. For an airmen it is £15,667 after training. For an Officer with a degree it is £27,000 after training. I personally think that the Officer wage is quite decent and does a good job competing with other graduate schemes. Most of the schemes I looked at were 20K-24K starting salary. I am currently on about 14k in a job that I hate, so I will be doubling my income once I finish training.

[peter1034]

What job are you in mate?

I'm going in as an mechanical transport driver and told after one year it'll be 16, 200 or after training so i think it will go up to that pay scale after trade training.

I'm also wondering, if am a MT and am transporting goods around the UK and Europe - would I be paid 'overnight' allowances if am sleeping in a truck (don't know if MT's have over night stays in lorres) like a lorry driver?also when am sent abroad will I be paid extra for being an expatriate? Is there opportunities for overtime in the RAF? Ate there any bonuses or other incentives regarding pay?

16,200 is acceptable pay for me but am curious if there's opportunity to increase my income level if I wanted.

Cheers

Stinky Pete

[Ponomis]

I'm going in as a Fighter Control Officer. You're pay will go up a level each year till you get to the maximum allowed for your rank. You don't get overtime as such, but you do get paid allowances when you are away on operations and think you get a bit of a break on council tax and things like that. No clue to the answers of any of your other questions.

[bushyredsocks]

In the RAF you're payed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Any overtime (additional duties) that you do are included in your salary anyway so you won't get any extra money for them. You will get more money from being deployed on operations. There's plenty of bonus incentives but they're too complicated to get into. It's roughly about 7k if you sign up for another 7 years after 3 years. Something like that anyway, I forget the specific details but yes there is bonus incentives.
I'm pretty sure you don't get paid extra for being expatriate but ask your AFCO.

[wannabe_rock]

At times the Armed Forces pay does equate to less than somebody performing the same task in civvy street. But comparatively you have o ask are both people doing the same job? Generally the answer is no.

To use examples that have already been raised in this thread; as an MT you may get paid less than a wagon driver for a civvy company, however, how many civvy companies pay for you to get the number of licenses that the RAF do? I would suggest none.

Civvy police has been raised also. By comparison the Civvy police do a widly varied job than RAF police. I know which job I would rather do, and it is paid less.

Before someone takes the wrong message from this, I am not saying Forces personnel should be paid less than civvy personnel. I am an advocate of the thought that Forces personnel should be paid more than they are. They are highly trained and perform a very dangerous role. I find it hard to comprehend how the wagon drivers for shell can be outraged that they are only paid £32k. The government need to pull their finger out and stop abusing the people who serve this country at home and abroad, and are putting their lives at risk for the benefit of the country.

[Hyperlithe]

Wasn't it £39k the Shell drivers are on? Anyhow, the only reason they aren't satisfied with it is because they know what enormous profits their employer has been making over the last few years and they want in on the action. If the military somehow made the government money instead of costing it you can be certain they would be more interested in giving us what we need to do our jobs.
Personally, I used to be a hotel manager before I joined up, and I was only on £16k a year (and on permanent night shifts) so I'm sure as hell not going to complain about what I'm on now. I do think that the average soldier on the ground (or in the air, or wherever, you know what I mean) should get paid more, but the problem then becomes that all the senior officers, who already get paid lots, would have to have pay rises of an equivalent percentage. The pay structure is just that, structured, and reflects the level of responsibility and the amount of experience attached to the rank.

[peter1034]

Thanks for all your replies.

It would be interesting however to see the Governments justification for the Shell pay scandal compared to that of military pay. Sure driving a tanker along UK roads is dangerous. What about driving an HGV around Iraq? Much more dangerous?

[Ponomis]

Thanks for all your replies.

It would be interesting however to see the Governments justification for the Shell pay scandal compared to that of military pay. Sure driving a tanker along UK roads is dangerous. What about driving an HGV around Iraq? Much more dangerous?

The governement doesn't have anything to do with the shell drivers. Also, the amount of money that is being thrown around in the media is greatly exaggerated. That 39k is not a basic salary and includes loads of overtime.

[wannabe_rock]

Whilst the government has nothing to do directly with the Shell drivers pay, I agree with the sentiment of Peter1034's post, and Hyperlithe's.

The government can't be expected to pay Airmen / women drivers upwards of £30k a year because of the knock on effect this would have on others salaries and in turn the tax payer. However Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors all deserve a better salary. Obviously though, nobody employed by the government will be getting any sort of monumental pay increase due to the current financial climate, and the iminent possibility of an inflation spiral. Tough times ahead for the tax payer.