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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 17, 2014 16:08:40 GMT 12
I wonder, has there ever been anyone who served in the RNZAF that arrived on a new base for a new posting, and found the Admin section and other important scetions actually knew you were coming?
In all the postings I ever had, apart from posting to GSTS on my first day and then onto 4TTS, and later 1TTS, every other time I moved it seemed I was complete surprise and a damned nuisance. Admin had never heard of me when I went to sign in, and nor had the barrack warden who of course would have to find me a room and bedding, etc much to his disdain, no matter which base it was on. My work section always seemed to be expecting me but no-one else.
I used to think it was just me and I was having a bad run of luck for who-knows-what reason. But I soon found lots of colleagues had the exact same experience when moving from base to base, and now after talking with lots of veterans it seems to me it was a long-standing Air Force tradition dating back to WWII to post a person to a new station or base without letting that base know anything about it.
One chap I interviewed was posted to Norfolk Island, and when he found no-one had heard of him nor did anyone need him, he simply set himself up in transit accommodation and spent three months fishing and living at the beach. Eventually paperwork filtered through asking why he'd never arrived at Guadalcanal but his transit order had never mentioned that at all!
I always have wondered how the posting system was supposed to work, as opposed to how it did work in reality.
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Post by phil on Mar 17, 2014 16:57:28 GMT 12
When I was posted to Auckland, everyone seemed to know I was coming, I had a room assigned in the mess and keys at the gate when I turned up on the Sat afternoon. I got all the allowances I was owed etc etc. That was in 2010.
You don't seem to sign on base any more.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 17, 2014 20:44:59 GMT 12
Was this under the civilianised Admin or still proper RNZAF Admin trade?
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Post by baronbeeza on Mar 17, 2014 21:27:00 GMT 12
An interesting one Dave. I have promoted myself while in the mob. Admin managed the formal notification just a few weeks after my due date, I hadn't bothered waiting for the letter.
In a previous life I managed to post myself to a whole new district. Some of these companies are just used to people turning up unannounced. I sent myself to a new location and let them worry about sorting out the job and accommodation etc. I was working there for two years before Head Office worked out I was not where they thought I was.
I think many of these posting issues were probably related to the systems/procedures in place in decades past. It was not as though they had email, fax or even a photocopier for that matter. As always the system was there to be played. The guy on Norfolk sure lucked in though. What a great life.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 17, 2014 22:11:26 GMT 12
Photocopiers were around back in WWII, though not widely spread, but the RNZAF widely used the Gestetner machines I believe which did a similar job. But they certainly had them and faxes in Admin when I was in, plus direct phone lines between bases, and typewriters, and computers. I don't know if the Admin section used eail then but we certainly had a primitive version of it in our ALIS engineering computer system, as our ordering to Supply was via computer-to-computer electronic transfer (which sometimes went awry!).
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Post by shorty on Mar 18, 2014 8:31:22 GMT 12
A Gestetner was not a photocopier Dave. A stencil was cut on special paper (using the typewriter setting that moved the ribbon out of the way of the keys), which was then fitted onto the Gestetner drum and every rotation printed one page using a special ink. Having used one for producing newsletters I can inform you that it could be a messy business!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 18, 2014 9:23:08 GMT 12
I didn't say it was, I was saying that the Gestetner was used by the RNZAF in WWII doing the same work that a photocopier would have done later in history. I know how they work, I have used one myself years ago at school.
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Post by baronbeeza on Mar 18, 2014 10:28:49 GMT 12
I may be sounding like the three Yorkshiremen here but while I was at school we went from electricity arriving, phasing out of fountain pens, phasing out of slide rules, photocopiers replacing cyclostyle machines and many other technological advances associated with the pc. Every decade has had significant advances but when I think back not a lot has changed since the late 80's. The typewriter, electric typewriter was quickly replaced by the word processor. I think the word processor capability in the Admin section made a huge difference.
The RNZAF relied on signals traffic as well. I just have a feeling that modern communications have the ability to remove many of the 'grey' areas that could be exploited or 'utilised' in previous eras.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 18, 2014 10:59:40 GMT 12
"electricity arriving"
How old are you, 142?
It was the Four Yorkshiremen in my day.
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Post by baronbeeza on Mar 18, 2014 12:33:30 GMT 12
July 6 1962, I was a school boy, not exactly 91 years old at the time. I was too young to remember the local reticulation details but that is the date the local power board flicked the switch and livened the line into the town. Houses would have needed wiring installations as well as the 240 volt supply lines run. It may have been some months, even years, later before it was common to have all houses in the area electrified. TV arrived about 1967 and the houses had electricity by then. Diesel generators may have been in use well beforehand as well.
So yes, certainly was well used to doing homework by kerosene lamp light. This was at the very same time as space exploration was working towards it's peak. Technological advances in one area don't necessarily mean everyone about has access, or the means to take advantage.
As far as communications go you only need to look at the advancements made in telephone technology and use. Was it really that long ago that you had to book a toll call ? ie make a booking, an appointment to make the call. That was with the operator of course.
Come to think of it... what earth shattering advances have been made in the past 10 years ? I guess it has mainly been around smart phone developments.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 18, 2014 12:55:04 GMT 12
What town is this that was so behind the times?
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Post by baronbeeza on Mar 18, 2014 13:47:40 GMT 12
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Post by Peter Lewis on Mar 18, 2014 14:54:27 GMT 12
Similar to the TV coverage of the Wahine disaster.
That took place prior to television broadcasting being linked nationwide. Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch were all separate TV systems.
From what I heard, the TV newsroom in Christchurch knew of the disaster via radio news. As all aircraft were grounded with the storm, film coverage could not be flown down from Wellington.
So what to do?
Someone in the newsroom had a relly who owned a holiday home in the Marlborough Sounds. High up in the hills, the television set at this property could receive Wellington television broadcasts. So they dispatched a cameraman up to this place. He set up his camera in front of the household TV set and filmed the WNTV coverage of the event. He then drove back to Christchurch where they were then able to show the recorded item on the late night news.
Where there is a will there is a way.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 18, 2014 16:09:17 GMT 12
I knew the West Coast of the South Island was backwards but never realised it was that primitive. You live and learn.
Now, back to the actual thread topic...
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Post by phil on Mar 18, 2014 16:30:10 GMT 12
Was this under the civilianised Admin or still proper RNZAF Admin trade? That was when we still had an admin section on each base.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 18, 2014 18:46:08 GMT 12
Someone either sorted the system finally then. Or maybe they didn't follow standard RNZAF Admin protocol and stuffed up bad.
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Post by baronbeeza on Mar 18, 2014 20:05:33 GMT 12
Ok, I painted a picture earlier about how times change regards communications, while Forces may have had procedures they most certainly were not problem free. My enlistment was a shambles. I never got any notification whatsoever after the preselection. I finally rang the RNZAF doctor and it was him that said they had been trying to contact me. Then the offer I received was wrong. I knew no better so accepted the offer as presented. That took months to finally sort out my rank and pay seniority dates. My joining instructions were wrong, at least it was the correct Base and date. My posting off-course was completely different to what I had been told. I was posted overseas only to arrive days late for the course there. My promotion was overlooked. My transport home was changed at short notice. MT failed to pick me up at Sembawang to take me to the airport. The excess baggage chits I had for the flight weren't accepted and I had to pay myself. On arrival in NZ I discovered my posting had changed and I had not been informed. Looking back now I can see the whole thing was shambolic. I was young though and believed in the 'take a joke' concept. Indeed the whole mob was there to be played, it was worse than the public service. Some of those 'grey areas' in the communications must have been exploited by those in the know. Actually it all reminds me of the antics of a national airline of a small Pacific Island state. The sort of accuracy you would experience in places like Tonga or Kiribati. I think the problem with the mob was that it just moved people about far too much, postings, courses, sports, you name it. The system was just in a constant state of overload. The guys just seemed to accept it and it became just a part of the routine.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 18, 2014 21:04:12 GMT 12
But each Admin section had a person specifically tasked to postings and another specifically tasked to travel warrants. It's not like things should get lost in the whole swamp of other administrative matters, those things had their own departments - which seemingly never worked that well.
Had I done my job that poorly people would have died.
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Post by general on Apr 17, 2014 11:30:08 GMT 12
I don't recall Admin's disinterest in my appearance, on any occasion. What did bug me was the discrepancy between signing-on and signing-off. The former could take 30 mins, depending upon proximity of relevant departments. The latter would mean an entire day! Once I was rtb Woody from 3TTS. Walked in the mess on Monday to hear the SNCO ask, "What are you doing here? You're posted AKL!"
Seems everyone but me got the signal. Frantic rush for all appropriate signatures, left my roomie to pack rest of gear and made the 1630 hr SATS. Reported to Whenuapi's BWO office, next day, and suffered a right bawling-out for 'untidy uniform'! I explained my predicament and I think it was merely a show for his 2 i/c. Still had to scamper off to find an iron and shoe polish.
The fun of Sprog Days . . .
Regards
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