General Chat

Deanna, I might be wrong, but I don't think they get even that now!! I think it was called the x factor or something similar, and females couldn't get it.. it was something to do with not being allowed to do weapons training or be in a combat zone.. there was a huge outcry, a vaguely remember.. it has to be noted that many many women have served on the frontline and behind lines as nurses, drivers etc.. and that was in the 1st and 2nd world wars, leave alone now!! But women can now bear weapons, and so this has had to change.. I think!!

Love

Daff xxx

Folks, I was speaking from an experienced point of view. I am a pre-PAX war pensioner.

When I joined up I believed, like Paul, that you pays your money you takes your chances. As I've become older however and can now realise the shortcomings in my life due to "attributable" injuries and conditions, I realise how foolish I was to have such a narrow outlook on life.

Every person deserves to be able to utilise the gifts God gave them and if those gifts are removed or curtailed by service then there must be compensation. That is the modern way. The expectations of every young man who goes into the recruiting office to make enquiries must be that, if anything happens to him in service, he'll be looked after, as will his wife and kids.

Deanna I've just spotted your comments about "Danger Money". Officially that isn't the term used but in protracted conflicts MOD will introduce certain "hardship" allowances because the servicemen will be living in non approved accomodation. Other allowances start to make themselves felt too i.e., single soldiers will no longer pay accomodation or food charges. Married men will get a separation allowance and recently it was announced that they will pay a reduced council tax.

Some things may have changed since Pay2000 but there are always allowances.

daff i bow to your superior insurance knowledge, the point i was making is that now, there is sufficeient cover available.

the soldiers get an amount of money called 'x' factor, which is supposed to cover the imbuggerance factors such as being away from home etc.

the problem is, the x factor is actually less than the overseas allowance of germany, so some germany based soldiers actually have a pay cut to go to afghan.

there are many ways the system could be bettered. i guess what i was saying is that the girl in the WRAF shouldnt be compared with the Gunner, they should be 2 completely seperate cases.

soz guys been working just popped on, didn't think I'd get any replies on this but some very good points made.

Glyn, yes I agree the media have probably sensationalized the story to their own benefit I must admit, there had to be more behind it.

thankyou all for your imput esp of all your knowledge of the forces it has been an eye opener

catherine
xx

It used to be worse,as in D.D ( Discharged Dead ) and no compensation.Its a National Disgrace. But the Deskbound Warriors are all for it. Anything to cut costs. .M. :o((

I can not speak about the above but my son was in the army and doing very nicely, had taken his exam to get his first promotion, was told yes you have passed, then the troubles began, a corp was ready for retirement, and decided that my son was getting it what ever it was, it turned out to be near stangleation, and bullying when he reported it to higher ups he was told not to be stupid and he was put on medical leave. will they sorted problem yes they sorted the problem he had a break down
now out of the army and getting life back in order.
But why could they not have dealt with the problem. and given a young man the
job that he wanted for life. instead of distroying his faith in human kindness

Paul, while I am tempted to agree with you (and I do with a lot of what you say) I think we need to consider that the Judiciary don't seem to think there is suffiocient cover in all cases - which is why they're making extra awards.

As for people in BAOR being worse off in the Stan - can't see it, unless they're bemoaning the loss of MMA? Can't find the rate of LOA for BAOR just now but it was DM4 per day in the 80's. Let's say it's 5 Euros a day. So you lose that and gain (as a grade 7 private soldier):

£12.31 a day Operational Allowance
£3.10 a day Unpleasant Work Allowance
£17.30 a day Longer Separation Allowance
£11.30 a day Food & Incidentals Allowance (or £8.54 Food Allowance).

I'd say the soldier in the combat zone in much better off financially - even if he is married and losing his MMA.

I totally agree that the WRAF case is different though. She'll get a one off payment, the RSI will pass and that'll be it.

Merlin, There is provision for the NOK of D.D. cases in the Service Pensions Order.

Lol Paul.. I went on some of the re-settlement courses with hubby (when he was here) and without hubby (cos he was away) and it was all to do with the pension and commuting part/all, PAX after service has ended etc. I was also married to him for all bar the first six months.. we were engaged when he joined up. As he was in a trade that meant he was away a great deal, I had to take charge of quite a lot of things!! And because he was away so frequently, I was always up to date on what insurance cover we could have, and anything new that was coming out!! I had to drag hubby kicking and screaming to PAX, as I recall!!

I also understand what you are saying about the repetitive strain injury payout. But many of us do jobs that are likely to incur this sort of thing.. and I suppose you could say.. if you want a job with computers, then you can expect this sort of injury.. you makes your choice and you takes your chance.

I don't feel like that at all. I believe that almost all jobs will carry a risk of some sort or another, but people who decide to work in those areas should still be appropriately compensated should injury or accident occur.

I don't think x factor applies any more, either, and yes, you are right about the way some soldiers would be having less in their paypackets depending where their home base is.. been there, too! I think that has changed now, though? Or about to.. not sure on that, haven't kept up to date as it doesn't apply any more.. I've spent the last two years keeping my fingers crossed!!

Like Glyn.. my hubby was given certain skills, his time in the army was vocational, it was never just a job. But.. he and others like him all deserve to be looked after if they are incapacitated as a result of their service role. PAX has been in place just a few years..... there are thousands and thousands of service personnel who did not have the benefit of that, and they have often been just pushed to one side, as my hubby might have been, had he not been so lucky.

Love

Daff xxx

I really don't think anyone gets "pushed to one side" Daffy. The services and benefits are there. The problem in my day was that the powers that be didn't tell you about them, they do now. The fact remains though that the Service Pensions Order has been around since c1919 and millions of ex-service personnel have benefited from that legislation. It's been overhauled many times to keep pace with progress in the UK. It's not perfect and it never will be but its there and it forms the basis on which you will live the rest of your life once your condition has been accepted as "attributable". It'll look after that poor soul L/Bdr Ben Parkinson although no amount of money and care can restore to him or his family what they have lost.

When this news broke I'm sure I read something to the effect that this unfortunate soldier would most likely receive well in excess of £1million once pension and benefits are taken into account, so as Glyn has taken pains to explain, it is not as frugal as it might sound.

In a comparable civil award for compensation, a token cash payment such as this one might be made to the family, but the bulk of the award is held under the control of the Court of Protection who decide how and when the money is spent.

What I find Peter, is that there is a section of the community who hate all things military (something to do with not promoting violence). Any opportunity to pursue their agenda and they're on to it like a Fox on a Chicken. Journalists know this so they exploit the senational angle every tiome so that these people can come on as spokepersons and tell parents how foolish it is to encourage their children to join our armed forces.

Everyone conveniently forgets that it if wasn't for those very same armed forces, your journalists and spokespeople wouldn't have the freedom to say what they do.

Yes many of our forces committments are police actions at the moment and some people may see it as a waste of time and lives. Ok, let's stop sending troops to Afghanistan. Just let the farmers there grow all the poppies they want to be shipped to the UK in the form of heroin which your kids can then buy on the way to school.

Let the Iraqis stew in their own juice, have as many rebel factions as they want killing women and children and cutting people's hands off so they can't vote in free elections. Then stick your fiver in the charity box to send them food aid because they can't grow crops in the minefields. Let Al Queda have as many cells as you can shake a stick at - all training away in the desert, ready to take Jihad to the people of the UK, bombing our buses, trains, planes and disrupting our society.

Our forces continue to defend our rights to live peacefully in our own country, no matter what anyone says. Unfortunately there will be casualties, and if so, I would like to see the people of the UK treat them with the respect they deserve, not shunning them the way some people do now. Let's copy the US. Have people lining the streets, waving Union Flags as our boys and girls come back from overseas campaigns. They deserve it and they deserve every bit of aftercare we can give them when they are hurt in our name.

I will not argue with you Glyn since I don't know enough about it.
I can only tell you what my son told me.
He loved his time in the army, which amazed me , since he hated school so much.

My father never spoke about money, disappointments, or anything like that.
He was a 'Career Soldier' with a capital C! ;-0)
Ran away to join up at he age of 15/16 in 1932..... and was still a well respected soldier on the day he died.

I'll leave you all to your debate now, enjoy yourselves .... 'soaps time'!

Deanna X

Very interesting thread Catherine,

Am just going to read it all through as I missed the story, then I can give my opinion,

Caz xxx