Crossing the line – transferring between Service and specialism

In these days of competition between employers for manpower you might think that the Service authorities would move heaven and earth to persuade people to continue in uniform rather than be lost to the civilian world. In most jobs age simply does not matter. A typist can be 16 or 60, and the quality of their work may well improve with age. But the Armed Forces are essentially a young person’s business – at least, that is the conventional wisdom.

The Services’ hierarchical pyramids require thinning out as people get older so that the right numbers are in the frame for each rank and responsibility; that’s why shedding people to the outside world makes some sense. Provided, of course, that there are the right replacements clamouring to join at the bottom of the pile. However, the significant shortfall that exists in some areas of the Forces suggests that finding and retaining suitable youngsters is not an easy task.

Some common threads from Quest interviewees are that leavers could see promotion blocked in their trade, they wanted greater stability with a young family, and they were bored with their jobs. Most were achievers who had no disciplinary or ‘administrative’ problems, and who generally do well in their subsequent careers.

All of them had been trained – many to a high level – but many did not look at other career opportunities in uniform. Could this be because the three Services generally do not make great efforts to advertise and then make available intra- and inter-Service transfers?

Despite meeting overall recruiting targets many branches of the RN are in shortage, and sailors join a branch with no rights or expectations that they can transfer to another one, except for PT or Regulator (police) duties. Where a branch has a glut, sailors may well be able to transfer to one with a shortfall, but there is no right and little encouragement for this if it is against the interests of the Service. Indeed, the RN would often rather recruit a new person from the start than open the door more widely to inter-branch transfers.

The Army places great emphasis on inter-cap-badge transfers, with 738 individuals moving between regiments and corps last year, beating the 650 target. So it is looking for 850 people to transfer rather than leave the Service altogether in 2003 and 1,000 in 2004. Many people are working hard to inform, promote and enable these targets to be met. But some regimental and corps attitudes can work against this effort. A cavalry regiment or infantry battalion regards itself as a family -- it has a distinct badge, history, behavioural traits and culture. This identity is fostered in many different ways, and it is treasured and preserved in the regimental system.

The RAF is similar to the Navy in that people join a trade and are clearly told that they will serve in that specialisation throughout their time. Transfer applications are considered on a case-by-case basis, and allowed if they meet Service requirements. If individuals are very keen to change trades, the reality is that they may be allowed to do so rather than leave the Service altogether. One or two very small branches only recruit transferees and there are NCO aircrew slots available for people with the necessary education.

People who are leaving early can be treated as family outcasts who are being unfaithful to the group, instead of being valued for their time in uniform. Casual remarks to the leaver like ‘Don’t you miss it?’ betray a culture in which the underlying assumption is that ‘Of course you miss it, and I want to know by how much.’ Transfer requests can receive the same reaction because Service people tend to believe their unit or branch is superior to and different from all other groups.

Anyone wishing to transfer from one Service to another may meet similar difficulties and it is necessary to be discharged from the first Service before enlisting in the new one. Common sense will usually prevail, with basic and advanced training reduced where possible.

It is hard to see how losing a specialist completely and recruiting another off the streets is either effective or efficient. Similarly, the mind-set that drives an individual who might do well elsewhere out of the barracks altogether may be looking in the wrong direction. Modern careers include a variety of experiences and different jobs, and transfers ought to be encouraged if good people are not to be lost to other walks of life in which they can better express their needs.

The message for Quest readers is that it is possible to transfer with – or even sometimes without – the encouragement of an individual’s cap badge or branch. For someone who enjoys Service life, it is an option that is well worth considering.