From the Telegraph article: “After taking up a senior/key post with Air Force warfighting integration capability (AFWIC), Mr Drysdale, a military strategy specialist, allegedly arranged for an overseas rent allowance (ORA) of £2,408 a month to be paid into a new bank account that only he knew about.
“Wing Cdr Drysdale, who began his RAF career as a search-and-rescue pilot in Moray, Scotland, in 2006, denies defrauding the Ministry of Defence of £19,502 in ORA.
“Promoted from squadron leader to wing commander in March 2021 … Mr Drysdale and his family had been serving in the United States since 2011.”
Discussion and Implications.
At this time of severe Defence Budget Funding constraint, this Telegraph article reveals the tip of the iceberg concerning how the RAF appoints unqualified personnel to important, well-paid posts in support of our allies and also within the UK defence establishment – at the same time, wasting the taxpayers’ hard-earned money. Such personnel do little if anything to enhance the war fighting capability and reputation of U.K.’s frontline forces. On the contrary, their existence results in an indirect but tangible degradation of our declared Strategic Maritime Policy.
Let us sum up the qualification of this Wing Commander for his appointment to the Pentagon as a “military strategy specialist”.
He appears to have no frontline fast jet or rotary wing service, beginning his RAF career as a Search and Rescue helicopter pilot in 2006. This is not a background that would convey on him any credence as a military strategy specialist.
Despite this apparent lack of expertise and experience, in 2011 he was dispatched to serve alongside the United States Air Force in Nevada where he and his family appear to have led a very cushy and financially opportune life.
Promoted to Wing Commander in 2021, he was transferred from Nevada to a “key post” within the Pentagon where he allegedly fraudulently arranged for an overseas rent allowance (ORA) of £2,408 a month to be paid into a new bank account that only he knew about. This fraudulent gain amounted to £19,502.
This commissioned officer has therefore spent 15 years in second line (as opposed to frontline) appointments without any separation from his family, living the cosy life of 9 AM to 5 PM service and without, for the most part and in keeping with generous RAF harmony rules, any weekend employment. How the Royal Navy war fighters deployed in the frontline would have welcomed a similar existence! Instead, they willingly endure major periods of separation from their families in the service of the Crown in order to deter and fight against those that would harm our national interests.
The only separation that this Wing Commander suffered was at his own behest and in search of alleged fraudulent financial gain.
Recommendation.
Now would be an appropriate time for the Defence Secretary to initiate a wide-ranging inquiry to establish up to the highest level who has been and is being appointed to key posts (whether with our Allies or within the Ministry of Defence) without relevant expertise and experience to justify such appointment. The RAF, many of whose personnel enjoy a civilian as opposed to a war fighting existence, should be the main focus of such an inquiry.
“Jointery” has a lot to answer for concerning misguided appointments, especially the Carrier Strike appointments within MoD which have led to the wrongly configured flight decks of our two new carriers.
