Hi everyone. Not sure if this is the right place to be asking this question, but I've looked through the various communities and I couldn't see anything in the way of bringing together engineers who are either serving or who have left the forces. I've been out the army ten years now, but when I look back on it there was very little instilled in the way of professional development during my time in the forces. I think the army I served in was very backwards in that respect, and it would be interesting to know how or if it had changed, and I'd be interested to know if anyone thinks that this is the sort of community that would add value to the IET. I think if I'd had better opportunities for guidance in a professional sense I'd have really benefitted.
The issue merits at least some further discussion in my opinion.
My own direct experience goes back considerably further and I served in Royal Engineers Specialist Teams TA (now reserve). This recruited civilian specialists nationally and required a minimum commitment of 19 days per annum. I could not therefore expect too much “career development” from the military, although there was a clear promotion structure, including in my case time at RSME Chatham and Clerk of Works Boards. I contributed more than the minimum in most of my 12 years of service, but unlike many later successors I didn’t get “called up” for front-line service.
In general terms, I would observe that the attitude of the armed services seems to have evolved from one in which service people were developed primarily to meet the needs of their own service, to one in which it is acknowledged that they should wherever possible have the opportunity to acquire, readily transferable skills, civilian qualifications and other forms of portable recognition (like professional registration). Other trends are also clear, such as increasing numbers of non-commissioned personnel gaining higher qualifications such as degrees, the delegation of responsibility further down the rank structure and changes in the assumptions around commissioned and non-commissioned roles. It has become possible for example for SNCOs to become Chartered in some cases.
Each service and division within has slightly different traditions and like in the civilian world, superficially similar individuals may have significant differences in experience. A difference that I have noticed in the past, is that many civilian employers have come to place strong ownership for development with the employee, whereas service career progression is often highly structured and tied to being selected for “promotion” courses.
There are probably more effective mechanisms for networking by service and ex-service technical personnel, but I would expect the IET to be open-minded and in principle supportive of their careers, during and after service. The IET is very fortunate to have good engagement from the more senior rank levels, are there gaps and “tricks that are being missed”, for all types of technical people? Does anyone have any other ideas or disagree with my perspective?
The issue merits at least some further discussion in my opinion.
My own direct experience goes back considerably further and I served in Royal Engineers Specialist Teams TA (now reserve). This recruited civilian specialists nationally and required a minimum commitment of 19 days per annum. I could not therefore expect too much “career development” from the military, although there was a clear promotion structure, including in my case time at RSME Chatham and Clerk of Works Boards. I contributed more than the minimum in most of my 12 years of service, but unlike many later successors I didn’t get “called up” for front-line service.
In general terms, I would observe that the attitude of the armed services seems to have evolved from one in which service people were developed primarily to meet the needs of their own service, to one in which it is acknowledged that they should wherever possible have the opportunity to acquire, readily transferable skills, civilian qualifications and other forms of portable recognition (like professional registration). Other trends are also clear, such as increasing numbers of non-commissioned personnel gaining higher qualifications such as degrees, the delegation of responsibility further down the rank structure and changes in the assumptions around commissioned and non-commissioned roles. It has become possible for example for SNCOs to become Chartered in some cases.
Each service and division within has slightly different traditions and like in the civilian world, superficially similar individuals may have significant differences in experience. A difference that I have noticed in the past, is that many civilian employers have come to place strong ownership for development with the employee, whereas service career progression is often highly structured and tied to being selected for “promotion” courses.
There are probably more effective mechanisms for networking by service and ex-service technical personnel, but I would expect the IET to be open-minded and in principle supportive of their careers, during and after service. The IET is very fortunate to have good engagement from the more senior rank levels, are there gaps and “tricks that are being missed”, for all types of technical people? Does anyone have any other ideas or disagree with my perspective?
