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.
I would just like to echo Roy's comments below - "Looking at the issue more widely, between ourselves and our sister major professional bodies, we benefit from significant engagement by members of the Armed Services and at least in my direct experience, a desire to serve all professionals well under the IET strapline “professional home for life”. I would be delighted and supportive of any practical initiative (perhaps jointly with IMechE and ICE?), to improve the value derived by professional engineers and technicians in the armed services from their engagement." By way of introduction, I work as the IET MOD Development Manager so am very much on the ‘front end’ of candidates within the MOD (Armed Forces and Civil Service) who are looking at membership and/or professioal registration, and I also manage the general relationship between our MOD partners and our various agreements.
We are seeing a consistently more joined up approach across the Armed Forces and between ourselves and other institutions when it comes to active encouragement of personnel (both currently serving and service leavers) to professionalise and join their body of choice. This is partly to do with the 'Defence Engineer Professionalisation Strategy' which has been produced and is headed up by the Joint PEI Steering Group and PEI Defence Committee. The SG is made up of representatives from across the single services and across the PEIs, within which professional development and registration (aligned with the PEIs) is actively encouraged. A large piece of work on CPD and how personnel can be encouraged to carry out and record CPD in a consistent, cohesive way across the services and institutions is currently underway. The ‘Engineering Professional Recognition Award (EPRA)’ which incentivises candidates to achieve professional registration has also meant we’ve seen a large increase in applications, especially at the junior ranks.
Specifically as the IET, we actively encourage any eligible personnel (regardless of rank) to apply for professional registration through regular visits to Armed Forces sites. Though I do brief on the 'Special Registration Agreements' that are available - which are based on rank - I do make it very clear that personnel who can demonstrate the relevant competence can apply via the standard/individual route.
As an example of activity we currently carry out, myself and the IMechE jointly brief every Class One course that goes through the REME school at MOD Lyneham. We do briefs across almost every site which has Armed Forces (and/or civil service) engineers/technicians (e.g. RAF bases, RSME, Royal Navy dockyards, Abbey Wood etc), at least annually, if not more regularly. The briefs outline benefits of Membership, the benefits and requirements for professional registration with the Engineering Council and initial guidance on and run onsite workshops where required for applicants to complete their applications or gain advice on their application forms. A lot of sites prefer this to be a joint activity, sometimes with multiple institutions present and providing briefs (IMechE, BCS, RAeS for example).
In regards to Service Leavers, we offer discounts on membership and professional registration applications in order to actively encourage those who are not yet members to utilise the integral parts of the IET for personnel at this point in their career. I attend all Employment Fairs that are run by CTP across the year and use this as an opportunity to encourage service leavers to join their relevant Local Network or Technical or Specialist Network and use other benefits (professional development opportunities, events, E&T jobs etc).
In conclusion, and in answer to the initial query, I do think that professional development is now actively pushed across all levels in the Armed Forces. Even in my 3/4 years in post, I’ve seen a large positive shift change in attitudes and encouragement of personnel, at all ranks, to achieve professional recognition and utilise all membership benefits available. There is already a large community of people in the Armed Forces who are professionally registered and who are trained to be advisors/industry representatives/endorsers, but I certainly think bringing together this community (and those who might be interested) could be beneficial and I’d be happy to be involved with anything you want to take forward.
I would just like to echo Roy's comments below - "Looking at the issue more widely, between ourselves and our sister major professional bodies, we benefit from significant engagement by members of the Armed Services and at least in my direct experience, a desire to serve all professionals well under the IET strapline “professional home for life”. I would be delighted and supportive of any practical initiative (perhaps jointly with IMechE and ICE?), to improve the value derived by professional engineers and technicians in the armed services from their engagement." By way of introduction, I work as the IET MOD Development Manager so am very much on the ‘front end’ of candidates within the MOD (Armed Forces and Civil Service) who are looking at membership and/or professioal registration, and I also manage the general relationship between our MOD partners and our various agreements.
We are seeing a consistently more joined up approach across the Armed Forces and between ourselves and other institutions when it comes to active encouragement of personnel (both currently serving and service leavers) to professionalise and join their body of choice. This is partly to do with the 'Defence Engineer Professionalisation Strategy' which has been produced and is headed up by the Joint PEI Steering Group and PEI Defence Committee. The SG is made up of representatives from across the single services and across the PEIs, within which professional development and registration (aligned with the PEIs) is actively encouraged. A large piece of work on CPD and how personnel can be encouraged to carry out and record CPD in a consistent, cohesive way across the services and institutions is currently underway. The ‘Engineering Professional Recognition Award (EPRA)’ which incentivises candidates to achieve professional registration has also meant we’ve seen a large increase in applications, especially at the junior ranks.
Specifically as the IET, we actively encourage any eligible personnel (regardless of rank) to apply for professional registration through regular visits to Armed Forces sites. Though I do brief on the 'Special Registration Agreements' that are available - which are based on rank - I do make it very clear that personnel who can demonstrate the relevant competence can apply via the standard/individual route.
As an example of activity we currently carry out, myself and the IMechE jointly brief every Class One course that goes through the REME school at MOD Lyneham. We do briefs across almost every site which has Armed Forces (and/or civil service) engineers/technicians (e.g. RAF bases, RSME, Royal Navy dockyards, Abbey Wood etc), at least annually, if not more regularly. The briefs outline benefits of Membership, the benefits and requirements for professional registration with the Engineering Council and initial guidance on and run onsite workshops where required for applicants to complete their applications or gain advice on their application forms. A lot of sites prefer this to be a joint activity, sometimes with multiple institutions present and providing briefs (IMechE, BCS, RAeS for example).
In regards to Service Leavers, we offer discounts on membership and professional registration applications in order to actively encourage those who are not yet members to utilise the integral parts of the IET for personnel at this point in their career. I attend all Employment Fairs that are run by CTP across the year and use this as an opportunity to encourage service leavers to join their relevant Local Network or Technical or Specialist Network and use other benefits (professional development opportunities, events, E&T jobs etc).
In conclusion, and in answer to the initial query, I do think that professional development is now actively pushed across all levels in the Armed Forces. Even in my 3/4 years in post, I’ve seen a large positive shift change in attitudes and encouragement of personnel, at all ranks, to achieve professional recognition and utilise all membership benefits available. There is already a large community of people in the Armed Forces who are professionally registered and who are trained to be advisors/industry representatives/endorsers, but I certainly think bringing together this community (and those who might be interested) could be beneficial and I’d be happy to be involved with anything you want to take forward.
