Applicants seeking to join the RAF described as ‘useless white male airmen’ in bid for ‘impossible’ diversity goals | UK News

[ad_1]

White men seeking to join the Royal Air Force have been described as “useless white pilots” in leaked emails that reveal the pressure on recruiting officers to improve diversity.

A number of selection boards to put new recruits on courses – an important part of maintaining the RAF’s fighting strength – have also been scrapped if they don’t include women or ethnic minorities, according to letters seen by Sky News.

It may also be revealed that the Air Force paid £5,000 each to 31 white men – a total of £155,000 – who were found to have been unfairly disadvantaged by a recruitment policy which – under the command of Air Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, Chief of the RAF – sought to Boosting female and minority ethnic ratios in the Air Force, according to a defense source.

Another review indicated that hundreds more were disadvantaged, the source said.

The RAF confirmed that 31 people had received payments but did not confirm the amount.

Two knowledgeable defense sources said the findings appear to contradict repeated assurances by Air Force Commander Marshal Wigston that well-meaning efforts to improve diversity do not discriminate against white men.

The Chief of the Air Staff, who is set to retire from his post this week, has also repeatedly insisted that his service’s operational capabilities have never been affected.

The RAF insisted there was no contradiction.

A spokesperson said: “The selection criteria have not been altered and have not been altered, and there has been no waiver of entry criteria and no impact on frontline or operational effectiveness.”

But a defense source familiar with the emails described them as a “smoking gun”.

September: ‘No Discrimination’ in RAF Recruitment – Wigston

Sky News first revealed last August that Group Captain Elizabeth Nicol, then head of recruiting for the RAF, had resigned in protest at what it considered, according to defense sources, to be an “illegal order” to pause selection of white male recruits. Training courses for women and ethnic minorities to achieve “impossible” diversity goals.

This was never implemented due to her resignation, but Sky News had also previously revealed that the RAF had taken steps to “artificially inflate diversity numbers” in recruitment prior to Group Commander Nicol taking over.

The leaked emails date from 2020 to early 2021 when her predecessor, group leader William Dole, was leading the recruitment and selection process.

Sky News understands these emails and others have been presented as evidence of an internal investigation launched last year by the MoD into the circumstances which led to the resignation of group leader Nicol.

“White males are mostly heavyweight.”

One January 19, 2021, exchange by a squadron commander in the recruiting force to a sergeant, with another officer also present, revealed the pressure that was apparently being applied to filter out white male recruits and fast-track women and ethnic minorities.

Sky News has chosen not to name the middle management involved in sending the correspondence.

Under the headline: ‘A Glimpse of Boarding’, the Squadron Leader wrote: ‘I should be grateful if you could provide me with details of the candidates awaiting boarding, by Br [branch – the type of profession, such as pilot, engineer or chef] and bame [black, Asian and minority ethnic]/feminine.”

August: Minister of Armed Forces responds to leaked emails

He continued, “I pointed out that the boards were mostly heavyweight white males, if we don’t have enough BAME and females to go up, we need to make a decision to pause the boarding and look for more BAME and females from the RF.” [recruitment force].

“I really don’t need to see so many useless white pilots, come on [sic] Get [sic] Focusing as much as possible, I am more than happy to reduce boarding if needed to get a balanced BAME/female/male board. “

Another email the next day from the same Squadron Leader to a higher member of the recruiting team, titled “BOARDING PROFILE UPDATE”, suggested a struggle to achieve diversity goals.

He also discussed how efforts are being made to load more ethnic minority and female candidates onto selection boards – the process by which new recruits are selected for various branches at the Training College for Enlisted Personnel, RAF Halton, or at RAF Cranwell, where officers are trained.

Photo: Air Chief Marshal Wigston

These efforts included the abolition of councils that were composed solely of white men.

“You will note, however, that the bowl of BAME and the female has run out,” wrote the squadron leader.

From 336c [candidates] We have c10% FEMALE, 5% BAME which we will burn quickly with the suggested ascent profile.

This is a limited edition version of the story, so unfortunately this content is not available. Unlock the full version

“As you know, we choose about 45-50% of the BAME and females we ride so we expect to pick c15 females and 7 BAME females from the existing pool.

The request signal must return to the radio frequency [the recruitment force] To focus now on sending all their BAME and females.

Read more: RAF chief ready to test ‘limits of the law’ to improve diversity Cadet pilots face year-long wait to start lessons

“We’ve canceled 2 x panels next week due to no female/BAME or priority Br [priority branch] on them”.

An earlier email, dated November 13, 2020, written by Group Captain Dole to his boss, Air Commodore Adrian Burns, provided a sense of the pressure the entire team was under from the top of the Air Force to improve diversity — a move championed by Air Force Commander Marshall Wigston (CAS ) in addition to other presidents and ministers.

Group Captain Dole wrote: “CAS noted that BAME officer training course load was well below general requirements for the year, leading to a discussion of the impact of lower recruitment and retention in this group.”

“There was a need to review the systemic issues that were causing BAME officers to shorten their service life compared to their colleagues,” he added.

The then-chief of the recruiting department wrote that he anticipated the need to look at how to expedite the influx of ethnic minority candidates into the service.

A subsequent email from a wing commander in the recruiting force to another wing commander revealed a willingness to consider “custom options”.

Trainee RAF pilots face a one-year wait

The message, dated November 19, 2020 and titled: “BAME_INFLOW_EXPEDITE,” reads: “Could you confirm asking and following through with the fitness test question, because there could potentially be some quick wins here that will make us all look better?”

An informed source claimed that efforts were made at the time to fast track ethnic minorities and female recruits into RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire without having previously passed a physical fitness test. Alternatively, they can take the test on their first day.

The source said this meant they were offered a job – a place on a training course – before taking a pass-or-fail fitness test. By contrast, before being offered a job, white men would be required to pass a fitness test first.

The source said the racial minority and female candidates would contribute to increased service time and seniority compared to white males. They said this was “morally wrong” and meant that white male recruits were at a “disadvantage”.

Sky News, using the Freedom of Information Act, asked the RAF whether any of the white men had lodged a tort complaint over alleged Air Force recruitment failures that eventually prompted Group Commander Nicol to resign in protest.

The RAF said: “I can tell you that fewer than five individuals made a service complaint that was upheld”.

She declined to provide further information, saying this would be a breach of trust.

However, Sky News’ insider has claimed this includes a white man who specializes in online communications.

The source claimed that this person was prevented from starting an online RAF course because he was a white man, so he missed out on receiving a £5,000 golden welcome. It also meant that he was paid later and was unable to advance as quickly as his female and minority ethnic counterparts.

The source claimed that the RAF was working out how to pay the £5,000 he should have received and delay his seniority given the delays he had initially suffered.

The source claimed that work is also underway to address similar issues involving about 30 other white pilots.

An RAF spokesperson said: “The RAF have identified 31 individuals who have missed payments due to late entry dates/courses. These individuals have been contacted, and all personnel have received payments due to them.”

On March 24, 2021 – two months after the email was sent about ‘useless white pilots’ – the RAF announced, with great fanfare, that it had achieved key government targets to increase the influx of female recruits to 20% of the total and ethnic minorities to 10%. by 2020.

This was an increase of 4% and 3%, respectively, in female ethnic minority and female recruits over the past 12 months, she said, as the force aims to raise the proportion of female recruits to 20% ethnic minorities and 40% female by 2030.

Group captain Dole was awarded an OBE in the 2022 New Year’s Honors List.

By contrast, his successor, group leader Nicol, chose to resign rather than implement what it considered an “illegal order” to discriminate against white men.

Evidence of white men being disadvantaged by RAF recruiting practices appears to contradict comments made by Air Chief Marshal Wigston to MPs on the Defense Committee in February. He was responding to a comment from Tobias Ellwood, chair of the committee, who accused the RAF of discriminating against white men.

A spokesperson for the RAF said: “The RAF will not shy away from the challenges we face in building a service that attracts and recruits talent from every part of the UK workforce.

“We will continue to do everything we can to increase our recruitment from underrepresented groups within the provisions of the law.”

[ad_2]