Resettlement from the RAF is a process which you will probably experience only once and that is usually during your last two years of service - which is one of the reasons why awareness of the process is limited. Yet leaving the Air Force brings about a major change in your life which is as fundamental as joining up. This outlines the current structure of resettlement, which has seen some significant changes over the last year and it may also give you a gentle nudge.

Your responsibility.  Resettlement is your personal responsibility but you do not have to tackle it on your own – information, advice, training and help in job finding are all on offer and all free.  Duty time and some financial assistance are also available.  The resettlement structure is most easily understood in terms of “first”, “second” and “third” line.

First Line. Typically, your first point of contact will be at unit level with the Resettlement and Education Co-ordinators (RECs), who act as focal points for all resettlement information and administration. Don't believe anything you are told elsewhere around the bazaars by well meaning colleagues until you have checked it out with the RECs and the Second Line.

Second Line. The RECs will put your in touch with the visiting Regional Resettlement Adviser (RRA). There are 11 RRAs, either RO2s or C2s, who cover the whole of the UK and visit RAF units overseas, including North West Europe, Cyprus and Naples. Each RRA looks after 3 or 4 stations and their parented units. The RRAs provide information and advice by way of regular briefings and individual interviews; they also refer those who wish (the vast majority) to the 'third line', which operates from Regional Resettlement Centres (RRCs) - 10 in number, including one each in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Germany.

Third Line. In Oct 98, the MOD contracted Coutts Consultancy (not to be confused with the bankers) to provide tri-Service resettlement preparation, training and job finding assistance (Coutts Consultancy is now called Right Management). Access to the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), as it is known, is free to all personnel eligible for resettlement. The Officers' Association and Regular Forces Employment Association (RFEA) are now also part of the CTP. Both these organisations, which have charitable arms as well, continue to provide significant assistance with job finding through a UK-wide network of local offices.

Entitlement.  Whilst both the first and second line are tasked to give you information and advice at any time during your service, entitlement to third line, plus duty time and financial assistance does not start until you are within 2 years of a confirmed exit date (if you are waiting to hear the outcome of an application for extension of Service or assimilation you should assume you are leaving on your current discharge date).  You will have to serve for 4+ years in order to qualify for the job finding service and for 6+ years to qualify for the full service.  The CTP’s job finding service is available for up to 2 years after discharge.

Personal Consultant. In the past, resettlement was very much 'menu' driven, offering extensive lists of briefings and training courses. Unfortunately, some leavers then felt they were home and dry once they had been to a few briefings and chosen a course. There were also long lists of jobs, but the majority had already been filled by the time they had been distributed. The CTP's approach is to assign each individual to a civilian consultant. The consultants will not get you a job, but they will advise you on the type of work which may suit your personality, skills and circumstances and on your training needs.

Graduated Resettlement Time (GRT). allows you to take a quantity of resettlement time which is commensurate with your length of service. For example, 35 days are available for those who have served for 16 years. Full details of GRT may be found in JSP 534.

Financial Assistance. Resettlement travel warrants are available in a quantity proportionate to the number of weeks GRT, along with a resettlement training costs grant (currently £534) and subsistence allowances where appropriate.

Financial Advice. Although some resettlement activities are best left until your last 24 months in the Service, it is never too early to sort out your financial affairs. One simple way to do this is to take advantage of the free and impartial advice that is offered by Services Liaison, Cox's and King's and others, who provide briefings with follow-up personal counselling for all Servicemen and their spouses at any time during their career. The scope of the briefings is an analysis of one's present and future financial position, insurance, house purchase, taxation, commutation options, savings and capital investment, pension planning and writing wills. If you do nothing else after reading this article, ring: 0800 317053 - even the phone call is free.

Housing Advice. As with finance, housing is far too important to be left until the last minute. The Joint Service Housing Advice Office (Tel 01722 436 575 or Mil 94331 2575) is a source of excellent advice through regular news letters and briefings, which cover a variety of housing alternatives. Although the latter are designed for Service leavers, you do not have to be within your last 2 years to attend and you may be accompanied by your spouse on a fill-up basis. (Further details are available from your local REC.)

Resettlement Questions and AnswersThese questions and answers are designed to give a quick reference for resettlement activities but are not to be taken as the definitive document for resettlement. If you are registered for resettlement you will have copies of more comprehensive information documentation to refer to. In any case if you want resettlement advice please contact the unit REC who will answer your question or refer you to the Regional Resettlement Adviser (RRA).

Q1. What am I entitled to?

1. Resettlement is an entitlement but how much depends on your length of service, the table of entitlement is laid down in the JSP 534 para 0310.

Q2. When can I start using resettlement support? A. Information and advice can be obtained at any time from the REC or RRA. However, resettlement time and support (including finance) is not available until you are within 2 years of a confirmed exit date. At this time you can register with the RRA for resettlement using Form 1173 (normally this will be done at one of the monthly 2 year resettlement briefings held at each unit). Q3. How much time will I get? A. Under the Graduated Resettlement Time (GRT) scheme this depends upon length of service. A chart showing time available is shown at the link here. Q4. What can I do with my resettlement time?

A. The activities available for resettlement are shown below:

CTP Workshops, Briefings, Modular Seminars and Employment Fairs. CTP Personal Career Consultation Visits. Civilian Training Attachments. Civilian Work Attachment. Individual Resettlement Preparation (IRP).

Within you time allocation you can mix and match the provision outlined above.  Please note that most of the above activities require the use of some of your GRT entitlement, those that do not are the CTP workshops (Career Transition and Options for the Future), Finance and Housing briefs and visits to your consultant.

Q5. What is the CTP? A. The Career Transition Partnership (CTP) is a partnership between MOD and Right Management Group who have taken over the main provision of resettlement support to the Services. The CTP provides a personalised service incorporating career transition and nationwide job-finding support. Q6. What does the CTP offer?

A. The CTP support is in 3 areas which can be summarised as follows:

Career Transition Support. Career workshops, housing and finance briefings and short half-day refresher modules, each providing advice and guidance, are available at a nominated Regional Resettlement Centre (RRC). Personal Career Consultation. Service leavers will be assigned a personal career consultant at a specific RRC. The Consultant will provide assistance as necessary until your exit date. Job Finding Support. This will be provided through Right Management in conjunction with the Officers' Association (OA) and the Regular Forces Employment Association Limited (RFEA Ltd) working as sub-contractors to find suitable job vacancies and help Service leavers to secure them.

Q7.  How do I get CTP help?

A.  When you register for resettlement, provided you have a minimum of 4 years service you will qualify for the job finding service only, if you have a minimum of 6 years service you qualify for the full CTP service.

Q8. Do I have to Register with the CTP? A. Registration with the CTP is not compulsory but if you are not registered you cannot access their services and your options for resettlement support will be limited. Q9. How much money do I have for resettlement training? A. If you are eligible for resettlement then training funding is available in your last year to a maximum of £534. Q10. Can I have money to pay for accommodation when using resettlement time? A. If necessary and authorised, subsistence claims can be made to cover all weeks of GRT used for civilian training or work attachments. The essential expenses element of subsistence makes allowance for daily travel between the hotel and place of detached duty, daily travelling expenses cannot be claimed. Check with Allowances and/or Travel Control for regulations regarding subsistence claims and booking accommodation through the Central Hotel Booking Scheme. Q11. Can I have my travel expenses paid when using resettlement time?

A. Travel warrants or claims for motor mileage allowance are available to attend any authorised resettlement activity, briefing, visit, attachment, training or Individual Resettlement Preparation as follows:

Q12. Can I use my travel warrants for home to duty travel instead of claiming subsistence? A. This may be possible if it is likely to save money. You must discuss any such option with allowances and seek authorisation before putting in any travel claim.

Q13.  Can I use my Standard Learning Credit for resettlement?A.  During the resettlement period, SLC may be used (within the normal SLC rules) to fund examinations incurred as a result of resettlement training, or, may be used in conjunction with resettlement funding to enhance resettlement training funds.

Q14. Whose budget pays for resettlement? A. Budget funding for resettlement has been handed down to stations and is likely to come from your section budget.

Q15. What sort of training courses are available? A. There is no single listing of resettlement training courses. You will need to know what area of employment you intend to move into before you decide if you need training. The CTP Career Consultant is there to help you with this. If training is appropriate the CTP will have information on the courses they run themselves as well as those run by CTP preferred training providers

Q16.  Do I have to use a CTP approved training provider?

A.  No, the CTP can advise on training not covered by the CTP or its preferred providers, however, the CTP courses do provide excellent value for money.  Requirements to use external training companies have to be judged against the requirement for Service Leavers, where possible, to use local training.  This is classed as training near to Service accommodation or, the Service Leavers home address.  Any request for overseas training has to be authorised by SO1 Resettlement (RAF) at RAF Air Cmd and is judged against 2 criteria:

1. There is no equivalent training providing a comparable legitimate training outcome available locally in the UK.

2. The total cost of the training overseas, including eligible subsistence allowances and travel costs, which can be claimed under current regulations, are no greater than those that would be incurred if undertaking comparable training in the UK.

Click below for linked sites which offer specific services associated with resettlement.
		Officers' Association
		PATHFINDER