Kentigern House in Glasgow is home to the Army Personnel Centre (APC); with 104 different trade groups, 260 organisations, and assignments on a two to three-year basis, its team have their work cut out.
During a recent visit, Emma Perrin, our Devolved Nations Manager took the opportunity to find out the answers to a few FAQs on how to successfully manage your army career…
Who can I speak to about my army career?
The first point of contact for career management is your line manager and the Regimental Career Management Officer (RCMO) or Adjutant for officers. Serving personnel are each responsible for engaging with their own careers and the careers of their subordinates.
Do I get a say in where I’m assigned to next?
The army makes every effort to meet an individual’s posting preferences through appointment boards. The APC always strives to ensure the needs of the army come first; those of officers, soldiers and their families must come a close second. But to be worthy of its pre-eminence the army must be seen to give due consideration to the best interests and preferences of each individual officer and soldier”.
What this means is on an appointing board, every effort will be made to match an individual with one of their preferences. There will be occasions when a directed posting is necessary and an individual will be assigned to a post not on their list.
The army tries to avoid this, and the serving person can help by filling out their Posting Preference Performa (PPP) on JPA in a varied manner with options in different areas.
I need to stay at my current location, is this possible?
There is a difference between want and need. If a soldier wants to stay in a post when their future availability date (FAD) is on the horizon, depending on the needs of the service and the possible negative career implications of staying in the same place, there is scope for the RCMO to engage with the APC on the soldier’s behalf to ask if an extension is possible.
If a soldier has been in Cyprus for two postings and has asked to extend, this is potentially unfair to their peers who cannot then have the opportunity to be selected for that posting, so there always needs to be a balance of fairness to all.
If there is a need for a person to stay in their current posting, then the need should be communicated to their line manager, chain of command, RCMO, and possibly the welfare officer depending on the circumstances, and then processed to the APC.
There are mechanisms in place within the army to support a variety of situations that the soldier may feel is critical, such as service couples discussions and flexible service.
What should I consider before putting my name forward for an overseas posting?
Three of the main considerations that have been known to cause challenges in the past are like for like medical care if posted abroad, educational needs for children and employment opportunities for partners. RCMOs and APC career managers are best positioned to support and advise on stability before an overseas posting is applied for.
If I am assigned to a job or location that I don’t want, can I say no?
In short, no. An assignment order is an order. However, if a soldier believes there is a reason that they can’t be assigned to a particular job or location, depending on the circumstances, it could be changed. Grounds for a change are usually related to compassionate, medical, welfare or other exceptional circumstances and would be specific for that soldier.
What resources are available from the APC that serving personnel can use outside of the chain of command?
The APC has a tool called Ask a Question in the APC, on the APC Defence Connect page. This tool is a great resource that allows all serving personnel to engage with the APC directly regarding general career/policy advice but not individual cases.
Where can I find career management policy?
Career management (CM) policy varies in location depending on rank, cap badge and terms of service. All CM policy is open source on MODNet and Defence Connect and can be found by using the search tools, however, if you don’t know what you are looking for, it can be challenging.
Most CM policy can be found on the APC Defence Connect policy portal. It is important to use the expertise of unit RCMOs due to the nature of policy being owned by APC and individual cap badges, as well as some other stakeholders. The different documents and policies need to be read in conjunction with each other.
How do I stay current with CM policy and changes that are made?
The best way is to follow the APC Defence Connect page and talk to your RCMO.