Both the RAFAT and the BBMF receive some commercial sponsorship already but clearly very little when compared with the cost of running both sqns. That said, the cost of these 2 well loved organisations is in itself, very little when compared to some other areas of the Military but they are not “front line.” At the moment, if it ain’t front line: read deployable to the Stan, it ain’t safe. We shall see soon enough.
One small example of the way things are going. I was amazed last Thursday when walking out of the 1960s fun palace at Cranwell at lunchtime to meet some visitors, to find the rose bed in front of the building, which has been there for the last decade to my personal knowledge, being ripped out and replaced with soil which was then seeded with grass seed. The roses were, of course, now coming into bloom. I was told that this was happening at many locations on “Campus Cranwell” because it lowers the grounds maintenance contract costs. Small savings but they can and do, have an effect on morale. As for me, I’m now a civvy so my blood pressure doesn’t get up so much these days but its still sad to see the military declining in some ways. However, like I said, we will see. The RAF is still recruiting but the numbers going through Cranwell for example, are lower at the moment. Less than 2 years ago we were preparing for a surge which seems to have abruptly halted, which I guess is not particularly surprising given the financial uncertainty.