The Red Arrows

Well, who would want to be in the Red Arrows at the moment, eh? The RAF elite display outfit’s reputation has been trashed all across the media with reports of a “toxic culture” and multiple sackings and resignations by its members.

Apparently, the team’s displays this summer have been reduced from nine aircraft to seven as it tries to sort itself out, and it has been called the “Poisoned Arrows” by that very bastion of the Establishment, the Times.

Some of the alleged misbehaviour seems a little far-fetched, to be honest. I’d be astonished if “met roulette”, the game it is claimed team members played involving continued drinking into the wee small hours in the hope that the predicted weather the following day would cancel any planned display, involved the pilots themselves. When I earned my private pilot’s licence, the rule was that there had to be at least eight hours “between bottle and throttle”, and I suspect the Red Arrow rules are much stricter than this.

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And as for self-marking their own performances in the skies on a scale ranging from Meghan Markle for a good one, via Sienna Miller for an average one, down to Susan Boyle for a poor one, well, boys will be boys, and it’s pretty harmless in the scale of things. Personally, I’d have put Sienna at the top of the scale instead of the Duchess, but there’s no accounting for taste.

We’re told that some of the pilots have had affairs, which may not be ideal as it can affect team spirit and esprit de corps, but sadly this is hardly unusual in today’s society. There have also been relationships between male and female members of the group, but this is commonplace in workplaces all over the world. About half the population seems to have met their future spouse or partner at work, so there’s no big deal here.

What would be quite unacceptable, of course, is if any of the allegations of bullying or sexual harassment prove to be true. There is no place for that in any organisation, never mind an elite military one. However, much of this must remain pure speculation until a report, ordered by the head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, into the team’s reputed misdemeanours is published later this year. Even then, there is some doubt about whether it will be made public.

All of this seems to be along the same lines of the recent SAS “out of control” story that I wrote about here previously. So-called elite units tend to become a law unto themselves as more senior officers are reluctant to police them for fear of being ridiculed or ignored. There appear to be few sanctions ever imposed against such organisations, and that lack of discipline may be part of the reason that they occasionally come off the rails. “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” as Jacob Rees-Mogg might say.

But the main reason for such lapses is usually bad leadership. “There are no bad regiments, just bad commanding officers” is the old army adage, and there’s a strong thread of truth in it.

As for the possibility of the Red Arrows being disbanded as some have claimed, I would think this most unlikely. It would be a crushing blow to the RAF’s image and morale. Best to wait first for the conclusions of the investigation before calling for blood.