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Duty Description2IC (2nd in Charge) or American Executive Officer equivalent of the SEME (School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering) Regiment. The Regiment is the second largest in the British Army, comprising of approximately 1,300 soldiers, 84 tracked and 86-wheeled vehicles, with the responsibility of training all track, wheeled, electrical systems, armament systems, and recovery mechanics for the British Army. Much like an American XO, responsibilities lie with the day-to-day operation of the Regiment, allowing the Regimental Commanding Officer (a lieutenant colonel) the opportunity to focus on strategic issues. The structure of the Regiment is similar to an American battalion level organization, with a few minor differences. To begin with, majors, not captains, command the four companies. Secondly, the only two primary staff officers are the Adjutant and the Quartermaster. The Adjutant is a Captain’s position much like a US Army Adjutant/S-1. The Quartermaster is a major’s slot, with duties as not only a battalion level S-4, but also a garrison level contracts officer/S-4. Since there is no S-3/Operations Officer equivalent, most of these duties fall on the 2IC. Some additional duties include equipment manager, budget officer, security officer and Regimental sports officer. Sport and physical fitness is an extremely important part of the British Military culture. The Regiment does PT three times a week and Wednesday afternoons are dedicated to organized sport. SEME Regiment is located in a town called Bordon, which is in the southern part of England in the county of Hampshire. Although it is not the cultural Mecca of southern England, Bordon is around an hour by train or car to London and about 45 minutes from England’s southern coast. The daily uniform is BDU, with the occasional need for Class A and B uniform. More importantly, with the active social life in a British Regiment, Dress Mess is a must. There is also at least one function a month that requires a suit and 4 to 5 a year that require a tuxedo.
HousingThere is a designated house for the American Exchange Officer here at Bordon. It is a duplex, two stories, all brick, four bedrooms, gas fireplace, about 2,300 square feet, detached garage and a very large back yard (garden). Although the house is quite large, we had difficulty fitting in all of our furniture (we moved from 2000 sq ft) because of the radiator style heating taking up wall space. Rent is about 318 British Pounds (about $550.00) each month. Rent is paid by mailing a check (from a British Pound Sterling bank account---more later) into the housing office. We took delivery of a British sized refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher and two 1600-watt transformers from the US Air Force CFMO (to be arranged through the PEP NCOIC upon inprocessing). The rent is paid directly to the DHE (Defense Housing Executive, an Army wide civilian contracted firm that manages all of Army housing) by the end of the month. Water, gas, and electricity are paid quarterly, with the first two being paid by a mailed check and the last to the RAO (the British Army version of a combined finance and personnel administration office) on post. Together these bills run about £400.00 ($725.00) quarterly. There is one provider of local and long distance telephone services, British Telephone (BT). BT telephone bills can either be paid monthly or quarterly. BT has other services such as answering service, phones, low cost Internet, and broadband available at a reasonable cost. Televisions are taxed yearly, at the rate of about £112.00 (about $200.00) per year. There is no charge for the (basic four) channels. However, digital satellite television is available through the Sky Network at about a cost of £12.00 to £54.00 ($21.00 to $97.00) monthly depending upon the variety of programming that you want (between about 12 and 163 channels). You will need a multi-system television to get any channels at Bordon.
Medical and Dental CareThe United Kingdom has socialized medicine. As an exchange officer, you are entitled to use the British Military medical system. My family is registered with the National Health Service (NHS), and visit a local doctor’s office when necessary. Children’s prescriptions (children considered as under 16 years old) are free, and adult are £6.20 (about $10.00) regardless of the medicine. Children’s’ eye examinations are free, with each child being entitled to one free pair of glasses yearly. Dental examinations are not free, thus we have all of our dental work (to include mine) at the Naval Medical Clinic at RAF West Ruislip (about one hour away). We also use the medical facility at Ruislip for some appointments, such as flu shots. Because we are an exchange family and some distance away, the medical personnel at West Ruislip are willing to book each of our required appointments for the same day.
Description of Military Post Office, Commissary and PX FacilitiesRAF West Ruislip has the closest commissary and PX facility (47 miles only, but it can easily be a two hour trip if you choose the wrong time of day to travel). The facilities there are well stocked, but small. RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall are the two largest military facilities in the United Kingdom (both USAF facilities), and about a three-hour drive away. As you can expect, their family support facilities (commissary, PX, etc.) are the nicest and best stocked; what you cannot find in Ruislip will usually be in Lakenheath or Mildenhall. RAF West Ruislip is the best location to have your mail sent to the FPO, but plan on only being able to collect it once every two to three weeks. Ration cards are required to purchase anything in post exchanges and commissaries. They are not used to ration items (with the exception of alcohol and tobacco), but they are used as proof of eligibility for British tax exempt purchases. You will be asked to produce the card in PX/BXs and commissaries before paying for your items; if you "forgot" your ration card, you will be asked to leave the store without your intended purchases.
What religious services are available locally?
Information currently not available. BankingIt will be necessary to open a BPS (British Pound Sterling) account at the Community Bank branch at RAF West Ruislip or the USNAVUK HQ in London. Most of your local bills require payment by automatic deduction from a British account or by check from a British bank account. Local banks are available; but will not open an account for you since you do not have history of British credit. We use local banks for ATM purposes only. SchoolsYour children will attend British Schools. The British School system seems fairly equivalent academically to the American system, should be an easy transition, and has been very welcoming. I recommend you start immediately getting your children placed. There are five points worth noting: 1) Grade placement is based solely on birth date. 1 September is the cut-off date with anyone born before that date going in the relevant upper grade and anyone born after that date going in the lower grade. (Ex: A child born in June 1992 would go into 6th grade and one born in October 1992 would go into 5th grade.) If this would alter your child’s grade placement, you would need to go through the local system to discuss an exception. 2) In the UK, children begin school at 4 years old in Reception. Our Kindergarten, begun at 5 years old is their Year One, and Year Two is our First Grade, etc. Secondary School here goes from Year Seven to Year Eleven, so it is equivalent to 6th through 10th Grades in the States. After that, there are other different schools to choose from usually called "Colleges". There are also many nice pre-schools, ("nursery schools") in and around Bordon. 3. You have a choice of a number of good schools in the local area, that vary from 1 mile to 20 minutes away. You can visit each school to judge how it suits your child, and as long as there is a space open your child can attend whichever school you choose. 4. You can examine OFSTED reports to get ideas of strengths, weaknesses and test scores for each school. Also, all schools seem to have a great variety of extra-curricular activities. 5. All schools use uniforms, which are available at relatively little cost on the local economy, or some particular items (ex: sweatshirt) purchased through the school.
POVVehicles are required to be reg
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