Is RAAF trying to drop ‘Royal Australian’ from its name?
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I received numerous ministerial and departmental press release recently that include references to “Air Force” without any reference to “Royal Australian Air Force” or “RAAF” – and thought I was ‘on to something’.
Here are some examples…
- https://news.defence.gov.au/service/memorials-unveiled-loxton
- https://news.defence.gov.au/capability/first-launch-australia-edge-space
- https://news.defence.gov.au/people/rescue-heroics-all-part-stellar-career
- https://news.defence.gov.au/people/young-raafie-veteran-donor
- https://news.defence.gov.au/service/appreciation-much-more-virtual
Without going into details, I initially, erroneously and too quickly jumped to a false conclusion on this, but, after publishing a retraction, I was contacted by several people, including RAAF members, who told me there actually is an active campaign to preference “Air Force” over “Royal Australian Air Force” – even to the extent that ‘Royal Australian’ comes back crossed out with red pen from higher-rank clearance processes.
I intend to keep a close eye on this issue and highlight/correct it when I come across it.
Brian Hartigan
Editor
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I hope this is just a satire post. the Royal Australian title is only removed from branding to create something that is easier to associate with and say. If Australians are talking about the Navy or Air Force… good bet that we are talking about our Services.
All official publications and references in Defence (even the text in most of the press releases) still uses the full title of Royal Australian Navy or Royal Australian Air Force.
Hi James. The story (now deleted) was not satire – it was a stupid human error, for which I wholeheartedly apologise.
Brian Hartigan, Editor.
Hi James. I’ve had cause to retract my retraction of this story (now amended from original), because it turns out there may actually be a non-promulgated senior-officer campaign to actually use Air Force in place of Royal Australian Air Force by preference. There are plenty of examples cited in the story – and a new one today prompted me to re-visit.