Vegan Uniforms in the RAF - Outrageous or Outstandingly Good Idea?

Media reports today are suggesting that the RAF ‘top brass’ are being ordered to amend military dress policy based on an alleged case brought by a serving vegan who wanted to be issued vegan appropriate uniform. The article suggests that the RAF will in future be forced to issue vegan friendly boots, flying gear and wool free berets to meet the needs of service members who require them.

It must be said that the whole article does read a little strangely, referring to cases between a named individual and the RAF, internal guidelines on ‘grilling applicants’ about their clothing needs and talking about how the other services may be forced to adapt to these changes too. When coupled with an unusually robust denial from the MOD about vegan issues, the whole story feels a little ‘odd’.

There appear to be two distinct elements to the story, a ‘test case’ for which there is no reference as to the level to which it happened, what form of case it took (e.g. was it a Courts Martial, was it some form of Service Complaint), and reference to a leaked internal memo that uses emotive language like ‘appease’ to suggest that applicants for vegan clothing will be grilled on their beliefs. This sounds like an odd question for a clothing request form and its unclear whether it is instead a recruitment note or some other form of internal discussion – the fact that the article does not quote directly from the memo in any way is also revealing.

Its hard to work out what to make of the article and whether it is actually a credible story, or just a hashing together of two separate issues in order to raise the blood pressure of its readership. Where it is interesting though is the throw away line at the bottom about 10% of teenagers being vegans today. This matters because it opens up a lot of questions about how the armed forces can respond to the future challenge of vegans and recruitment.

RAFChinook- Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright

Speak to military recruiters and they’ll often talk about the challenge of trying to ensure that the armed forces are representative of the society that they defend. Over the last 70 years that society has changed an enormous amount, and so have the expectations on the people that are needed.

70 years ago, the need was for large numbers of people, often unskilled or able to operate relatively easy and straightforward equipment that could be trained quickly.  National Service provided large pools of manpower to draw on, and people could be trained quickly to do their work.

The modern armed forces need a very different set of people – increasingly they require technically savvy, skilled in engineering, languages and other high demand skills young people who are able to operate very advanced technology at the absolute limits of what can be done with it. The modern recruit is as likely to have a degree as they are no qualifications, and many of them see the armed forces as a stepping stone to another job or career. Few are lifers, but they are focused on getting the most from their time in the service.

They also have different expectations of life to previous generations. More prepared to call out behaviours and language they find unacceptable, and to challenge inappropriate conduct, they a media savvy and technologically aware group who have grown up in a digital world forming wide virtual groups with people who share their views.

The recruits of today and tomorrow are in some ways some of the most highly educated and skilled workforce the military have ever been able to draw on and recruit from. But they are also in demand, for those with the skills needed – particularly engineers, IT and other niche areas, can be very picky about where they work and what they do.

To them, the idea of joining a military organisation which seems stuck in the 19^th century and full of (to them) obsolete social values, odd and, at times, incomprehensible traditions and a rank structure that seems to cut across social engagement and hold back talent seems utterly bizarre. Why give yourself to an organisation that seems to be at odds with what you as a person value?

This is particularly true for the issue of vegans – if there are a growing number of vegans in the UK, then over time they will form part of the pool of people that the armed forces need to recruit from. If the military isn’t thinking now about how it can offer vegan friendly policies where possible, then over time it will make it increasingly difficult to attract and recruit talent.

Its all very well sitting there and moaning about ‘bloody snowflakes’ but that ignores the reality that the world is constantly changing, and with it the need to ensure your workforce remains relevant. 20 years ago, the papers were predicting disasters when the ban on homosexuality was lifted. 30 years ago, it was likely to be a disaster when the ban on women at sea was lifted. Every time there is a change, some people predict a disaster, yet the reality is most people just crack on and get on with their day without letting it be a problem.

While it may be easy to go ‘how dare some crackpot vegan demand he foists his belief set on the armed forces and refuse to wear uniform that doesn’t suit his beliefs’, an equally valid response could be made that people joining the armed forces have religion forced on them too. One of the formative parts of basic training is attendance at Sunday religious services, which could equally be argued is forcing a belief set on other people too.

Its not as if vegan clothing is a new or hard to acquire thing. A quick search of vegan boots throws up millions of results, including for industrial and work boots. It is entirely possible to obtain non leather boots if so desired for the armed forces. The challenge is to ensure the boots meet the requirements placed on them (are they safe for use, can they protect the wearer etc), but this is what DE&S exist to do. Besides, the potential for a large-scale long-term contract for vegan footwear is likely to be a big draw for many footwear companies.

It isn’t a challenge too to find clothing that can be vegan friendly – the Israeli Defence Force, that well known home for snowflakes, has found that 1 in 18 soldiers (roughly 5%) have declared themselves as vegan. This has prompted the IDF to put a variety of uniform changes in that have included wool free berets, vegan footwear and granting vegan soldiers an allowance to buy food to replace the military diet. If this move to supporting a vegan lifestyle can be made to work for the IDF, why is it so difficult to see a similar policy of supporting people adopted in the British Armed Forces?

A quick google of military vegans suggests there are plenty more people out there in armed forces across the world who share this lifestyle. While it may not necessarily be widespread yet, it is without doubt going to be something that is increasingly common in future. The challenge will be making it work with military life – particularly developing ration packs and deployable catering that reflects this. But, if it is more common, then the impetus for change is there, and the more likely it is that something can be done about it.

The last 40 years have seen enormous social change in the military, with differing fads and attitudes to all manner of activities. The days of military personnel being hard drinking and smoking types who worked with a daily hangover have all but died out. If you go to most major training or other establishments now then the bars are usually quiet and the gyms busy. A friend of the authors on a course at a major RN establishment described how in the evening the single busiest location on the site was the gym, and the main thing drunk was protein shakes.

The modern recruits have a totally different set of dietary expectations in general – they don’ necessarily want a fry up for breakfast, they’d rather go light and have a protein bar instead. They want to be out running or doing cross fit, and not getting smashed off their faces after work, and they’d often rather socialise digitally with friends online than in person in a bar.

They are every bit the equal of their predecessors, but they approach life differently and if the armed forces cannot keep up with this, it will prove a challenge. Identifying how to handle issues like vegan friendly uniforms, access to mobile phones and accommodating the digital generation need to be looked at now in order to give the best possible experience for future recruits and ensure the military remains an appealing career of choice.

The danger is that in a stratified organisation where policy is often decided at older, bolder, levels, there is a policy disconnect. There may be some who think ‘I don’t want my sailors on their bloody phones when they could be playing uckers and being social’. There could be others who think that dining in a drafty Offices mess with dire food served by the cheapest bidder while wearing a suit is conducive to building ‘officer like qualities’ in a way that providing self-catering and cooking facilities in mess accommodation isn’t.

Those responsible for the future force need to look at issues like this, and work out how to bring it together to ensure that future joiners experience a world that is recognisably similar to the one they have left. For example, there was an excellent debate on Twitter this week about the continued failure to provide self-catering facilities in mess accommodation to sailors who it seems can be trusted to kill people, but not make cheesy-hammy-eggy in their own room. Why on earth in a world where we are investing millions in accommodation is it not possible to create a halls of residence experience where kitchens are provided to give people freedom of choice on when to cook, rather than expecting them to all go and eat in a cookhouse?  It infantilises a skilled and mature workforce, with a message that says ‘we don’t trust you not to fuck up cooking, but we do trust you to keep the nation safe’.

Its fixing the little things like this and thinking intelligently about how to accommodate people with different dietary requirements that matter. If we don’t think about this, don’t try to make the military as inclusive and welcoming as possible to people of all genders, ethnicities, religions and dietary preferences, then we’re reducing the pool of people we can recruit from. Fewer people joining makes it ever harder for those who are left, and only makes the nation less secure as a result. There is nothing ‘snowflake like’ about wanting to appeal to as many of your target recruiting pool as possible – its just common sense.