Vehicle History question

[polecat paul]

I was looking at my vehicle history document that i was sent last year for the 101 and on it there is a word under unit title saying ADPCON and next to it a date 21 june 1982 does any one know what this means??? :whistle:

[fv1609]

ADP = Automated Data Processing. CON I assume was the date it was confirmed as being entered into the system, which could be up to several weeks after it was received in the depot.

 

The ADP was VESPER (Vehicles, Equipment, Spares, Provision, Economics, Repair). In 1983 SALOME was introduced (System for Accounting & On-Line Management of Equipment). Vehicle depots were equipped with ME29 computers with the main frame at Bicester.

 

Further changes took place in 2005 with the introduction of JAMES (Joint Asset Management & Engineering Solution).

 

JAMES acts to:

Store equipment documents, details of use, servicing, inspections, faults etc

Allocate equipment daily & future commitments

Forecast inspection & servicing requirements

Allow tracking of equipment & where it is needed

Hold records of driving & specialist qualifications.

 

That was JAMES 1, then this year was set to introduce JAMES 2 which added:

RN & RAF vehicles

Deployable system into the field

Engineering function to manage repairs & mods

Linking with other systems, including supply chain

 

[AlienFTM]

Or maybe ADPCON indicated that the record was CONverted to ADP, i.e. transcribed from a paper document.

 

We used to see some wierd and wonderful acronyms and abbreviations on documents we were sent, and that was BEFORE I was posted to the Computer Centre.

 

This was always my favourite, told to me by my boss, Steve, then a Staff Sergeant. He had served both at APO Ashton (the Army Pay Office at Ashton-under-Lyne that handled officers' accounts) and also at HQ AFNORTH (Headquarters Allied Forces Northern Europe) in Norway. The latter was full of Generals and half colonels got the coffee. Steve's experience at APO stood him in good stead.

 

One day a Colonel walked into the Pay Office carrying a copy of the Daily Telegraph. "Sergeant, I have been reading today's newspaper and in the Gazette section it says I have been promoted Brigadier. Be a good chap and do the necessaries so that I can carry my new badges of rank."

 

"But, sir, it doesn't work like that. We have to be notified by APO, then we can publish a Part Two Order and then you can be promoted. I simply don't have the authority to do what you ask."

 

"Sergeant, here's my authority," and the Colonel slammed the Telegraph on his desk. "Get it sorted."

 

Steve phoned APO (not necessarily an easy task from a military exchange in Norway in the late 70s - early 80s) and got through to one of his old mates. He explained the problem. "What should I do?"

 

"Publish the Part Two Order. I'll deal with it this end and you'll be covered. No problem."

 

"But the Part Two Order needs an authority to be quoted. What should I put?" (The authority field on the blank P2O form had enough room for about 5 characters IIRC.)

 

"Put DTEL."

 

"DTEL? What sort of authority is that?"

 

"Daily Telegraph. Good enough for me."

 

Moral of the story. when yer a lowly Trooper you have to jump through hoops just to get youe refunds of food and accommodation which are yours by right when you have been on exercise*; when yer a Brigadier, you just snap yer fingers and it happens.

 

* Apparently on the modern Army they run a PAYD system: Pay As You Dine, which means that today, 1 June, there'll be squaddies having a proper meal for the first time in a week, havinf spent all their beer tokens over the Bank Holiday.