FJAG
Army.ca Legend
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8033589/Hundreds-musicians-British-military-bands-forced-stop-playing-injuries.html
You just can't make this stuff up.
:rofl:
British Military Current Events
- Thread starter daftandbarmy
- Start date
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8033589/Hundreds-musicians-British-military-bands-forced-stop-playing-injuries.html
You just can't make this stuff up.
:rofl:
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
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- Points
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FJAG said:
Fortunately, for Scottish regiments, the bagpipe is not a musical instrument: it is a weapon
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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- Points
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Johnson unveils major review of foreign and defence policy
Key issues will be resetting UK’s relationships with allies and developing cyber capabilities
Policy review launched by Boris Johnson will set out national security strategy for the next five years. Photograph: Matt Dunham/PA
Boris Johnson has unveiled a post-Brexit review of foreign and defence policy in an attempt to determine Britain’s national security strategy for the next five years.
The six-month exercise is another step in the prime minister’s assertion of control following the controversial cabinet reshuffle, and comes amid growing cyber threats and uncertainty about the UK’s place in the world.
It will be led by Sir Alex Ellis, a civil servant, with input from Dominic Cummings, who has been a sharp critic of overspending by the Ministry of Defence and of the methods of BAE Systems and other key contractors.
Some Whitehall sources said the appointment of Ellis amounted to a defeat for Cummings, who they said had been struggling to appoint officials to work on the review because of his aggressive reputation across Whitehall.
But while Ellis will report directly to Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary and Britain’s most powerful civil servant, the terms of review made clear it would also involve “a small team in Downing Street comprised of experts from inside and outside the civil service”.
Defence and security reviews traditionally take place every five years, but this one will be different as it will be considering the country’s foreign policy needs at a time when the UK has just left the EU and as it weighs up how closely it wants to be aligned to the United States.
Prof Malcolm Chalmers from the Royal United Services Institute thinktank said: “What they have to deal with is an increased uncertainty about our long-term relationship with Europe on one hand, and whether we can rely on Donald Trump’s United States on the other.”
But there was criticism from some experts because Downing Street is allowing the review to run at the same time as the comprehensive spending review – which they said meant that any of its conclusions would be limited by wider financial constraints.
Dr Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society thinktank, said he believed that was “a major victory of the civil service over the PM’s advisers”.
“The announced approach risks decisions on our foreign policy strategy being overtaken by short-term financial concerns,” he said.
The Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence, and other government departments and agencies will feed into the central review team, while final decisions will be taken by the National Security Council, a group of senior ministers chaired by the prime minister.
Guardian Today: the headlines, the analysis, the debate - sent direct to you
Key issues under consideration will be how far the UK wants to develop an integrated offensive hacking capability after turf wars between the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ have hampered progress since the previous 2015 review, at a time when Russia and China are engaged in long-term, low-level cyber warfare.
It will also take a particular look at how the MoD and intelligence agencies purchase equipment in a nod to Cummings, who has made little secret of his criticisms of defence budgeting, which has historically favoured large capital spending on aircraft carriers and sophisticated jet fighters.
Last March, before returning to government, Johnson’s chief aide wrote that the procurement process “has continued to squander billions of pounds, enriching some of the worst corporate looters and corrupting public life via the revolving door of officials/lobbyists”.
Tackling serious and organised crime will also form part of the review, which is an area traditionally under-resourced compared with spending on combating terrorism, prompting some analysts to ask whether the review could lead to a revamp of the much criticised
The previous 2015 review had tried to focus spending on fighting Isis and other non-state terror organisations by emphasising the need for smaller expeditionary and special forces. But those involved said it underestimated Russia’s conventional military capability, which has enabled the Kremlin to become a major player in the Syrian civil war.
As he announced the review Boris Johnson said: “As the world changes we must move with it – harnessing new technologies and ways of thinking to ensure British foreign policy is rooted firmly in our national interests, now and in the decades ahead.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/25/johnson-unveils-major-review-of-foreign-and-defence-policy
Key issues will be resetting UK’s relationships with allies and developing cyber capabilities
Policy review launched by Boris Johnson will set out national security strategy for the next five years. Photograph: Matt Dunham/PA
Boris Johnson has unveiled a post-Brexit review of foreign and defence policy in an attempt to determine Britain’s national security strategy for the next five years.
The six-month exercise is another step in the prime minister’s assertion of control following the controversial cabinet reshuffle, and comes amid growing cyber threats and uncertainty about the UK’s place in the world.
It will be led by Sir Alex Ellis, a civil servant, with input from Dominic Cummings, who has been a sharp critic of overspending by the Ministry of Defence and of the methods of BAE Systems and other key contractors.
Some Whitehall sources said the appointment of Ellis amounted to a defeat for Cummings, who they said had been struggling to appoint officials to work on the review because of his aggressive reputation across Whitehall.
But while Ellis will report directly to Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary and Britain’s most powerful civil servant, the terms of review made clear it would also involve “a small team in Downing Street comprised of experts from inside and outside the civil service”.
Defence and security reviews traditionally take place every five years, but this one will be different as it will be considering the country’s foreign policy needs at a time when the UK has just left the EU and as it weighs up how closely it wants to be aligned to the United States.
Prof Malcolm Chalmers from the Royal United Services Institute thinktank said: “What they have to deal with is an increased uncertainty about our long-term relationship with Europe on one hand, and whether we can rely on Donald Trump’s United States on the other.”
But there was criticism from some experts because Downing Street is allowing the review to run at the same time as the comprehensive spending review – which they said meant that any of its conclusions would be limited by wider financial constraints.
Dr Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society thinktank, said he believed that was “a major victory of the civil service over the PM’s advisers”.
“The announced approach risks decisions on our foreign policy strategy being overtaken by short-term financial concerns,” he said.
The Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence, and other government departments and agencies will feed into the central review team, while final decisions will be taken by the National Security Council, a group of senior ministers chaired by the prime minister.
Guardian Today: the headlines, the analysis, the debate - sent direct to you
Key issues under consideration will be how far the UK wants to develop an integrated offensive hacking capability after turf wars between the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ have hampered progress since the previous 2015 review, at a time when Russia and China are engaged in long-term, low-level cyber warfare.
It will also take a particular look at how the MoD and intelligence agencies purchase equipment in a nod to Cummings, who has made little secret of his criticisms of defence budgeting, which has historically favoured large capital spending on aircraft carriers and sophisticated jet fighters.
Last March, before returning to government, Johnson’s chief aide wrote that the procurement process “has continued to squander billions of pounds, enriching some of the worst corporate looters and corrupting public life via the revolving door of officials/lobbyists”.
Tackling serious and organised crime will also form part of the review, which is an area traditionally under-resourced compared with spending on combating terrorism, prompting some analysts to ask whether the review could lead to a revamp of the much criticised
The previous 2015 review had tried to focus spending on fighting Isis and other non-state terror organisations by emphasising the need for smaller expeditionary and special forces. But those involved said it underestimated Russia’s conventional military capability, which has enabled the Kremlin to become a major player in the Syrian civil war.
As he announced the review Boris Johnson said: “As the world changes we must move with it – harnessing new technologies and ways of thinking to ensure British foreign policy is rooted firmly in our national interests, now and in the decades ahead.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/25/johnson-unveils-major-review-of-foreign-and-defence-policy
- Reaction score
- 146
- Points
- 710
MarkOttawa said:
Now:
Mark
Ottawa
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 30,796
- Points
- 1,160
Military to help NHS cope with major coronavirus outbreak
Contingency plans and proposed emergency laws for pandemic emerge as UK confirms 20th case
The UK is facing its first significant test of how to contain a potential coronavirus outbreak after the government confirmed a 20th victim of Covid-19 and details began to emerge of its contingency planning and emergency legislation for an upsurge in cases.
The latest patient in England is the first to contract the illness while in the UK. The chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, said it was unclear whether the man from Surrey contracted it directly or indirectly from someone who had recently returned from abroad.
“This is being investigated and contact tracing has begun. The patient has been transferred to a specialist NHS infection centre at Guy’s and St Thomas’ [hospital].”
Guardian Today: the headlines, the analysis, the debate - sent direct to you
Read more
The Guardian has been told there are now fears that a doctor from the patient’s surgery may also have been infected with the virus. If confirmed, this would prompt particular concern as the GP would routinely have seen scores of patients over the course of the last week.
As part of the official UK action plan being drawn up by ministers and Whitty, military medics, and British Red Cross and St John Ambulance personnel will be drafted in to help the NHS cope with a major outbreak.
Under ministerial planning for a “reasonable worst-case scenario” of a potential pandemic, doctors and nurses working for the armed forces would help at hospitals where staff who have the virus are too ill to work or are self-isolating at home.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/28/military-to-help-nhs-cope-with-major-coronavirus-outbreak
Contingency plans and proposed emergency laws for pandemic emerge as UK confirms 20th case
The UK is facing its first significant test of how to contain a potential coronavirus outbreak after the government confirmed a 20th victim of Covid-19 and details began to emerge of its contingency planning and emergency legislation for an upsurge in cases.
The latest patient in England is the first to contract the illness while in the UK. The chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, said it was unclear whether the man from Surrey contracted it directly or indirectly from someone who had recently returned from abroad.
“This is being investigated and contact tracing has begun. The patient has been transferred to a specialist NHS infection centre at Guy’s and St Thomas’ [hospital].”
Guardian Today: the headlines, the analysis, the debate - sent direct to you
Read more
The Guardian has been told there are now fears that a doctor from the patient’s surgery may also have been infected with the virus. If confirmed, this would prompt particular concern as the GP would routinely have seen scores of patients over the course of the last week.
As part of the official UK action plan being drawn up by ministers and Whitty, military medics, and British Red Cross and St John Ambulance personnel will be drafted in to help the NHS cope with a major outbreak.
Under ministerial planning for a “reasonable worst-case scenario” of a potential pandemic, doctors and nurses working for the armed forces would help at hospitals where staff who have the virus are too ill to work or are self-isolating at home.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/28/military-to-help-nhs-cope-with-major-coronavirus-outbreak
- Reaction score
- 26,371
- Points
- 1,090
US is granting rural exemptions for Huawei... it's a mess.
- Reaction score
- 146
- Points
- 710
Start of a post on BoJo's "“Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy“ (that's a mouthful):
Mark
Ottawa
Mark
Ottawa
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 30,796
- Points
- 1,160
Commonwealth veterans accuse UK of leaving them in immigration limbo
Ex-soldiers are taking action against MoD and Home Office over alleged systemic failures
A group of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking legal action against the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence over an alleged systemic failure to assist them with complex, unaffordable immigration rules on discharge, leaving them classified as illegal immigrants, facing unemployment and homelessness and fearing deportation.
In the unprecedented group action taken against the two government departments, the group of Commonwealth-born veterans, each of whom served between seven and 12 years in the British army, say immigration difficulties have left them feeling betrayed by the country they served. Military charities say hundreds more are similarly affected.
MoD rules state that Commonwealth-born service personnel are eligible for indefinite leave to remain in the UK after discharge if they have served four years. But the claimants state that the army failed to inform them that they needed to make an immediate application to the Home Office for leave to remain in the UK on discharge, despite a clear MoD requirement that the process should be explained to all non-British veterans in the period before they leave the army.
Most assumed that after four years of service, the immigration process was automatic; the Home Office stamped their passports on joining the military with a note stating that they were exempt from immigration restrictions, and that they were “not subject to any condition or limitation on the period of permitted stay in the UK”. The stamps were not marked with an expiry date but nevertheless became invalid on discharge; veterans say they were not informed.
Advertisement
When they discovered, with the tightening of the Home Office’s “hostile environment” regulations after 2012, that they were in breach of immigration rules, they struggled to adapt themselves, mainly because of the cost of regularising their situation. Home Office visa application fees have risen sharply from £1,051 in 2015 to the current fee of £2,389. This means a service leaver and their partner with two children would have to pay nearly £10,000 to continue to live in the UK, an unaffordable sum for most on army pensions.
As a result of immigration problems, some lost their jobs, while others chose to live semi-clandestine lives, avoiding contact with the authorities, afraid that an immigration application could be rejected and they could be detained and removed from the UK. One family was visited at home by immigration officers. Some have been too scared to seek medical help, in case the NHS refers them to immigration enforcement. Others have chosen to return to their country of birth rather than risking detention, despite having the legal right to remain.
Their concerns have been exacerbated by the well-publicised 2013 case of Filimone Lacanivalu, who was arrested and detained when he tried to rectify his immigration status after discharge despite nine years of service, including two tours of Afghanistan. His situation was only resolved when the then home secretary, Theresa May, intervened 48 hours before his scheduled deportation to Fiji.
The current action involves eight former soldiers, who were all recruited to the army from Fiji, but the lawyers believe hundreds of ex-service personnel are similarly affected. The armed forces employ about 4,500 Commonwealth citizens; recruitment in Commonwealth countries has recently been stepped up “to build on the long-held links Britain’s military has with Commonwealth countries”, according to the MoD.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/08/commonwealth-veterans-accuse-uk-immigration-limbo-home-office-mod
Ex-soldiers are taking action against MoD and Home Office over alleged systemic failures
A group of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking legal action against the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence over an alleged systemic failure to assist them with complex, unaffordable immigration rules on discharge, leaving them classified as illegal immigrants, facing unemployment and homelessness and fearing deportation.
In the unprecedented group action taken against the two government departments, the group of Commonwealth-born veterans, each of whom served between seven and 12 years in the British army, say immigration difficulties have left them feeling betrayed by the country they served. Military charities say hundreds more are similarly affected.
MoD rules state that Commonwealth-born service personnel are eligible for indefinite leave to remain in the UK after discharge if they have served four years. But the claimants state that the army failed to inform them that they needed to make an immediate application to the Home Office for leave to remain in the UK on discharge, despite a clear MoD requirement that the process should be explained to all non-British veterans in the period before they leave the army.
Most assumed that after four years of service, the immigration process was automatic; the Home Office stamped their passports on joining the military with a note stating that they were exempt from immigration restrictions, and that they were “not subject to any condition or limitation on the period of permitted stay in the UK”. The stamps were not marked with an expiry date but nevertheless became invalid on discharge; veterans say they were not informed.
Advertisement
When they discovered, with the tightening of the Home Office’s “hostile environment” regulations after 2012, that they were in breach of immigration rules, they struggled to adapt themselves, mainly because of the cost of regularising their situation. Home Office visa application fees have risen sharply from £1,051 in 2015 to the current fee of £2,389. This means a service leaver and their partner with two children would have to pay nearly £10,000 to continue to live in the UK, an unaffordable sum for most on army pensions.
As a result of immigration problems, some lost their jobs, while others chose to live semi-clandestine lives, avoiding contact with the authorities, afraid that an immigration application could be rejected and they could be detained and removed from the UK. One family was visited at home by immigration officers. Some have been too scared to seek medical help, in case the NHS refers them to immigration enforcement. Others have chosen to return to their country of birth rather than risking detention, despite having the legal right to remain.
Their concerns have been exacerbated by the well-publicised 2013 case of Filimone Lacanivalu, who was arrested and detained when he tried to rectify his immigration status after discharge despite nine years of service, including two tours of Afghanistan. His situation was only resolved when the then home secretary, Theresa May, intervened 48 hours before his scheduled deportation to Fiji.
The current action involves eight former soldiers, who were all recruited to the army from Fiji, but the lawyers believe hundreds of ex-service personnel are similarly affected. The armed forces employ about 4,500 Commonwealth citizens; recruitment in Commonwealth countries has recently been stepped up “to build on the long-held links Britain’s military has with Commonwealth countries”, according to the MoD.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/08/commonwealth-veterans-accuse-uk-immigration-limbo-home-office-mod
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 30,796
- Points
- 1,160
British Soldier Killed In Iraq Attack Named
A British soldier who died in a rocket attack in Iraq has been named as Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon.
LCpl Gillon was one of three coalition service members killed in an attack on Camp Taji yesterday.
The 26-year-old served as a reservist with the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry, combining her military work with a career as a self-employed sports physiotherapist.
She joined the regiment in September 2015 as a Combat Medical Technician (CMT), progressing to qualify as a Class 1 Combat Medical Technician in 2018.
https://www.forces.net/news/british-soldier-killed-iraq-attack-named?fbclid=IwAR3OaU0fVvDcLfubLah9PlLc2ZqLzzEjzyBNY-LlKKBMPUZaxlAvfVC02iY
A British soldier who died in a rocket attack in Iraq has been named as Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon.
LCpl Gillon was one of three coalition service members killed in an attack on Camp Taji yesterday.
The 26-year-old served as a reservist with the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry, combining her military work with a career as a self-employed sports physiotherapist.
She joined the regiment in September 2015 as a Combat Medical Technician (CMT), progressing to qualify as a Class 1 Combat Medical Technician in 2018.
https://www.forces.net/news/british-soldier-killed-iraq-attack-named?fbclid=IwAR3OaU0fVvDcLfubLah9PlLc2ZqLzzEjzyBNY-LlKKBMPUZaxlAvfVC02iY
FJAG
Army.ca Legend
- Reaction score
- 13,215
- Points
- 1,160
3 Para :
See story here:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8113331/Army-lockdown-British-soldiers-barracks-HIV-fears-sex-prostitutes.html
:cheers:
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 30,796
- Points
- 1,160
FJAG said:3 Para :
See story here:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8113331/Army-lockdown-British-soldiers-barracks-HIV-fears-sex-prostitutes.html
:cheers:
My outside voice: OMG, that’s awful!
My inside voice: 3 PARA eh? I wonder what gender/ species those sex workers were
FJAG
Army.ca Legend
- Reaction score
- 13,215
- Points
- 1,160
FJAG
Army.ca Legend
- Reaction score
- 13,215
- Points
- 1,160
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 30,796
- Points
- 1,160
FJAG said:
Excellent.
I can imagine the old notebooks with the orders written down that looked kind of strange at the time, and were passed down from ‘higher’. This should be good Netflix fodder
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 30,796
- Points
- 1,160
10,000 extra troops to join British army's Covid support force
MoD doubles size of force amid fears over ability of police and NHS to cope with crisis
The Ministry of Defence is to double the size of the military’s civil contingency unit to create a 20,000-strong Covid support force, the defence secretary has announced.
An additional 10,000 troops will be added to the 10,000 routinely held at higher readiness in case of a civil emergency, and reservists could also be called up, Ben Wallace said on Wednesday.
There are fears about the ability of the police and NHS, which are both already at full stretch, to deal with the scale of the crisis. While the government has been reluctant to highlight such a bleak prospect, the armed forces need to be prepared for the threat of a breakdown in civil order given that troops have been deployed in other countries to enforce lockdowns and prevent looting of shops.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/18/10000-extra-troops-to-join-british-armys-covid-support-force
MoD doubles size of force amid fears over ability of police and NHS to cope with crisis
The Ministry of Defence is to double the size of the military’s civil contingency unit to create a 20,000-strong Covid support force, the defence secretary has announced.
An additional 10,000 troops will be added to the 10,000 routinely held at higher readiness in case of a civil emergency, and reservists could also be called up, Ben Wallace said on Wednesday.
There are fears about the ability of the police and NHS, which are both already at full stretch, to deal with the scale of the crisis. While the government has been reluctant to highlight such a bleak prospect, the armed forces need to be prepared for the threat of a breakdown in civil order given that troops have been deployed in other countries to enforce lockdowns and prevent looting of shops.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/18/10000-extra-troops-to-join-british-armys-covid-support-force
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 30,796
- Points
- 1,160
UK troops fear Covid-19 outbreak in 'cramped' barracks lockdown
Claims that 300 soldiers in Aldershot are in crowded unit with no hygiene essentials
Three hundred soldiers recalled to a barracks in Aldershot this week have complained they are being locked down without sufficient hygiene essentials amid concerns their cramped conditions could lead to a coronavirus outbreak.
Troops from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards said they had been asked to self-isolate with their families but were hauled back to an environment which had not been supplied with any personal hand sanitiser or other cleaning equipment.
The lockdown means soldiers have been unable to shop outside to obtain personal supplies, while people within the camp in Hampshire who are showing coronavirus symptoms have been offered no medical treatment or support, according to those in the unit.
Although thousands of troops have been placed on standby to help tackle the coronavirus crisis, frustrated soldiers in Aldershot said it was not clear why they had been recalled to “essentially an open prison”.
“They’ve taken hundreds of people away from their families and their safe environments, only to thrust them in with hundred of other people who are potential carriers, unbeknownst to themselves,” according to a member of the unit who contacted the Guardian but asked not to be named.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/27/uk-troops-fear-covid-19-outbreak-cramped-barracks-lockdown
Claims that 300 soldiers in Aldershot are in crowded unit with no hygiene essentials
Three hundred soldiers recalled to a barracks in Aldershot this week have complained they are being locked down without sufficient hygiene essentials amid concerns their cramped conditions could lead to a coronavirus outbreak.
Troops from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards said they had been asked to self-isolate with their families but were hauled back to an environment which had not been supplied with any personal hand sanitiser or other cleaning equipment.
The lockdown means soldiers have been unable to shop outside to obtain personal supplies, while people within the camp in Hampshire who are showing coronavirus symptoms have been offered no medical treatment or support, according to those in the unit.
Although thousands of troops have been placed on standby to help tackle the coronavirus crisis, frustrated soldiers in Aldershot said it was not clear why they had been recalled to “essentially an open prison”.
“They’ve taken hundreds of people away from their families and their safe environments, only to thrust them in with hundred of other people who are potential carriers, unbeknownst to themselves,” according to a member of the unit who contacted the Guardian but asked not to be named.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/27/uk-troops-fear-covid-19-outbreak-cramped-barracks-lockdown
- Reaction score
- 146
- Points
- 710
Post based on letter from former British Army soldier about Harry and Meghan (before they scooted from Vancouver Island to LA):
Mark
Ottawa
Letter of the Biweekly, or, Bugger Off Good Prince Harry
https://mark3ds.wordpress.com/2020/03/29/letter-of-the-biweekly-or-bugger-off-good-prince-harry/
Mark
Ottawa
Colin Parkinson
Army.ca Myth
- Reaction score
- 11,120
- Points
- 1,160
Been watching the ForcesTV on their Gurkha series, great stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Aq9rwIeyug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8pIJglsYUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CfDbLYjLY8
this is last year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNAyHcjKJ4A&t=200s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Aq9rwIeyug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8pIJglsYUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CfDbLYjLY8
this is last year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNAyHcjKJ4A&t=200s
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