British Military Current Events

[benny88]

As stated before, there are more than enough incidents in WW2 where medals of valour were presented to servicemen by the countries being liberated. 

Do you realize how many French & Belgian "croix de guerre", Legion d'honeur, bobbles and whatnots were handed out to our soldiers»?

  Sorry, I should have stated that I meant more recently.

 

[daftandbarmy]

You mean the accident turned him into a PARA? ;D


RAF sergeant wins £1.7m payout after road accident transforms him into a sex-obsessed, foul-mouthed loner
A once mild-mannered RAF sergeant has been awarded £ 1.7million compensation for the crash that turned him into a sex pest.

Robert Cornes was a respected aircraft engineer with 18 years service when he was struck by a drink-driver, causing serious brain injuries that transformed his personality.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=530319&in_page_id=1770

 

[daftandbarmy]

Shortage of Army doctors forces MoD to hire hundreds of temporary medics at £700 a day

A shortage of Army doctors and nurses is forcing the Ministry of Defence to employ hundreds of temporary civilian medics at an average rate of more than £700 a day.


At least £8million was spent on locums last year to cover more than 12,000 shifts left short by the manning crisis.

Dozens of civilian nurses and a neurosurgeon have been deployed in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=530372&in_page_id=1770

 

[geo]

You mean the accident turned him into a PARA? ;D


RAF sergeant wins £1.7m payout after road accident transforms him into a sex-obsessed, foul-mouthed loner
A once mild-mannered RAF sergeant has been awarded £ 1.7million compensation for the crash that turned him into a sex pest.

Robert Cornes was a respected aircraft engineer with 18 years service when he was struck by a drink-driver, causing serious brain injuries that transformed his personality.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=530319&in_page_id=1770

Eggads, is that what happened to me?
I got hit by a truck?.... frequently!?!

 

[daftandbarmy]

Idea of winning hearts and minds in Iraq is 'almost ridiculous' warns Army commander

The goal of "winning hearts and minds" among local people in Iraq and Afghanistan is unrealistic and "almost ridiculous", a senior British Army commander said last night.


In a stark assessment - which appears to contradict directly the mantra of the armed forces and politicians - former SAS officer Lieutenant General Graeme Lamb said it was dangerous for Western nations to imagine that they could earn the lasting affection of locals in Muslim countries which they occupy.

"To suggest that good intentions will cross fundamental cultural, social and religious differences and win over a damaged population is at best dangerous and wishful thinking.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=531273&in_page_id=1811

 

[daftandbarmy]

SAS Freefall training death


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article904875.ece

 

[geo]

SAS Freefall training death
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article904875.ece

Would a two way radio have saved his life?.... I do not see how the instructors could have come up with an unequivocal answer or YES.  The speed at which the person thunders down from 3000 feet is measured in seconds.  If training & instinct does not kick in, then the parachutist is a gonner.  The radio might have helped BUT there is no guarantee the good Capt would/could have responded in time.

 

[daftandbarmy]

You're quite right. Good drills and good kit are what's required in these situations. Bad luck can't help much either...

 

[daftandbarmy]

Well done the Duke: TA Officer and Col-in-Chief to various regiments.


Richest man in England also a regular of prostitution ring in Spitzer scandal
By LARRY McSHANE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Updated Wednesday, March 12th 2008, 12:22 PM

The richest man in Great Britain was a customer of the same high-end prostitution service patronized by Gov. Spitzer.

The Duke of Westminster, listed as the world's 46th richest person by Forbes magazine, hired four hookers over a six-week stretch in late 2006 and early last year, the News of the World reported last year.


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/03/12/2008-03-12_richest_man_in_england_also_a_regular_of.html

 

[geo]

It's a morality thing in the USA.
When the last French president died, you had pictures of his wife & mistress standing side by side @ his grave.
The greek president's wife didn't like the paparazies so he was always seen in public with his mistress....

It's only when it's kept secret that the "moral majority" becomes a knife pointed at onesself.

Moral of the story.... don't make it a secret.

Look at Bill Clinton... so he got a BJ - Good for him!

 

[Yrys]

Look at Bill Clinton... so he got a BJ - Good for him!

I'm not sure Bill himself would have the same opinion, as the "Lewinsky affair" is now part of his "legacy".

Add :


War rally marks Iraq anniversary

Anti-war protestors are planning a demonstration in Glasgow marking five years since the start of the war in Iraq.

The Scottish demonstration is part of a day of action in a number of cities throughout the UK and abroad. The rally will hear calls for troop withdrawal from Iraq
and Afghanistan, as well being in opposition to possible action against Iran. Speakers include Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Rose Gentle. Her son, Gordon,
who was a soldier, was killed in Iraq.

In a statement, Mrs Gentle wrote: "We are not anti-war, but we are against the Iraq war and we will be there to tell Gordon Brown that it is time to bring all our troops
home from Iraq."

Some of the other speakers will be Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, actor David Hayman and author A.L. Kennedy. The demonstration is being supported by a range
of organisations including the Scottish Trades Union Congress, Scottish CND and the Muslim Association of Scotland.

Article on link


Scrooge MoD kill SAS hero

AN SAS officer died because of Ministry of Defence penny-pinching over a £50 radio, an inquest ruled yesterday.

Coroner Andrew Walker reached his verdict after crucial evidence from The Sun. We told last Monday how the MoD had been asked THREE times
for ground-to-air radios for high-altitude parachute training.

Captain Dan Wright was killed making only his second freefall parachute jump. But Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Mr Walker said Dan, 25,
would have been saved if instructors had been given the safety equipment they had pleaded for. He forced the MoD to release internal documents
that proved the radios were turned down because of cash shortages. Recording a narrative verdict, he said: “Let there be no doubt this tragedy
happened for want of a simple, inexpensive piece of equipment.

“Captain Wright, on the balance of probability, would not have died had an operator on the ground been able to communicate with him by radio
“Requests for these radios had been refused as funding was only available for essential items.”

Screaming

Mr Walker had seen chilling footage of Dan’s last desperate seconds fighting to release his failed main parachute during the 3,000ft jump over
RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, in 2005. Instructors on the ground are heard screaming: “Cut away, for f***’s sake!” Dan, from Newport, Gwent,
finally releases his reserve chute at just 200ft – 1½ seconds too late – and hits trees. The impact snapped his spinal cord and smashed his pelvis,
killing him instantly.

After the inquest Dan’s mother Carol heaped praise on The Sun’s front page on the scandal. She said: “The whole family is very grateful for what
The Sun has exposed – we would still be in the dark without you.” Carol, 60, added of her son’s death: “It is such a terrible waste. What have they
lost for the sake of flippingradio? They have lost a potential star within their ranks. “And we will never see his lovely face again.”

Dan’s sister Abigail, 30, said: “Hopefully now the coroner has made his excellent recommendations the same thing will never happen to any other person.”

An MoD spokesman said last night: “We are committed to providing our forces with the best possible equipment.”

Article on link

 

[daftandbarmy]

I'm all for giving people the right kit, but many thousands have NOT died in freefall courses (me included) and they didn't have radios either. I'd like to know what the inquest has to say about the quality of the instruction given during this course. It's always easy to blame the kit, but sometimes "A poor workman always blames his tools".

 

[daftandbarmy]

Top Blair aide: we must talk to al-Qaida
Former No 10 chief says Irish peace process showed link to enemy needed

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/mar/15/uksecurity.alqaida

 

[geo]

D&B
the good Capt freefalled 3000 ft.  By your recollections - how many seconds does it take to fall 3000ft?

IIRC a person should drop at approx 250ft/s  +/-12 secs to impact.
How much time would it take to get the para's attention & get him to start to cut his chute away & get his reserve shute extracted? .... Whups - Times up!

 

[daftandbarmy]

Yes... 32 ft/sec (per sec) is the norm as I understand it. But good drills should overcome ground rush. Why put the novice in that position until he's ready? If there's a problem, and you can't cut away, dump the reserve ASAP and the 'bag o' washing' should break your falll at least. I don't understand, beyond panic, what really happened in this case and am not conviced that adding a rdaio to the mix would have helped.

 

[geo]

Between the ground staff realising something was wrong & the time to raise the radio to a mouth, to scream to a para in order to get his attention, for him to react/respond, he'll have thundered into the ground IMHO... radio would then have to be returned for a refund... as possibly defective & definitely broken

 

[The Bread Guy]

Marine band replaced by CD on ghetto blaster as military musicians are sent to Afghanistan
MATTHEW HICKLEY, Daily Mail, 16 Mar 08
Article link

The Bands of Her Majesty's Royal Marines are justifiably renowned as the finest military musicians in the world.

But at ceremonial occasions the men in white helmets are having to be replaced with CDs played on ghetto blasters – more victims of the crippling manpower shortages in the armed forces.

For the first time an entire band – one of the remaining five in the UK – has had to be broken up because too many musicians have been sent to Afghanistan as medics or stretcher bearers.

Those remaining at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon – the Royal Navy's equivalent of Sandhurst – are being spread around the other four Marine bands to fill gaps in their ranks.

Defence Ministry officials insist the drastic move is temporary and it is planned to reform the band a year from now.

But insiders fear the continuing intense strains on the armed forces will make that impossible, and the Dartmouth band will soon be consigned to the history books .....

 

[daftandbarmy]

God forbid one of the dozens of Guards' Division bands gets deployed too far from Marbel Arch...

 

[daftandbarmy]

Proof that Blair is a complete idiot. Oops, was that my inside voice?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/17/northernireland.peaceprocess1

Tony Blair offered to take the unprecedented step of holding secret masked meetings with the IRA leadership as he fought to save the Northern Ireland peace process from collapse over the contentious issue of illegal weapons, a senior aide reveals today.

In a sign of the extraordinary lengths the former prime minister was prepared to go to during his decade-long quest for a settlement, he tried repeatedly to meet the IRA's eight-strong Army Council to persuade them to disarm and sign up to the peace deal.

 

[daftandbarmy]

There will be a public inquiry into Iraq, says Brown
By Andrew Grice and Nigel Morris
Monday, 17 March 2008

Gordon Brown has promised that the Government will hold a full-scale inquiry into the mistakes made in Iraq before and since the invasion five years ago.


His concession marks a significant break from his predecessor, Tony Blair, who steadfastly refused to hold a wide-ranging inquiry into the war.

Mr Brown, however, insists it is not the right time for an immediate investigation as the situation in Iraq remains "fragile" and British troops are still trying to bring stability to the country. The Prime Minister said: "There is a need to learn all possible lessons from the military action in Iraq and its aftermath."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/there-will-be-a-public-inquiry-into-iraq-says-brown-796851.html