British Military Current Events

[daftandbarmy]

That's funny Blackadder.

Here I was thinking it's a "1/2 of a freefall course" because somewhere half way down, you still open the damn chute.

 

[FJAG]

Bounties abound:

Army 'faces cuts of 10,000 soldiers' in audit next month... but will pay serving squaddies up to £12,000 each in 'finders' fee' to hire musicians​

• Experts fear the Integrated Review, due to be delivered next month, will call for the Army to be reduced to 72,000 soldiers
• This is despite repeated Government pledges to keep a permanent force of 82,000 troops
• Meanwhile, for every musician who joins and completes military training, troops will get £1,500, up to maximum of eight new recruits

Army 'faces cuts of 10,000 soldiers' in audit next month

 

[CBH99]

This is precisely what I was referencing last month or so, when I mentioned I have no idea HOW to understand the current state of the British MoD.

In one announcement, they are receiving an extra $4 Billion (GBP) a year for the next several years, guaranteed and funded. In the next announcement, they are cutting 10,000 soldiers.

In one announcement, the $4 Billion is to go towards maintaining & modernizing equipment, and to keeping personnel numbers where they are. The next announcement, they are thinking of scrapping their entire MBT fleet.


Like are they getting more money, or are they not? How are their announcements always in such polar contrasts to each other?

 

[FJAG]

This is precisely what I was referencing last month or so, when I mentioned I have no idea HOW to understand the current state of the British MoD.

In one announcement, they are receiving an extra $4 Billion (GBP) a year for the next several years, guaranteed and funded. In the next announcement, they are cutting 10,000 soldiers.

In one announcement, the $4 Billion is to go towards maintaining & modernizing equipment, and to keeping personnel numbers where they are. The next announcement, they are thinking of scrapping their entire MBT fleet.


Like are they getting more money, or are they not? How are their announcements always in such polar contrasts to each other?

I'm waiting for the actual announcement (while monitoring Pinstripe and Wavell).

It's anybody's guess.

 

[daftandbarmy]

I'm waiting for the actual announcement (while monitoring Pinstripe and Wavell).

It's anybody's guess.

But one thing is for sure: the great anachronisms (Guards Division and the Bands) shall remain intact!

 

[Cloud Cover]

ENDEX and bloody well done. A man who spent his entire working life in the Royal Navy, 4/5ths of which can never be spoken of.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Oh, this should be received well (by about half the population ):

British Army deployed to help north's hospitals overwhelmed by coronavirus pandemic

The British Army has been called in to help hospitals overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Health Minister Robin Swann confirmed this afternoon that 100 medically trained personnel will be deployed to help with nursing duties.
"I welcome this agreement, which comes at a particularly challenging and critical period for our health service," Mr Swann said.
"The armed forces have provided invaluable support in this pandemic, including aeromedical evacuation, real estate and ongoing logistical planning.

British Army deployed to help north's hospitals overwhelmed by coronavirus pandemic

The British Army has been called in to help hospitals overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

www.irishnews.com

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[daftandbarmy]

I'm shocked.... that they found her:

Woman found in Royal Navy engineer's wardrobe after two weeks

An investigation has been launched after a Royal Navy engineer reportedly snuck a woman into his barracks and hid her in a wardrobe for two weeks.

The engineer is reported to have had the woman - a foreign national - hidden in the boot of his car when he returned to base.
According to The Sun an investigation was launched after reports of a smell coming from the man's accommodation.

An anonymous source told The Sun: “She was an unauthorised foreign national on Ministry of Defence property. It’s an astonishing breach and terrifying to think what she could have accessed.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/...Oo_coj9Ka9Nxknp3ZPeM89FCOWdBcNBtWaArJ3no2bG2o

 

[Colin Parkinson]

or "whom" she accessed.

 

[Weinie]

Woman found in Royal Navy engineer's wardrobe after two weeks

An investigation has been launched after a Royal Navy engineer reportedly snuck a woman into his barracks and hid her in a wardrobe for two weeks.

The engineer is reported to have had the woman - a foreign national - hidden in the boot of his car when he returned to base.
According to The Sun an investigation was launched after reports of a smell coming from the man's accommodation.

An anonymous source told The Sun: “She was an unauthorised foreign national on Ministry of Defence property. It’s an astonishing breach and terrifying to think what she could have accessed.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/...Oo_coj9Ka9Nxknp3ZPeM89FCOWdBcNBtWaArJ3no2bG2o

Oh man........................how can I respond to this.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Woman found in Royal Navy engineer's wardrobe after two weeks

. . . snuck a woman into his barracks and hid her in a wardrobe for two weeks.

What's so unusual about that? Where else do you hide your bit of whatever in the shacks? It's not like it hasn't been done before.

The link describes the sailor as an "engineer" - The Sun, however, being a bit more salacious in tone, more descriptively calls him "a randy aircraft technician".

 

[FJAG]

This is good:

Labour shadow Foreign Secretary praises calls for British Army to be replaced with a 'gender-balanced human security force' in new woke row​

• Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy in fresh woke row after praising report replacing Armed Forces with gender-balanced human security’ corps
• 'Inspired' by report by Open Labour group which said 'UK no longer great power’
• Former Defence Minister and MP Kevan Jones branded the report ‘naive rubbish’

By GLEN OWEN and BRENDAN CARLIN FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 17:39 EST, 23 January 2021 | UPDATED: 17:44 EST, 23 January 2021

Labour’s Lisa Nandy is at the centre of a new row over ‘wokery’ after praising a report which suggested replacing Britain’s Armed Forces with a ‘gender-balanced human security’ corps.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary faced ridicule after helping to launch a report by the Open Labour group which said the main job of the forces should be to ‘dampen down violence rather than intervene on one side or the other’.
Ms Nandy, 41, said she was ‘inspired’ by the pamphlet, which included the argument that that ‘the UK is no longer a great power’ and cited ‘countries like [the] Scandinavians’ as a model for the UK’s role in the world.

She told last month’s launch: ‘I hear it a lot on the Tory benches, this idea of a country that ruled the waves.
'Rule Britannia… I think that’s given way to a nostalgia rooted in the history of the Second World War that somehow says that we’re a small island nation that goes out punching above its weight, without ever really stopping to ask why on earth it is that we’re punching at all.’

 

[daftandbarmy]

This is good:

This is good:

So, let me get this straight, she wants to replace the Army with the RAF Regiment?

 

[daftandbarmy]

Current as of last Fall, but interesting if for no other reason than for the SAS being referred to as 'bitchy'

SAS hero who received a bravery medal after single-handedly defeating jihadis goes rogue and quits elite regiment after being shunned by 'jealous' comrades​

• SAS soldier received a medal after defeating jihadis during Nairobi hotel siege
• He has quit the elite regiment after he was shunned by colleagues
• He is disclosing details about mission on social media, to former bosses' dismay

An SAS soldier who received a bravery medal after single-handedly defeating jihadis during a Nairobi hotel siege has quit the elite regiment after he was shunned by colleagues, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Footage of the Special Forces hero’s solo mission in the Kenyan capital in January 2018 was seen around the world, and he was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC), the UK’s second-highest military award.

But the crack soldier was so shaken by his treatment from SAS colleagues that he has walked out of the regiment’s Hereford base and, to the dismay of his former bosses, is disclosing details about his mission on social media.

Using the pseudonym ‘Chris Craighead’ on Instagram, the veteran has uploaded photos of his Special Forces career, including the picture of him masked and studying last-minute plans before entering the hotel.

A photo of him bursting through a hotel door clutching an assault rifle has the caption: ‘There are events in our lives which remind us that, as always, Who Dares Wins’ – the motto of the SAS.

Last night senior defence officials said they were deeply concerned about the former soldier’s Instagram profile, which could force military chiefs to take legal action. Under strict rules, Special Forces troops must not discuss their missions in public or seek to ‘cash in’ on operations.

The rules were introduced following the furore over books by ex-troopers Chris Ryan and Andy McNab which dramatically raised the SAS’s public profile and led to concerns over Special Forces troops leaking sensitive information which could compromise future operations.

The SAS veteran, who is engaged to official White House photographer Shealah Craighead and recently dined with US President Donald Trump, uses Instagram to promote equipment and weapons favoured by SAS troops – though it is unclear whether he is paid for the endorsements.

A source said: ‘We are worried about his actions online and we want to avoid any legal dispute with him.

‘He is vulnerable, having only recently left the regiment where he felt undervalued by colleagues.’

Senior officials said they wanted to speak to him urgently in case he reveals his identity or any sensitive information about Special Forces operations.

Top brass are also alarmed at apparent plans for a book and a film about the Africa mission and the man’s friendship with Ryan, who launched a literary and film career after the Bravo Two Zero mission in the 1991 Gulf War in Iraq.

But friends of the disgruntled veteran say the blame lies with SAS officers and troops who denied him credit for his action. One said: ‘There was a very bitchy response inside the SAS camp to him getting a CGC.

‘At the time, other blokes had been fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria for months without any official recognition.

‘Nobody outside the regiment will ever learn what they did. So they turned their back on him, which was really harsh.

‘He deserved several pats on the back and it is such a shame his SAS career has ended like this.’

The shunned veteran was stationed in Kenya to help train the nation’s soldiers when heavily armed jihadis from the al-Shabaab terror group seized the Dusit D2 luxury hotel complex, setting fire to vehicles, detonating explosions and embarking on a mass shooting.

The 19-hour siege left 21 dead, including British charity worker Luke Potter.

The SAS veteran did not respond to messages sent to him on Instagram, asking for a comment.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said it did not comment on Special Forces.



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...dedly-defeating-jihadis-goes-rogue-quits.html

 

[FJAG]

Not a Labour Party fan but this actually sounds like a good idea.

'Prove our military is strong enough': Labour demands annual report on the fighting capacities of our Armed Forces amid shortage of battle-ready troops​

• Labour Party wants ministers to report annually on military's fighting strength
• Daily Mail revealed over weekend that 32 of 33 battalions are short of personnel
• Infantry needs 14,984 soldiers but has only 11,301 who can be sent to battlefield

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Labour will today try to compel ministers to report annually on the fighting strength of the military.

The party’s defence spokesman John Healey will attempt to introduce the requirement by amending the Armed Forces Bill, which will be debated in the Commons.

It comes after the Daily Mail revealed on Saturday that 32 of 33 infantry battalions are short of battle-ready personnel.

A leaked MoD document – titled ‘Infantry Battalion Soldier Strength Summary, January 2021’ – listed how many soldiers each of the battalions needs.

The infantry as a whole needs 14,984 soldiers but has only 11,301 who could be sent to the battlefield, according to the report.

A target to avoid reducing the size of the Army to below 82,000 has not been met, with numbers falling to 75,310 last year.

Mr Healey said last night: ‘The strength of our forces should rightly be set by a full assessment of the security threats we face... our adversaries will exploit continuing holes in our capability. The UK needs a proper defence strategy without further delay.

‘Labour also wants to ensure the Government’s Armed Forces Bill will deliver step-change improvements in work and living conditions for the forces, veterans and their families.’

Applications to join the Army are, however, at a five-year high.

Lord Kim Darroch, a former UK ambassador to the US, warned last week that further cuts to the British Army could put trans-Atlantic defence relations at risk, with Washington already concerned that the Army is too small.

Reports have surfaced that the Army could be trimmed of 10,000 soldiers as military bosses weigh up shifting to technology such as drones to replace manpower in an integrated review which is under way.

"I would be really worried about reducing further the size of the British Army," he told the Commons Defence Committee.

"If we do this then it could potentially be quite risky to our reputation in Washington."

He told MPs that secretaries of defence in the Trump and Obama administrations used to tell him the Army was "already too small" and it had been a "big mistake" to take numbers down to 80,000.

In November, the Prime Minister set out a £16.5 billion increase in defence spending over four years as he said the UK faced a "perilous" period for global security.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-report-fighting-capacities-Armed-Forces.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

Not a Labour Party fan but this actually sounds like a good idea.



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-report-fighting-capacities-Armed-Forces.html

Some good observations about some of these issued by the TPSL:

Taking the Shilling - Thoughts on Infantry Recruitment and Retention​

The British Army is apparently under strength, and no less than 31 of the Army’s 32 Infantry Battalions do not have enough soldiers to ensure 100% ability to deploy. This is the summary of a story from the DailyMail today, which puts forward some grim numbers.
It notes that there should be 14,984 infantry soldiers, but in reality, only 11,301 are ‘fully deployable’ and ready for operations. In total there are 13,346 fully trained infantry soldiers right now, a deficit of some 1600 troops. Questions are being asked as to why this shortfall exists, with the blame being laid at the door of Capita (from a recruiting perspective) as well as accommodation shortfalls and other issues.
Is this a big issue, or is it something that is perhaps overstated, or even not that big a deal?

There seem to be two different sets of numbers to worry about here. The first number is the total number of ‘fully deployable’ soldiers. It is simply not realistic to expect that 100% of the infantry will, every day, be fully deployable and medically fit for operations.
Like any large work force, people’s health varies, and their personal circumstances change. There will be days when troops call in sick, or they could be isolating with COVID symptoms, or they could be off on long term absence for a variety of reasons. As with every large work force in the world, there will never be a day when the Infantry is 100% ‘fully deployable’.

Every Army in the world has the same problem though. There is always going to be a throughput of soldiers who will not be able to go out for duty as a result of injuries they sustain. In a physically arduous role like that of an infanteer, injuries are more common due to the nature of the job.

This is a fascinating subject to look at, and a lot more can be written on it. But the key message to draw is that no infantry unit, anywhere in the world, is ever 100% fully deployable, and that the challenges facing the Army today, are no different to the challenges it has faced for decades.
This does not mean that the UK is at risk, or that we are less safe. But there is a fascinating conversation to be had around how the Army reaches out, recruits and works out how to retain infantry in sufficient numbers as the contingency for the day when we do need brave men and women to willingly charge towards gunfire, in order to close with, and kill, the enemy.

Taking the Shilling - Thoughts on Infantry Recruitment and Retention

Defence blog focusing on 21st century analysis of Cold War defence, security and continuity of government problems.

thinpinstripedline.blogspot.com

 

[The Bread Guy]

Bringing the British defence news in an entirely different direction ...

British Royal Navy Lieutenant Claire Jenkins allegedly filmed porn films with her parter, Leading Seaman Liam Doddington, inside Her Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde located at Faslane on Scotland's Gare Loch. HMNB Clyde is where the Royal Navy stores its nuclear submarines and nuclear weapons. Jenkins reportedly posted the clips to her Only Fans site ...

Usual Sun caveats apply.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Bringing the British defence news in an entirely different direction ...

Usual Sun caveats apply.

See what happens when you allow the troops to breed across messes? Standards.... sigh

 

[CBH99]

Well this lass just got a huge amount of free advertising. I'm guessing her OnlyFans account just started generating a lot more revenue

 

[daftandbarmy]

Interesting idea. Many of my troops were 'on the edge of the law' before they joined and all turned out to be great leaders:

A Captive Audience; Recruiting From Prison​

​

“It was Parris or Prison and the judge said: “son you better make a decision.”
Huey Morgan


The above lyrics, sang by the lead singer of the Fun Lovin’ Criminals, are autobiographical. Huey Morgan was given the choice of heading off to Parris Island, the home of the United States Marine Corps recruit training, or to prison. He chose the former and served in Operation Desert Storm. A combination of the UK prison population being near an all-time high and the Armed Forces being in a dire manning situation presents an opportunity. The UK Military, and wider society, could benefit from a similar approach to the one Morgan describes.

The Armed Forces should actively seek volunteers who are about to enter, or are already in, prison. They should targeting those seeking a way out of their criminal past. Prisoners are, after all, a captive audience in the most literal sense of the word. This article will show that having service personnel with minor criminal offences isn’t new. It argues that this proposal could be achieved without additional significant investment. The nation, the Army, and the individual would all benefit.

The prison population​

The current prison population is approximately 92,500. Of those around 29,000 are between the ages of 18 and 29, the recruiting age range for the Forces. 10,000 of the total population are being held on sentences of 2 years or less. You can be awarded a 2-year sentence just for carrying a knife and this is not uncommon amongst an urban youth fearful of violence. If just 2% of this population volunteered per year, and successfully completed training, the Forces would gain the equivalent of the ships company of a Type 45 Destroyer (about 200). At 6% the forces would gain the trained strength of an Infantry Battalion (about 600). The potential benefits would be significantly larger if those serving longer sentences were considered for this programme.

“Some of our men enlist… for minor offences. Many more for drink. But you can hardly conceive such a set brought together, and it really is wonderful that we should have made them the fine fellows that they are.“

The Duke of Wellington, 1831

Recruiting prisoners isn’t new, as is clear in the above quote is from The Duke of Wellington. Drink still stands as a problem. Yet, it could be easily interchanged in a contemporary environment with drugs. In quote above, the Duke recognises how beneficial service was and it remains true today. If men like these, the scum of the earth, won Waterloo, then they could be the same men (and women) that help us win the next conflict.

How could this work?​

Prisoners could enter a modified initial training progress (phase 1) which would be conducted at the Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC). At the end of this process, and if deemed suitable, they could progress to phase 2. There should be some credit for volunteering; and if prisoners were not suitable they could be given a reduction in sentence for completion of the programme. Successful crime free time could come with other benefits such as reduction before a conviction is considered ‘spent’. Should prisoners commit further crimes when in the Forces then their previous convictions could be taken into consideration in the service discipline chain. If the cumulative effect of their new offences, alongside older ones was serious enough, they could be discharged and sent back to civilian prison.

In 2018, a report by the Her Majesties Inspectorate of Prisons complimented MCTC on a ‘culture [that] is incredibly positive’. This is in stark contrast to reports from most prisons where poor conditions, violence, and abuse prevail. This would give volunteers a good option to exit a destructive environment into a much more positive one, which provides paid employment by default at the end of it. MCTC has a maximum capacity of 332 yet it routinely only holds around 50 inmates. On a purely practical question, MTMC can handle the proposed 200 additional trainees. As an establishment, MTMC it is already set up to deliver basic military training. The Forces could convert part of the capacity to train volunteers for the programme.


https://wavellroom.com/2019/08/01/a-captive-audience-recruiting-from-prisons-prison/