British Military Current Events

[Yrys]

Brown visits Afghanistan troops

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been in Afghanistan's Helmand province visiting British troops.
The PM talked to soldiers at Camp Bastion during the first stage of a trip in which he also visits
Pakistan.

After talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, he announced a new strategy for dealing
with terrorism across border areas with Pakistan. Mr Brown warned of a "chain of terror" starting
in the mountainous region and ending in capital cities worldwide. He said the UK wants provinces
to be handed over to government control one by one - similar to the process in Iraq.

'Crucible of terrorism'

Mr Brown said he also wanted to see the Afghan army expanded from 75,000 to 135,000-strong by
the end of 2011, as well as seeing thousands more police. In a joint press conference with President
Karzai, Mr Brown said Britain could not "sit by" and do nothing. "These border areas between
Afghanistan and Pakistan are the breeding ground, the crucible of terrorism," he said.

"A chain of terror links these areas to the streets of many of the capital cities of the world.

"Our strategy for working with both the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan in tackling
this terrorist threat will be complementary.

"We will tackle it because security in these mountainous border areas, which may seem distant
and remote from home, will mean more security in Britain."

Mr Brown said he and President Karzai would "jointly work" on "eradicating terrorism" in the
border areas. Announcing money to support elections in Afghanistan, Mr Brown said it was
"absolutely important" that while progress had been made on Afghan elections and infrastructure
it was important to "defeat international terrorism and hold it back from here in Lashkar Gar,
here in Helmand province, but also on the other side of the border in Pakistan".

On his visit to Camp Bastion Mr Brown was given a briefing by Brigadier Tim Radford, commander
of Task Force Helmand and took part in a meeting of local community leaders including Helmand's
governor Gulab Mangal.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned Pakistan that relations with the US will be threatened
unless Islamabad combats the rise of the Taleban.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Territorial Army recruits to be fast-tracked to the front line
New recruits to the Territorial Army will be fast-tracked through military training so commanders can make greater use of reservists on the front line.

By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:07PM BST 27 Apr 2009

A review of Britain's military reserves published on Tuesday will recommend an enhanced training regime for members of the TA, to allow them to work more closely with regular troops on operations.
The change is part of a plan to create what ministers will present as a more professional reserve force. Critics will focus on the prospect of some TA units being cut or amalgamated as part of a "streamlining" exercise.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5232112/Territorial-Army-recruits-to-be-fast-tracked-to-the-front-line.html

 

[CougarKing]

Just another update:

http://www.defencemanagement.com/news_story.asp?id=9321

Faslane to get remaining nuclear subs

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Despite nuclear safety breaches, Faslane naval base will take control of the entire submarine fleet by 2015, leading to the closure of Devonport according to a leaked document on the submarine fleet's future.

The document calls for the three remaining Trafalgar class submarines based at Devonport to be moved to Faslane in Scotland. Already the Maritime Change Programme has called for the surface frigates to be moved to Portsmouth. These two moves together would only leave a few amphibious ships at the Plymouth naval base.

Ultimately this would make the yard disposable and the MoD could close it after 2015.

Closing the base would result in up to 24,000 job losses and £850m being pulled from the local economy according to a study by the Plymouth Business School.

Scotland has much to gain from the move. Thousands of submarine support jobs will be moved to the base and the decision confirms that all of the Astutes will be based out of Faslane as well.

However, the move is not expected to be welcomed by the ruling SNP. The party has made clear its opposition to the presence of nuclear powered submarines and its desire to close Faslane. Recent reports of radioactive leaks at the shipyard caused outrage within the SNP ranks. But the MoD's decision to move the submarines sends a clear message: The yard is going nowhere.

Defence is one area where devolved governments have no authority.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Colonel David Wood

Colonel David Wood, who has died aged 86, commanded one of the glider-borne platoons which crash-landed into France in the opening minutes of D-Day.

Photo: CLARE KENDALL
Among the most important tasks in advance of the invasion was to seize intact two bridges in Normandy that were vital for the resupply of the 6th Airborne Division which would be arriving to secure the eastern flank of the British bridgehead.
Wood was in “D” Company 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, known as the 52nd. His OC was Major John Howard, a tough and demanding trainer of men.

At four minutes short of midnight on June 5, the first of six gliders took off, the others following at one minute intervals. The men inside were an intimidating sight. Their faces were blackened and each had a rifle or a Bren gun and six to nine grenades; some carried mortars.
At 18 minutes after midnight Wood, who was in the second glider, crash-landed near the bridge over the Caen Canal (later renamed Pegasus Bridge). He was thrown out by the force of the impact. He quickly recovered to find himself on the ground clutching to his chest a bucket of 36 primed grenades.
Howard, who only a few minutes earlier had staggered out of the wreckage of the leading glider, told him to get on with his task and Wood led the way, his men following him, as Howard said later, “like a pack of unleashed hounds”.
They attacked the Germans in the trenches at the near end of the bridge, but a burst of fire from an automatic pistol brought down Wood and his platoon sergeant beside him. Wood was hit in the left thigh by three bullets at close range and was bleeding badly. Later, when both bridges had been captured, he was wounded again by shrapnel splinters and had to be evacuated to England.
David James Wood was born at Corsham, Wiltshire, on February 23 1923 and educated at Monkton Combe . He enlisted in 1941 and became a Royal Fusilier before going to OCTU. From there he was commissioned and posted to the 52nd.
When Wood reported to him, Major Howard thought that the 19 year-old would be too young for the tough chaps in his company. “He was a fresh-faced, sandy haired lad,” Howard wrote in his diary, “and although he showed great enthusiasm, he isn’t much use to me but may shape up in time.” A year later, however, Howard admitted having “changed my mind completely”, writing: “Wood is a rattling good officer and I wouldn’t lose him for the world.”
After the war, Wood was granted a regular commission and rejoined the 52nd in Greece in 1949. He was GSO 3 (Ops) at HQ 1 (British) Corps in BAOR before commanding a company of the 1st Bn Green Jackets (which the Ox & Bucks had joined) in Cyprus.
One day, walking along a street in Limassol with a young subaltern of his company, there came a loud explosion on the other side of a wall not far from them. The young officer’s reaction was to jump smartly into a ditch. Wood kept on walking and said in his usual unhurried manner: “That sounds to me like a 36 Mills grenade. I think we had better go and have a look.”
An appointment as DAA&QMG at HQ 39 Brigade in Northern Ireland was followed by a spell at the US Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia.
In 1961 he was second-in-command of the 1st Green Jackets in Penang and subsequently on operations during the insurgency in Brunei. He was mentioned in despatches.
He served as Military Assistant to the Chief of Staff at HQ BAOR and was appointed MBE at the end of his tour. In 1966 he moved to Aden as Assistant Military Secretary Middle East Land Forces. After an appointment at Staff College, Camberley, and three years as Commander of Rhine Area, in 1977 he retired from the Army.
Wood settled in Devon, from where he returned almost every year to Normandy. He enjoyed the hospitality of many French friends and was a popular figure among his fellow veterans. In 2004, 60 years on from D-Day, he was appointed to the Légion d’honneur by the French government for his services to Anglo-French relations.
David Wood died on March 12. He married, in 1969, Alice Bingloss, a former officer of Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, who survives him. There were no children.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/army-obituaries/5232132/Colonel-David-Wood.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

Review Recommends Reserves Future


A Strategic Review of the UK's Reserve Forces, which has looked at how the Reserves can be better organised, trained, equipped and supported, has been published. 
The review was launched in April 2008 to reflect the changing demands faced by our reservists in recent years.

As well as preparing to defend the country in the event of a major conflict, reservists are now required to work as an integral part of the UK's military force on operations and many have deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq with 2,000 (8 per cent of current forces deployed) currently serving in these theatres in roles varying from fighting on the front line to medical support.
The review, which has been the first ever focused specifically on UK Reserves, produced seven central findings, including improving training, creating clearer command structures and increasing the use of individual reservists' skills. These seven recommendations break down into 80 more detailed recommendations.
The Government has accepted all seven of the recommendations, around half of which are being implemented immediately with work underway to address the others.
In a statement to the Houses of Parliament, Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth said:
"Our Reserve Forces have served this country with distinction in all the major conflicts and crises that we have faced in recent times, including current operations, with 18,000 deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.
"The roles and demands faced by our reservists have changed considerably over the years, and their structures, training and organisation need to be updated to reflect this.
"This comprehensive Reserves Review provides a crucial blueprint for the future of Reserve Forces and recognises the vital contribution they have made and will continue to make."
Since 2003, 15 reservists have been killed in operational theatres. Mr Ainsworth said:
"When I visit operational theatres I never fail to be impressed by men and women of our Reserve Forces who give up their time to serve their country."
Mr Ainsworth, continuing his statement to the House, said:
"The review has redefined the purpose of the UK's Reserves and notes that they provide defence with a cost effective way of retaining specialised skills which are invaluable to current operations. The review also acknowledges that reservists remain vital for supporting national resilience and it recognises the very important role that they play in connecting the Armed Forces with the nation."
Providing greater clarity to reservists about what is expected of them and what they can expect in return forms another key point of the review, which for the first time sets out a proposition of what the Reserve Service offers volunteers and clearly states the rewards, benefits and training opportunities available.
It has also set out to strengthen the assistance provided to employers who support reservists through deployments and training, and to accommodate the demands of reservist commitment.
The seven recommendations of the review are:
1. In future the Reserve is likely to be needed for augmentation as much as for maximum effort, and be used more effectively to connect with the nation.
2. Defence should consider how best to adjust the balance of liability, roles and readiness within and between the Reserve and Regular Forces. Defence should also establish a mechanism to maximise delivery of niche capabilities across the Reserve.
3. Training is pivotal to the proposition. The delivery of training should be overhauled to make it more relevant, consistent and correctly resourced.
4. Command and control, principally in the Territorial Army, should be clearer to deliver the necessary purpose, greater flexibility of use, and better integration.
5. The volunteer estate should be modernised and (strategically) rationalised to improve its strategic management and design its 21st century footprint.
6. Defence should accept the proposition for the Reserve and acknowledge its current fragility in certain areas.
7. Defence should review Terms and Conditions of Service, removing complexity and administrative barriers between the Reserve and Regulars.
Mr Ainsworth said to the House:
"Reservist training will be refocused with a greater emphasis on preparation to support current operations. Initial training will be restructured so that new recruits receive sufficient military skills to participate in their units' collective training within six months of joining, and are fully trained and eligible for mobilisation within three years. Routine training will also be reviewed and sufficient training days allocated to ensure annual military competency standards can be achieved by all.
"The Territorial Army [TA] will be better integrated with the Regular Army. This will ensure that the Army, both Regular and Reserve, is best structured to support ongoing and future operations. It will include stopping reservist tasks that are no longer needed thereby bringing efficiencies and enabling manpower to be used for higher priorities.
"A number of posts within TA signals units were formed to operate equipment that has now become obsolete. These posts will now be removed and include Headquarters 12 Signals Group and 33, 34 and 35 Signals Regiments. It makes sense to reallocate resources from these posts to higher defence priorities. This decision has not been taken lightly and we are very aware of the exceptional contribution made by the Royal Signals within the TA.
"Where possible those affected by this decision will be offered other opportunities within the TA, and we will be conducting further work to decide the most effective configuration for the TA Royal Signals. This decision was arrived at separately from the Reserves Review, but is entirely consistent with it."
He concluded his speech saying:
"The review we publish today is important for our Armed Forces and for Britain's Reserves. It makes clear that the two are not separate but that Reserves provide an integral part of our military force structure. It provides a firm basis from which we can work further to develop and improve our Reserve Forces, and how we support them.
"I believe this is an exciting opportunity for our reservists. The review outcome is a comprehensive piece of work which has been welcomed by the Service Chiefs. It is a blueprint to ensure that our Reserve Forces have a clear and bright future to match their illustrious past."
Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Reserves and Cadets) Major General Simon Lalor, the UK's most senior serving reservist, said of the review:
"On behalf of the reservist community, I welcome this report. The Strategic Review of Reserves marks a step change in the development of the UK's Reserve Forces, being the first time they have been looked at in their own right.
"By acknowledging the vital contribution Reserves make on operations, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then looking in detail as to how the Reserves can be better organised, equipped and supported, this review has provided the MOD with a clear mandate for change and improvement. As a result the Reserves will be in the best possible shape to meet the challenges not just of today but more importantly of tomorrow."
The Reserves Review was conducted by a team led by Major General Nicholas Cottam which consulted with the reserves community including the Reserve Forces and Cadets Associations.

http://www.modoracle.com/news/Review-Recommends-Reserves-Future_17929.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

Ex-paratrooper 'waged guerrilla war and spied on neighbours'

What a great idea… luckily I’ve got the perfect cam net in my admin area, oops, I mean basement.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1175103/Ex-paratrooper-waged-guerrilla-war-spied-neighbours.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

And staying with the theme of "I wonder what all those Ex-Paras are doing now?", proof that we are at least not boring:


Sex change Army hero Jan to become Scotland's first 'transgender' police officerBy Miles Goslett


Jan Hamilton, formerly Captain Ian Hamilton, quit the Army in 2007 after 20 years’ decorated service and embarked on a full gender reassignment programme.

Now living in Glasgow, she has been accepted by Strathclyde Police to begin two years’ probationary training, making her Scotland’s first transgender police officer.

A source said that Miss Hamilton, 44, had ‘sailed through’ the initial six-month selection process: ‘Jan Hamilton scored highly in the written tests and had no problem with the fitness tests.

'She completed the mile-and-a-half run in about 11 minutes, even though women are allowed to take up to 16.’

The source added that senior officers had given their full backing to her application.

The fact that Miss Hamilton was born a man will have no bearing on the way that she is expected to operate because she is legally recognised as a woman.

For example, she will only be able to search other women, in line with police guidelines.

She will also wear the uniform of a Strathclyde Police woman constable, including the reinforced bowler hat.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1176734/Sex-change-Army-hero-Jan-Scotlands-transgender-police-officer.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

Brigade HQ prepares for Afghan deployment at new training lab

Exercise Brilliant Lightening 6 saw 11 Light Brigade undergo Command and Control Tactics, Techniques and Procedures training at the recently created Command and Control Battle Lab at the Defence Academy.

The exercise has helped the brigade headquarters staff exploit the Command and Control tools available to them by developing their skills through mission-specific training.
And, in conjunction with the Land Warfare Centre's Command and Control Development Centre, the new Command and Control Battle Lab played a major role in the exercise by developing the Tactics, Techniques and Procedures that will allow the brigade to best exploit their equipment's capabilities on operations.
The focus of Exercise Brilliant Lightening 6 was to allow the brigade HQ staff to finesse their 'Plan-Refine-Execute' process which runs through how to plan, adapt and then carry out missions while on operations.
The process is predominantly focused on the OVERTASK information infrastructure, which is the UK's component of the NATO information infrastructure in Afghanistan. OVERTASK provides a number of Command and Control applications to company-level which enables them to have access to maps and other tools to assist them on the ground.

11 Light Brigade is the first brigade to receive this type of application training
[Picture: MOD]
11 Light Brigade is the first brigade to receive this type of collective application training using the Tactics, Techniques and Procedures that have been developed by the Command and Control Battle Lab. Commander of 11 Light Brigade, Brigadier J M Cowan, said:
"As the first brigade to have had the opportunity to train on OVERTASK at the Command and Control Battle Lab, I am confident that we will be well-placed to use its applications to best effect in the planning, refinement and execution of operations in Helmand.
"Our engagement with the capability is at an early stage, but I am impressed by its utility, and I sense that we can exploit it much more fully in training between now and our deployment."
The Command and Control Battle Lab, which was set up in February 2009, was formed out of the Joint Command and Control Capability Integration Facility which was initiated to provide Tactics, Techniques and Procedures development and subject matter expertise to the Joint Command and Control Support Programme.
In many respects 11 Light Brigade has pioneered the way that Command and Control will be exercised by the Army in the future - a future that will be rapidly realised when they arrive in Afghanistan.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/TrainingAndAdventure/BrigadeHqPreparesForAfghanDeploymentAtNewTrainingLab.htm

 

[daftandbarmy]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6222494.ece

Wandering Afghan goatherd holds up lethal attack on Taleban roadside bombers

Four Taleban insurgents appeared at one end of a bridge on Route Cowboys and began to dig a hole for a roadside bomb. Buzzing above them at a height of 9,000ft was a Hermes unmanned aerial vehicle, relaying pictures of the scene to British commanders.
Soon, two Belgian Air Force F16s had flown in and were ready to pulverise the Taleban fighters. Just as they were about to swoop in for the kill there was a shout over the radio: “Stop, hold fire - there's a boy with goats approaching.”
Sure enough, a young Afghan goatherd with a few goats around him was walking towards the bridge. The world seemed to freeze. The F16 pilots remained on alert. The Taleban continued burying their explosives, and with growing frustration British officers watched - in operations rooms within sight of the bridge, in battlegroup headquarters at Forward Operating Base Delhi farther north, and in Camp Bastion, the main base in central Helmand - the goatherd's slow progress.
Route Cowboys runs north to south past a line of mini-patrol bases six miles from Garmsir. The nearest base is Patrol Base Hassan Abad, home of B Company 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment, and the bridge is Bridge Three.
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If the insurgents registered the presence of the F16s it did nothing to stop them - two of them continued working while a third began to walk backwards holding a wire and disappeared from view. The fourth, apparently the leader, had left on a motorcycle.
Finally the goatherd was safely clear of the area and the jets were given the order to attack. Rather than dropping a 500lb bomb that would have damaged the bridge, one of the jets came roaring in and strafed the area with 30mm cannon where the two Taleban had nearly finished burying their improvised explosive device (IED). They both died.
The insurgent with the wire had climbed on to a motorbike and the Hermes drone followed him as he drove south, taking photographs that told the F16 pilots where he was heading. The man went into a compound to change his clothes and then drove off again to a rendezvous spot known to be a Taleban command centre. He was allowed to escape.
At 4.30am the next day, 100 soldiers set off from Hassan Abad base towards Bridge Three. They were accompanied by two US Marine bomb-disposal specialists. “Don't use my name, sir, just say I'm from USMCEOD [US Marine Corps Explosive Ordnance Demolition],” one of them, a Texan sporting a heavy-duty pair of sunglasses and who shares a tent with The Times, said.
Progress is painstaking. Overnight it is possible that the Taleban have planted more IEDs. Every patrol “multiple” has a soldier with a metal detector sweeping the ground in front of him as the rest of us follow, knowing that the Taleban are watching from the poppy and wheat fields as the dim light turns to dawn. Hermes 450, with that reassuring and familiar buzzing engine, watches our progress.
At one point each soldier, carrying more than 100lb on his back, has to walk along a terrifyingly thin sluice-gate wall over a deep irrigation canal and leap across a gap of about 2ft and land, balanced, on the wall beyond to reach the other side. For one soldier it is too much; he topples over and falls into the water. One of his comrades has to leap in to get him and find his rifle.
We reach Bridge Three without being shot at. The journey - two miles as the crow flies - has taken nearly five hours, partly because a compound suspected of being used by the Taleban has had to be searched. It is getting oppressively hot. Soldiers spread out to control the ground and make sure there is no one concealed within sight of the bridge who might be able to detonate a bomb.
Lieutenant Ed Hattersley, 25, of B Company 2 Mercian, only two years out of Sandhurst, approaches the area of the suspected IED, lies full stretch on the ground and starts to dig away gently with his knife, scooping away the dry earth with a paintbrush. All the rest of the group can do is wait.
The young lieutenant finds enough evidence to confirm the presence of an IED, and the two experts from the US Marine Corps move in. They uncover four mortar shells filled with explosives and linked - known as a “daisy-chain” device.
With no protection other than normal body armour and helmets, they pick up the bombs and carry them away from Bridge Three. They pack their own explosives around the bombs, draw back a distance, and give the signal: “Sixty seconds, heads down”... ingers to ears, helmeted heads tucked into chests.
The bomb is destroyed and we return to camp. The IED was planted at about 5pm the previous day; it is now 11.30am the day after, and 100 men are exhausted from the strains of a seven-hour mission.
That was only one IED - and there are scores more.

 

[daftandbarmy]

My day in the Military Tattoo
The Navy's Field Gun Competition is being resurrected after 10 years and it's not for the faint-hearted

Here's a little tip. In the unlikely event that you ever find yourself about to take part in the Field Gun Competition, once a highlight of the much-missed Royal Tournament and soon to be resurrected after an absence of 10 years, it's probably best to avoid chatting beforehand to Chief Petty Officer Jason Steele.
As a child watching the tournament before penny-pinching forced its demise in 1999, I always thought the race looked rather fun: all those super-fit sailors lugging huge guns over five-foot high walls and racing them up the arena at Earls Court before letting off a triumphant volley of shots. What I didn't appreciate was just how dangerous it was for competitors like CPO Steele, six foot two of beefy Northern Irish manhood.

Back in 1991, at the age of 18, he became the youngest sailor to take part in the race and next month he will be a proud participant once again when it is brought back into the public eye at the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo. That's if he survives the training. "I nearly lost the tip of that finger when a wheel fell on it one year," he tells me cheerfully as we chat in his office at the HMS Nelson naval establishment in Portsmouth. "I've also fractured my thumb and another time I broke my foot.''
I gulp for I will shortly be changing out of the comfort of my suit and into a pair of blue combat trousers and heavy black boots to take part in the race. I have never been a big fan of being injured and my nerves are hardly calmed as CPO Steele begins a litany of lost limbs. "I have seen men lose fingers, carry on with the race and pick them up at the end because that's how much winning meant to them," he says. "One year a guy lost his foot and another one ended up clinically dead on the course. Luckily they managed to resurrect him in hospital.''
As I join Steele and his team-mates on the narrow stretch of Tarmac which serves as a practice course, what marks me out, apart from a look of fear, is that I don't have a nickname like Speedy, Nobby or Gunga-Din. There is also a Shirley – David Temple, a weapons engineering officer on HMS Nottingham – but, as I will later discover, there is nothing girly about him.
My nickname should probably be Scaredy, but I daren't admit that because these men are part of a brave tradition that began in the Boer War when British sailors manhandled field guns across inhospitable terrain to relieve the siege of Ladysmith. The gun they race with is similar to that used then, weighing 1250lb, with additional weight coming from the accompanying ammunition carriage and four wheels – each of which weigh 120lb.
The total amount lifted during one part of the race is just under a ton, about the weight of an average family car – and, as I wait on the start line, my sympathy lies with the Royal Marines team which, according to naval lore, was once disqualified from the Royal Tournament for hollowing out its gun barrel to make it lighter.
But hold on. Where are the walls, the ramps, the 28-foot wide chasms which made the event so exciting? Much to my relief, and the disgruntlement of the men taking part, the race is run these days over a flat 85-yard course – thanks to funding cuts and concerns about health and safety. Hurrah for red-tape, that's all I can say.
Bureaucracy apart, this version of the competition follows a tradition dating back to 1907, when a Portsmouth-based brewery began sponsoring a field gun competition for naval teams within the town. Involving much impressively high-speed dismantling and reassembly of the gun, the Brickwood Trophy has been fiercely contested at naval open days ever since and I am disturbed to learn that it can be every bit as dangerous as its more famous counterpart.
The guns are the same as those used in the Royal Tournament and their combined weight and speed over flat ground gives them tremendous momentum. Even with 16 of the 18 men in a team pulling them to a halt, they have a braking distance of some 25 yards, so anyone who falls underneath their wheels is in serious trouble.
''One guy was run over by the gun a couple of years ago and ended up in intensive care," says Jason Steele (I really must stop talking to him). "He's alright now, and he wanted to compete in Brickwoods again, but his missus wouldn't let him.'
Following Steele's roll-call of the field gun fallen, I pray that I will be given one of the less demanding jobs: perhaps carrying the pin which secures the wheels and looks nice and light. Instead chief trainer Glen Young puts me at the front of the ammunition carriage, or "limber" as it's known to naval types.
The training is based on "bit drill" – rehearsing tiny segments of the course again and again until they become second nature. Today we are practising the first five seconds of the start when the team divides into two – five running from the start to the gun on the 40-yard line and the rest to the dismantled ammunition carriage, or "limber", which is at 10 yards.
My job is to sprint to the front of the limber and pick up one end of a thick rope or "drag", while the others lift the ammunition box and slide on its wheels. How hard can it be? Very, apparently.
The course is only 10 yards wide and, amidst the blur of pumping arms and legs that ensues as soon as Glen Young bellows "Go", I step outside the white line at the edge – incurring us a time penalty of three seconds.
''Get down and give me five," Young bellows. Come again? "Get down and give me five press-ups," he insists. I want to squeak that I'm only a journalist but down I go in the hot midday sun – nose to Tarmac.
My punishment over, I am determined not to mess up the next section, which involves dragging the limber towards the gun, stopping as soon as I hear the signal "check'. Again, this sounds simple enough but if I come to a halt too soon, all my team-mates and the heavy limber will come crashing into the back of me.
Miraculously, I seem to get this right – or so I think until I notice Shirley glowering at me. In my efforts to stop in the right place, I had let my rope go slack and nearly tripped him over, a potentially fatal error in the real competition.
Shirley lets me off with a hard stare and so we continue for what seems like forever but is in fact only an hour. By the end of the training session, we have covered only a few seconds of the course, much of it at half speed, but that is enough for me.
I am exhausted, but strangely I have enjoyed my fleeting experience of the teamwork that endears field gun racing to so many sailors. Years ago, they prepared for the competition for many months beforehand and were paid for doing so, but the cost-cutting that ended the Royal Tournament in 1999 means that today's Brickwood Trophy competitors must give up their free time to take part.
This seems wrong to those who believe that such competitions are an ideal way to instil the very "core values" the Royal Navy claims to be looking for in its recruits – including courage, commitment, and respect for others.
In a politically correct age, when new recruits can no longer be bawled at, or forced to do physical exercise if they misbehave, they say that the years since the Royal Tournament have seen a decline in discipline within the service. It has all become a bit "pink and fluffy," according to one officer.
If so then, as this reluctant sailor can testify, there's no better remedy than the gun run.
Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo from May 13-16. To book tickets, visit www.windsortattoo.com or call the box office on 0871 230 5570.
Exclusive Reader Offer
As media partner to the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo, we have 2,500 free tickets on offer for active servicemen and women.* Call the box office on 0871 230 5570 or visit www.windsortattoo.com with your name, rank, number and unit; quote ''TRISERVICE’’ to get two free tickets for either Wednesday 13 or Thursday 14 May. *Tickets are subject to availability.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/5279413/My-day-in-the-Military-Tattoo.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

War has changed. We need men on the ground, not aircraft carriers

The Armed Forces cannot expect a spending rise any time soon. So defence chiefs must be ready for some hard decisions
Allan Mallinson

What are the Armed Forces for? As Britain exits Iraq, and Afghanistan moves to the centre of the military stage it is interesting to look back at this Government's ambitions for the Army. In 1998 the Strategic Defence Review, modified by the 2003 White Paper, was clear: “As a norm, and without causing overstretch, the Armed Forces must be capable of conducting three simultaneous and enduring operations of small to medium-scale.”
Despite a defence budget of more than £30 billion we were unable to commit to two. Why? The short answer is that under Gordon Brown the Treasury would not come up with the cash. But since there is no prospect of more cash from this or an incoming Tory government, defence planning assumptions must be reined in further, or the priorities re-examined.
Always dogging chiefs of staff is the balance between current operations and the need to deter war and to be able to fight one if deterrence fails. Doing a bit of everything was always the preferred strategy, but that is no longer affordable; it is time for senior officers to earn their pay and advise unequivocally on which strategic risk to take. It is not that difficult: real and present dangers must take priority over possible future threats.
Or, in the words of the former Chief of Defence Staff Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, shoot the wolf nearest the sledge.
But conflict between the needs of the present and future may not be as pronounced as supposed. It is clear enough what Iraq needed and Afghanistan needs: more men, more helicopters, better armoured protection - the same as in Bosnia, Kosovo and Sierra Leone. But what of future war? Do we really envisage, in the time frame of the defence programme, the need to replace like-for-like the technology of the Cold War era for interstate war on the old “kinetic” model? Is Nato not strong enough to confront such a threat? Need we make so great a unilateral effort in the medium term? And what would fighting in future interstate wars actually look like on the ground? The defeat of the Iraqi army in 2003 was a far more subtle affair than in the Gulf War of 1992, which was fought in the empty spaces, not among the people.
War among the people, whether inter-state or counter-insurgency, needs, above all, state-of-the art intelligence and general purpose infantrymen; it needs the type of aircraft that can support them - helicopters not more Eurofighters; it needs ships able to control coastal waters in the way that troops control the streets - frigates not Leviathan aircraft carriers.
Nuclear weapons reinforce international caution, but our strategic deterrent need not operate in its old Cold War posture. The Shadow Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, speaking at the weekend, suggested that Trident's replacement might be three submarines, not four. This is a sensible judgment of strategic risk: there is scarcely a case for continuous deterrence any longer, rather the capability to deploy an undetectable deterrent when necessary.
Above all, we need to be ruthlessly honest about the state we're in. Much of the MoD seems to be carrying on as if we were not at war. It has grown too large to respond with agility, as the past six years have shown, while the increasingly organisation of everything from operations to procurement for all three services together, far from producing the necessary synthesis of the various single-service needs, has become its own creature, promoting, literally, those offices who “understand” the tri-service line. Too often this has little to do with the reality of operations.
Nothing illustrates this better than the scandalous state of our military medical services: we can no longer treat wounded servicemen in the military nursing environment that best speeds their recovery and return to duty. For every soldier killed in Afghanistan half a dozen are wounded, some seriously. The Army is under strength: arithmetic, not just questions of morale and decency, demands that we get our medical services on a proper war footing.
But if the Army is under strength, how can we raise a bigger one? It would be nothing like the problem we imagine. If a larger Army were the MoD's priority, the entire atmosphere for recruiting, and critically for retention, would change. It is far easier to recruit for a growing organisation. “Personnel costs” would no longer be dirty words if it were acknowledged that the man is the first weapon of war.
The cash would follow the minister's and the Chief of Defence Staff's priorities. And once the Army regained its balance, with the right mix of operations, recuperation and retraining, soldiers and their families would find the stamina to stay. Nor need we be nearsighted in our search for recruits. The Gurkhas, though no longer a “cheap option”, could easily double in strength. They are now more able to integrate on operations, and, in places such as Afghanistan, have distinct language and cultural advantages. The recently published review of the Reserve Forces also recognises that the Territorial Army should be used to augment operations as much as for “maximum effort” in times of national emergency. That said, however, no matter how imaginative the reforms, the sheer impracticalities and uncertainties of employing reservists will always militate against relying on formed TA units rather than individuals, except in so-called “niche capabilities”.
Although he failed to perceive the nature of the Iraq insurgency, Donald Rumsfeld at least transformed US armed forces from Cold War “heavy” to expeditionary “light”. We must now do the same. Not only is there a budgetary imperative, there is a strategic one. Future war and current operations are not unconnected: defeat today only heightens the risk of war in the future. Were we defeated in Iraq, as some commentators suggest? The mere question is alarming enough.
Allan Mallinson is a military historian, novelist and former soldier

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6244435.ece

 

[Kirkhill]

.....
For example, she will only be able to search other women, in line with police guidelines. ....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1176734/Sex-change-Army-hero-Jan-Scotlands-transgender-police-officer.html

It all comes clear now.  This is not an indication of declining standards in the Paras (which Dad would be distressed to discover).  This is the culmination of a long thought plan (5 mins in a Aldershot pub before closing) being put into practice by an over-sexed Para.  Wonder what'll happen when he discovers a shortage of tackle? 

 

[daftandbarmy]

It all comes clear now.  This is not an indication of declining standards in the Paras (which Dad would be distressed to discover).  This is the culmination of a long thought plan (5 mins in a Aldershot pub before closing) being put into practice by an over-sexed Para.  Wonder what'll happen when he discovers a shortage of tackle?

No doubt it's a ruse he's dreamed up to get laid more often... cunning bugger

 

[daftandbarmy]

Rise in armed forces recruitment


The number of recruits joining the armed forces rose last year, according to Ministry of Defence figures.
There were 20,000 new recruits in 2008, up by 7.1% compared with 2007.
The figures, released in February, show the military at 97.2% of its full-time trained strength requirement - up from 96.8% in the previous quarter.
Defence Minister Kevan Jones said it was too early to tell whether the current economic recession had increased armed forces numbers.
He said: "Although we have heard anecdotal evidence to suggest that interest in armed forces careers has increased, it is much too early to say at this stage whether the current economic climate is having any effect on armed forces recruitment or retention."
Maj Gen Gerald Berragan, head of recruitment, told the Times that joining up should not be seen as a short-term option.
However, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Meldon, who noticed a jump in recruitment in London, said: "That was probably down to people not having the opportunities out there in the economy."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8041368.stm

 

[daftandbarmy]

Just in case you were looking for some charts and graphs.....

British military fatalities in Afghanistan


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7410931.stm

 

[The Bread Guy]

New video here emerging from the January 2007 "Strapped onto the wings of an Apache - RM rescue fallen comrade under fire" incident where some didn't get medals.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Hundreds line streets as four dead soldiers return from Afghanistan

Hundreds lined the streets of Wootton Bassett to honour the return of four soldiers killed in a single day's violence in Afghanistan.


The men's bodies flew to RAF Lyneham, in Wiltshire, where their families paid respects at a private ceremony, before the cortege drove through Wootton Bassett.
As has become tradition at each repatriation, well-wishers formed a guard of honour on the three-mile route that campaigners want to rename the Highway of Heroes.
Sergeant Ben Ross, 34, from 173 Provost Company, 3rd Regiment, Royal Military Police, and Corporal Kumar Pun, 31, from the 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, were killed by a suicide bomber during a patrol in Gereshk, Helmand province on May 7.
Rifleman Adrian Sheldon, 25, from 2nd Battalion The Rifles, died in an explosion when travelling in a Jackal vehicle near Sangin in Helmand province, that evening.
Corporal Sean Binnie, 22, from the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, was killed in a fire fight with insurgents near Musa Qaleh in Helmand province, on the same day. Cpl Binnie was part of the Battle Group mentoring the Afghan National Army (ANA).
The procession paused by the war memorial where only the tolling of the bells from St Bartholomew and All Saints church broke the silence.
Each fallen soldier's hearse must pass through Wootton on the way to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxfordshire.
The new Mayor of Wootton Bassett, Steve Bucknell, took the opportunity to question Government policy on Gurkhas, as the town honoured Cpl Pun's service.
He said: "It is all very, very sad. I said in my inaugural speech that I hoped we wouldn't have to do this again. It is also galling that here we are welcoming a Gurkha back while a lot of us don't understand the Government's attitude to Gurkhas who have served this country.
"The Government appears to let others live here, but not the Gurkhas. We'd rather have Gurkhas than shirkers."
Ex-Royal Gurkha Rifleman Maita Limbu, 44, said it was not the place to discuss politics but to honour the dead.
"It's not about politics here. We are just saying thank you and welcome home."
The latest arrival of fallen troops comes after the announcement that the Afghanistan campaign claimed another British Army soldier.
An officer with the 1st Battalion, The Welsh Guards, died in Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital after being shot in Helmand Province on Saturday, the Ministry of Defence said.
The town council and local Royal British Legion officials have been co-ordinating the turn-out ever since dead troops started arriving at Lyneham in 2007.
This year, Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth visited the base to give his thanks for the "ongoing dedication" of those routinely turning out in tribute.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5319140/Hundred-line-streets-as-four-dead-soldiers-return-from-Afghanistan.html

 

[OldSolduer]

RIP troops. 

 

[daftandbarmy]

Of course we have human rights in the British Army (holds up left fist) and we have human lefts, too...

MoD loses battlefield rights case

Judges have thrown out a government appeal by deciding that the Human Rights Act can apply to British troops, even on the battlefield.
The judgement the MoD appealed against said "right to life" meant it had a legal duty to supply proper equipment.
The rulings centred on a case brought by the family of Pte Jason Smith, who died of heatstroke while serving with the Territorial Army in Iraq in 2003.
However, the MoD has been given leave to appeal again, to the House of Lords.
The earlier High Court ruling - upheld by the Court of Appeal's decision on Monday - had also said inquests of military personnel had to be more wide-ranging and families should be able to access legal aid.
Pte Smith's mother Catherine said she was "overwhelmed" with the verdict, and was angry at the MoD for going so far to fight the case.

The state must make reasonable efforts to provide protection to soldiers wherever they are - when we're sending them to fight on our behalf, that's the very least we can do


"I feel I have done something to protect the young lads that are coming in [to the forces] now," she said.
Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth said they were "surprised and disappointed" by the judgement.
"While it does not affect the position concerning Pte Smith, it potentially has very serious implications for the ability of our forces - and those of our allies - to conduct military operations overseas."
Defence sources have said the ruling will make it harder for military commanders forced to make rapid and difficult decisions on the battlefield.
Mr Ainsworth said they were studying the judgement and and considering whether to appeal to the House of Lords.

'No guarantees'
They would, in the meantime, await a date for a fresh inquest into the death of Pte Smith and would "as usual offer the coroner our full co-operation", he added.
The MoD had argued the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) could not be guaranteed in certain situations.
It said that in the heat of battle, the UK "could not secure the rights and freedoms which the ECHR seeks to guarantee".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8054875.stm

 

[time expired]

England expects every man to do his duty,unless of course you
feel it would somehow infringe on your human rights.
WTF
                            Regards