British Military Current Events

[OldSolduer]

RIP to all our fallen comrades from the UK.

The picture of Barry Delaney kneeling at Private Elliott's grave broke my heart.

 

[421_434_226]

In my opinion this young man showed a great deal of courage to carry out  a pledge made to a friend.

http://www.canadaka.net/link.php?id=49173

 

[CougarKing]

An amazing story:

British officer wins two gallantry awards for fending off Taliban attack with bayonet

Lieutenant James Adamson was awarded the Military Cross after killing two insurgents during close quarter combat in Helmand's notorious "Green Zone".

The 24-year-old officer, a member of the 5th battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, revealed that he shouted "have some of this" before shooting dead a gunman who had just emerged from a maize field. Seconds later and out of ammunition, the lieutenant leapt over a river bank and killed a second insurgent machine-gunner with a single thrust of his bayonet in the man's chest.


In a graphic description of the intense fighting in Helmand, the officer told of the moment killed the second fighter. He said: "It was a split second decision.

"I either wasted vital seconds changing the magazine on my rifle or went over the top and did it more quickly with the bayonet.

"I took the second option. I jumped up over the bank of the river. He was just over the other side, almost touching distance.

"We caught each other's eye as I went towards him but by then, for him, it was too late. There was no inner monologue going on in my head I was just reacting in the way that I was trained.

"He was alive when it went in – he wasn't alive when it came out – it was that simple."


Afterwards, when he was dead, I picked up his PKM (Russian-made belt-fed machine gun) machine gun and slung it over my back

"One of my men, Corporal Billy Carnegie, reached us, looked at the two dead Taliban on the ground and then saw the blood on my bayonet and said "boss what the **** have you been doing?"

Two weeks earlier Lt Adamson had won a Mention in Dispatches (MID) by leading his men in an ambush against the Taliban in the same area.

It is understood that the young lieutenant is the first member of the armed forces to receive two awards for gallantry during the same operational tour.


Source:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/6178044/British-officer-wins-two-gallantry-awards-for-fending-off-Taliban-attack-with-bayonet.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

Indeed. Guts on both ends, as they say. More discussion on 'the mad stabber' here:

http://www.arrse.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic/p=2868048.html#2868048


and here:

http://Forums.Army.ca/forums/threads/28762.new;topicseen#new

 

[CougarKing]

More violence returns to Northern Ireland:

Armed men hijacked two vehicles in Co Armagh as disturbances flared in the area for a third successive day.

The trouble continued despite a police crackdown on potential dissident republican violence, launched amid fears the extremists were plotting a campaign of disorder ahead of Tuesday's arrival of Northern Ireland's new Chief Constable, Matt Baggott.
In one of the hijacking incidents at a railway crossing in Lurgan, two men, one armed with a handgun, stopped a woman driver, told her they had strapped an explosive device to her lorry and ordered her to drive to the nearest police station.
The woman drove a short distance before stopping and calling police. An examination of the lorry found nothing suspicious.
In the other incident, five or six men - one armed with a gun and one with a knife - hijacked a man's car at the Drumbeg roundabout in Craigavon.
The disorder first flared on Thursday night in Lurgan after the jailing of three local dissident republicans for plotting to kill police officers.
During the first night of trouble more than five vehicles were hijacked and set on fire and police reported receiving numerous reports of armed men on the streets in what they said was clearly preplanned and orchestrated violence.
On Friday the disturbances forced the closure of the rail line between Dublin and Belfast after another series of hijackings in the Lurgan/Craigavon area.
Police appealed for witnesses to come forward. 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090920...n-f858358.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

More violence returns to Northern Ireland:

If this had happened ca. 1980s the daily NI Rep would have read something like ' a quiet day'

 

[CougarKing]

Gordy at it again:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8270092.stm

The prime minister is to tell the United Nations that he is willing to cut the UK's fleet of Trident missile-carrying submarines from four to three.
Gordon Brown will make the offer at a meeting of the UN Security Council over halting the spread of nuclear weapons and reducing existing stockpiles.
The proposed cuts come as the government searches for ways to reduce the massive deficit in public finances.
However Number 10 said keeping the UK's nuclear deterrent was "non-negotiable".
At the UN meeting, Mr Brown will call for all nations to come together to achieve the long-term ambition of a nuclear-free world.
He will say: "If we are serious about the ambition of a nuclear-free world we will need statesmanship, not brinkmanship."
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg welcomed the proposals, saying they were an important development.

The Lib Dems said keeping Trident on a 'like-for-like' basis was 'unrealistic'

He told the BBC: "I really do welcome that finally the dam has burst on this.
"It's just unrealistic for us to believe that we can foot the £100bn like-for-like replacement costs for Trident over the next 25 years.
"I think the strategic context in which that decision is taking place is very different as well - we're not facing the Cold War threat in the same way that we once were."
The government has already announced that it has cut the UK's stockpile of Trident warheads from 200 to 160, and many Labour MPs would like the government to scrap the weapon altogether.
Officials travelling with the prime minister warned that reducing the number of submarines, which are based at Faslane on the Clyde, from four to three would not result in a proportionate 25% cut in cost, as more would have to be spent to maintain the overall deterrent.
Kate Hudson, chairwoman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), welcomed the proposals, describing them as "a serious and positive first step towards the scrapping of both the current Trident nuclear weapons system and its replacement".
'Useless weapons'
But Ms Hudson emphasised the ultimate goal should be total disarmament.
US President Obama is chairing the meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday as part of the process of drawing up a replacement for the Non-Proliferation Treaty, designed to stop countries developing nuclear weapons.
Mr Obama has said he will try to negotiate with Moscow to reduce US and Russian nuclear warheads - which make up 95% of the world's total - from 2,000 each to 1,500.
However the most pressing issue for leaders at the meeting will be how to stop the further spread of weapons to non-nuclear states.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Heartbreaking courage of injured soldier as he pays respects to 'the bravest of the brave' killed in Afghanistan

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1215612/Pictured-Heartbreaking-courage-injured-soldier-pays-respects-bravest-brave-killed-Afghanistan.html

 

[CougarKing]

This must be some coat of paint.

Greener HMS Ark Royal Sails Again

(Source: UK Ministry of Defence; issued Sept. 24, 2009)

A faster, leaner and greener HMS Ark Royal takes to the seas again tomorrow (Friday) for the first time since February.
The aircraft carrier has just undergone a £12m upgrade in her home port of Portsmouth and is about to embark on two weeks of post-maintenance tests.
She is heading to the Royal Navy's training areas off the south west of England for marine and weapon engineering trials.
During the upgrade her hull was painted with new 'intersleek' paint - allowing her to cut through the seas more quickly - which will cut fuel costs and emissions by nine percent. It will also increase her top speed by two knots to 30 knots.
The work, carried out by BVT Surface Fleet, also included new exhaust systems, an updated IT network and improvements to sewage treatment plants. Her gearboxes, main engines and diesel generators have also been refurbished.
Ark Royal will resume her role as Fleet Flagship in the New Year, taking over from her sister ship HMS Illustrious which took on the honour during Ark Royal's upgrade. She will also become the UK's high-readiness 'Strike Carrier'.
The ship's Commanding Officer, Captain John Clink, said: "The ship's company is excited and proud to be taking Ark Royal back to sea to commence our preparations to become the Royal Navy's Strike Carrier and the UK's Fleet Flagship.
"I recognise that our seven months in Portsmouth has been hard work but it has ensured that we are ready to start our sea training and be able to practice our war-fighting skills. The ship is now faster, leaner and greener and looking forward to taking her place at the Vanguard of the Fleet."

 

[daftandbarmy]

Army chief quits suddenly as protests over troops mount

An army major general who was extremely critical of the government's treatment of British troops in Afghanistan has suddenly resigned, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.

Andrew Mackay, who was recently promoted general officer commanding of the army in Scotland, the north of England, and Northern Ireland, is the latest high-flying senior army officer to quit early amid protests at the treatment of the forces.
As the brigadier commanding British troops in southern Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008, he said he had felt like a student – getting to grips with Afghanistan, counter-insurgency and managing a large organisation. He said he was struck by the lack of clear direction from above. There was a sense of "making it up as we go along", he said.

Mackay signed a "ground truth" memo, sent to London, which listed serious problems with his soldiers' equipment. It noted that many of the Household Cavalry's elderly Scimitar reconnaissance tanks had defective engines. Tanks labelled "working" could not get into reverse gear without restarting the engine, a limitation "not helpful in combat", the memo said.

A quarter of the Mastiff armoured vehicles were out of action for weeks because of suspension problems, and many of the new Vector armoured vehicles in Helmand were not being used because "the wheels just kept falling off". Heavy machine guns and reinforced Land Rovers were also in short supply, the memo added.
The memo was disclosed earlier this year in the book Operation Snakebite, by Stephen Grey, a journalist who witnessed the recapture of the town of Musa Qaleh from the Taliban, the pivotal operation of Mackay's tour for which he was awarded the CBE.

Other former British commanders in Afghanistan to have resigned prematurely include brigadier Ed Butler, who was commander in southern Afghanistan in 2006 when the then defence secretary John Reid expressed the hope that British troops would not fire a shot in anger.

Butler's decision to quit in 2008 prompted speculation that he was leaving because of frustration at the failure to provide adequate funding for the armed forces. He had spoken of the "well-known constraints and restraints" within which his soldiers were required to operate in combat operations. He resigned soon after Lt Col Stuart Tootal, who left in disgust over what he called the "appalling" and "shoddy" treatment of troops.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/24/army-chief-quits-over-troops-treatment

 

[Kirkhill]

reinforced Land Rovers were also in short supply

Funny that, and here was me skipping Page 3 to follow the Sun's campaign against Landrovers.  Apparently they still seem to work.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Princes William and Harry make secret trips to visit wounded heroes
Rupert Hamer, The Mirror, 27 Sept 09
Article link

Princes William and Harry have been making regular secret visits to Britain’s war wounded in hospital.

The young royals have made the trips a “priority” since the number of casualties have mounted in Afghanistan.

William, who is training to be an RAF pilot, and Harry, who fought in Helmand province with the Household Cavalry, spoke privately with horrifically-injured troops – and also took presents for them and their families. Their latest visit to the military ward at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham came last week.

The Princes are following in the footsteps of their mother, Diana, who would often slip out of Kensington Palace to visit homeless shelters, children’s hospices and hospitals ....

More on link

 

[daftandbarmy]

Andy McNab: fury of the firing line

The death toll in Afghanistan has reached 217 and the funerals have become ever more poignant – but the bestselling SAS author Andy McNab says Army recruits do not want our pity.

I have just returned from giving a talk on the benefits of Army education to new recruits at the Army Training Centre at Pirbright, Surrey. A red-brick facility with its own parade ground, it delivers the 14-week training course undertaken by all adult recruits when they first join the Army.

On completion of the Common Military Syllabus, these Soldiers Under Training (SUTs) go on to learn their chosen trade, which covers a host of military professions ranging from anti-aircraft radar operator and artillery gunner to Army musician. Pirbright trains more than 4,000 men and women a year, and as such is a good melting pot for almost every kind of soldier.

But chatting to the SUTs at Pirbright that afternoon, one thing became very clear: there is a lot of anger in the air. It has nothing to do with Army pay, conditions, or even the war in Afghanistan; rather, their anger stems from the way they feel they are perceived by "pencilnecks", one of the nicer terms the Army uses to describe civilians.

I hear the same complaint time and time again when I talk with soldiers. What angers these young men and women – and me – greatly, is the belief held by some that recruits only join the Army because they are too thick to do anything else; that soldiers are somehow little lost souls to be pitied; the dregs of society too hopeless to help themselves.

Certainly, there is plenty of evidence to back up their anger. At last year's National Union of Teachers' annual conference, for instance, troops were described as "cannon-fodder for the profits of oil companies", the implication being that soldiers are led like sheep to the slaughter, rather than soldiering being the profession they have chosen for themselves.

Plaid Cymru has called for a ban on Army recruitment in schools. They claim the Army is unfairly targeting schools in the poorest areas of Wales. Again, this furthers the view that new recruits chose the Army only because they have no choice but to sign up.

Judging by those I spoke to at Pirbright, nothing could be further from the truth. Scott Probert, a 21-year-old SUT from Wolverhampton, is joining the Adjutant General's Corps and certainly doesn't believe he and his mates are simply being sent out to Afghanistan as cannon fodder.

"I'm p----- off that the number of people killed in Afghanistan isn't put into perspective," he tells me. "Of course, I understand that troops get killed [in combat]. I understand that one of them might be me. I'm not stupid."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/6235325/Andy-McNab-fury-of-the-firing-line.html

 

[CougarKing]

Semi-related update, since it deals more with BAE than HM Forces.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8284073.stm

The SFO investigation refers to deals with a number of countries


The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is expected to announce on Thursday whether it wishes to prosecute BAE Systems over alleged bribery.
The case refers to allegations that the UK defence giant paid out millions of pounds in order to win contracts from a number of countries.BAE has always strenuously denied any suggestion of wrongdoing.
A separate investigation into BAE by the SFO was dropped in 2007 after it said national security was at risk.
In that case the SFO ended its investigation into a giant 1980s arms deal BAE secured from Saudi Arabia.
'Explosive investigation'
The latest SFO investigations are into contracts BAE won from countries including Tanzania, the Czech Republic, Romania and South Africa.
If it does decide it wishes to bring criminal proceedings against BAE, the final decision on whether to proceed would still have to be made by the Attorney General Baroness Scotland.
BBC business editor Robert Peston said the continuing SFO probe into BAE was "the most explosive investigation into a British company that I have ever encountered".
He said the SFO was continuing to put pressure on BAE to admit limited responsibility and pay a fine, and that he still thought "there is a probability that the two sides will reach agreement".

 

[daftandbarmy]

Flight Lieutenant Victoria Anderton adds to Gordon Brown's woes

Wearing a black scoop-neck T-shirt and dark-rimmed spectacles, Victoria Anderton stood up in a small room on the north bank of the Thames this morning before sweeping back her blonde hair and, in a quiet, faltering voice, delivering another small but pointed blow to the Prime Minister’s fading authority.
A month after Gordon Brown appeared at the International Institute for Strategic Studies he was followed by General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan who has conducted a review into the war.

After calling for renewed vigour in the mission and greater resources, General McChrystal asked for questions from the audience.

Ms Anderton raised her hand to speak. “Flight Lieutenant Anderton,” she said by way of introduction. “I’m actually going out to Kandahar to serve with the Tornado GR4s next year and can I say how much more confidence I have now in my chain of command than I had after Prime Minister Gordon Brown was here a couple of weeks ago.”
The room full of officials and journalists dissolved into hearty laughter, while General McChrystal grinned, blinked and turned away.

Mr Brown’s address to the institute on September 4 had come the day after Eric Joyce resigned from the Government saying Britons were unconvinced of the counter-terrorist rationale in Afghanistan in the light of mounting losses.

His speech sounded as though it had been hastily rewritten, but Mr Brown still failed to sound certain of Britain’s rightful involvement.



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6857284.ece

 

[The Bread Guy]

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is not good, in the short term or the long term.

Territorial Army told to stop training for six months to save money
Michael Evans, Times Online, 10 Oct 09
Article link

The Territorial Army has been told to stop training for six months to save millions of pounds from the Army’s budget because of growing financial pressure on the Ministry of Defence.

Drill-hall instruction, weekend exercises and all other training associated with the TA will stop, cutting costs by about £20 million.

The Land Force budget of the Army has been cut by £54 million, and the TA is the first to be affected. The huge cut in TA spending will mean that the weekend warriors will not be paid. “They are paid to go training, and if there is no training, they won’t get paid,” a Ministry of Defence official said.

A spokesman insisted that the savings and the ban on training would not affect the TA’s operational contribution to Afghanistan, where about 500 Territorial soldiers are serving. There are also ten TA soldiers in Iraq ....

More on link

 

[Kat Stevens]

Best of British luck getting any more TA squaddies to volunteer for a trip down range now.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Best of British luck getting any more TA squaddies to volunteer for a trip down range now.

Don't bet on it. As Nietzche said "Invisible threads are the strongest ties."

 

[daftandbarmy]

The joys of reconciliation...

'Grotesque' defiance of the Brighton bomber in the Commons

Brighton bomber Patrick Magee provoked fury last night after he used a reception in the House of Commons to parade his lack of remorse at the atrocity.

The former IRA terrorist claimed that the actions of the paramilitary group were no different from those of the British Army.

And he insisted he had no option but to pursue a path of violence.

Senior Tories last night branded his comments 'grotesque' after he equated 'the burden' of killing innocent civilians in terrorist attacks to that of soldiers fighting for their country in Afghanistan.
Magee, once the IRA's top bombmaker, was feted at an event in Parliament to mark the 25th anniversary of the bombing, which was designed to kill Margaret Thatcher, who celebrated her 84th birthday yesterday.

The organisers on the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Conflict Issues stressed the meeting was designed to promote reconciliation over the bomb blast that killed five people.
But asked whether he had sought forgiveness for his crimes, Magee said: 'Why would I ask for forgiveness? I did what I did in full conscience.'

Magee spoke alongside Jo Berry, daughter of MP Sir Anthony Berry, one of those killed by the bombing of the Grand Hotel at the 1984 Conservative Party conference.

But Lord Tebbit, the former Cabinet minister whose wife Margaret was paralysed in the attack, said: 'I don't believe that he is an agent of reconciliation.

'He has expressed no remorse. The world is full of mugs and he's found some here.

'Magee is still triumphalist about what he did. He didn't kill the prime minister but he came close and he is proud of it.' Magee was given eight life sentences in 1986 for the Brighton bomb and other offences, with a recommendation he serve at least 35 years.

He was released in 1999 under the Good Friday Agreement, having served just 14 years.
Tory MP Patrick Mercer, a former army colonel with nine tours of Northern Ireland behind him, said: 'It is both wrong and unacceptable to suggest the conduct of the IRA had the same legitimacy as that of the British Army. That is disgraceful.

'It is patently nonsense to suggest there was no way to bring about change without violence. There were others who took the political option and whose moral courage ultimately led to the peace process. To equate the murder of civilians with deaths in war is simply grotesque.'

Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes, chairman of the cross party group, stressed that the 'sensitive and difficult' decision had been taken unanimously by MPs from all parties.
'Our business is to enable discussion of difficult issues,' he said. 'I was an MP when the Brighton bomb occurred. For me and others this is not history, it's personal experience.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1220213/Grotesque-defiance-Brighton-bomber-Commons.html

 

[Kirkhill]

14 years in one of HMPs and not slotted.  I guess the lags just aren't as patriotic as I thought they were.