British Military Current Events

[daftandbarmy]

Following the sad death of our paratrooper, LCpl Tommy Brown,


For more details see:

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/LanceCorporalTommyBrownKilledInAfghanistan.htm


RHQ has informed us that he will be repatriated through RAF Lyneham on Tuesday 29th December 2009. The time has not yet been confirmed to me but past similar events were at 1200hrs and thence through the town of Wooton Bassett by approximately 1300 that afternoon. If there is any change to this I will let you know.

Please note: only close family and authorised military personnel are permitted into RAF Lyneham, but your presence in Wooten Bassett afterwards would be greatly appreciated.  If you still have one, wear your RED BERET in support.

Details of his funeral will be sent out when known.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Gurkhas arriving in the UK in droves:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6977077.ece

 

[Kat Stevens]

Gurkhas arriving in the UK in droves:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6977077.ece

At the risk of inflaming our more PC members...good!  As long as you're going to have a flood of immigration, I'd rather have some that are on our side for a change.

 

[daftandbarmy]

At the risk of inflaming our more PC members...good!  As long as you're going to have a flood of immigration, I'd rather have some that are on our side for a change.

Huzzah!

"If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha"

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw MC

 

[daftandbarmy]

Ulster Defence Association destroys its illegal weapons

Largest Northern Ireland loyalist paramilitary organisation says violence 'no longer a viable option'

The ex-head of the Anglican church in Ireland and a former senior British civil servant today confirmed that the Ulster Defence Association had put all of its illegal weapons beyond use.
Lord Eames and Sir George Quigley verified that they had witnessed the destruction of UDA arms, in another boost to the political process in Northern Ireland.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/06/ulster-defence-association-destorys-weapons

 

[daftandbarmy]

Mission impassable? Not for the RAF helicopter crew

A single blast on the klaxon is the signal for the first mission of the day for the crew of the RAF Sea King.
They have just come on duty at the start of a 24-hour shift. Their first customer is Ezme, born just an hour earlier and in urgent need of a doctor.

Her mother gave birth at home on Countisbury Hill, the steepest, and today slipperiest, hill in North Devon. The heavy snow has made the roads impassable; her only chance is the helicopter warming up on the icy tarmac at RMB Chivenor 20 miles away near Barnstaple.

Minutes later we are in the air, en route to Ezme, with the paramedic preparing the paediatric pack. Details are scanty. All he knows is that the midwife is concerned enough to have called the emergency services.
At the controls is Flight Lieutenant Steve Whalley. At 100ft and 100 knots, the snow-covered hills are beautiful and seem close enough to touch, but there is no time to admire the view. Co-pilot Flight Lieutenant Dom Sanderson navigates, warning of power lines and low-lying cloud and calling out escape routes in case of engine failure. Every contingency has to be prepared for. If the worst happens at this altitude there will be no time to think.

The meeting point is the Blue Bull Inn in Lynmouth. The car park has been cleared but the large pub sign means that we have to touch down in a field next door. A crewman wades through knee-deep snow to find the mother and her newborn daughter.

He discovers that she has been moved to the village green a mile away, but no one told the helicopter crew. We make the short journey and Caroline MacCauley carries her heavily swaddled daughter on board. Less than two hours old, and she is making her first flight. Flt Lt Whalley asks if there is a “rush”. Mrs MacCauley’s smile indicates that the short flight to the North Devon District Hospital is more precaution than emergency.
Snow and ice present a unique set of problems for the search and rescue Sea Kings that keep flying long after all other small aircraft, including the air ambulance, have been grounded.

Flt Lt Whalley says: “If the clouds are white and the ground is white it can be hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.” Distances and ground contours can be hard to judge in a featureless snow field and every cloud conceals a potential hazard. When the temperature drops the aircraft can ice up in minutes, forcing it to land. Snow clouds are just about the only thing that can keep a Sea King grounded.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/weather/article6979856.ece

 

[CougarKing]

The First Sea Lord launched a stout defence of the Royal Navy tomorrow to respond to General Richards' statements today, some of which was covered in the article below.

From the GUARDIAN:

In a direct riposte to claims today by the head of the army that Britain has put too much emphasis on "hugely expensive equipment", Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope will say that the UK's influence and commercial interests depend on a fleet that can operate worldwide with full capabilities "including high-intensity warfare".

He will argue that the armed forces need to fight and win wars with "hard power".

"We must look beyond Afghanistan … we must be prepared for surprises and strategic shocks. The Falklands war was such an event. It came in from left-field."

His intervention comes a day after General Sir David Richards delivered a speech in which he painted a very different picture of Britain's defence needs, arguing it was not only a question of shifting emphasis from the navy and RAF towards the army, but recognising future conflicts will differ from past ones.

His comments reflect concern over the way the military deals with unconventional attacks, and came as the Taliban launched an audacious guerrilla offensive in Kabul, setting off explosions and exchanging gunfire with security forces near luxury hotels and the presidential palace. Twenty fighters took part in the assault and at least six people died.

(...)

In a thinly disguised attack on the number of fast jets in the RAF and weapons platforms being ordered for the navy, he said "too much emphasis is still placed on … hugely expensive equipment".

"Hi-tech weapons platforms are not a good way to help stabilise tottering states – nor might their cost leave us any money to help in any other way – any more than they impress opponents equipped with weapons costing a fraction," he said.
(...) 

 

[CougarKing]

The UK response to the Haiti disaster and their contribution to the relief efforts:

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said:

"I am proud that the Royal Navy has been able to mobilise so quickly to ferry vital supplies to the scene of one of the worst natural disasters in living memory"

We expect RFA Largs Bay to arrive in Haiti in about three weeks time; this allows time for the loading of DFID and NGO stores onto the ship and then for it to sail to the region.

A 12-man Operational Liaison and Reconnaissance Team will also deploy to Haiti tonight to assess what further military specialist requirements are needed.

An Operational Liaison and Reconnaissance Team (OLRT) is a military capability held at extremely high readiness to deploy. It is used to link into and liaise with those already deployed on the ground and to provide a military view of what else might be required to inform the development of
options for further consideration.

The OLRT will deploy by a C-130 Hercules aircraft with two Land Rovers and stores for 30 days
In addition, the Minister for the Armed Forces has approved the deployment of three Army personnel on exchange with the US two Royal Navy personnel on exchange with USS Gunston Hall, and two RAF C-130 pilots on exchange with the US Air Force. 

 

[daftandbarmy]

In contrast, we have the French response to the Haiti crisis:


Full Comment’s Araminta Wordsworth brings you a regular dose of international punditry at its finest.

Today: The French government has been getting its sous-vêtements in a knot over Haiti. Apparently, contributing to the relief effort for the devastated country isn't enough. It's all about equal billing.

compiled by Araminta Wordsworth
awordsworth@nationalpost.com

 

[daftandbarmy]

OUR Boys are planning to drop their favourite Afghanistan vehicle behind enemy lines.


Troops in the heavily-armed Jackal jeeps will be able to surprise the enemy by popping up behind them after being air-dropped from UK transport planes.


The plan will see the four-wheel drive Jackals and all their kit parachuted right into the heart of the Helmand desert. They will attack and then disappear back into the desert before the enemy know what has hit them.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/118670/

 

[daftandbarmy]

When paratrooper Alistair Hodgson was blown up by ¬terrorists he begged a friend to put him out of his misery.

“One leg was gone, the other was just mashed up bone held together with nerves and veins,” he says.
“When the first guy got to me I said, ‘Just shoot me. You can’t leave me like this’.
“He told me to f*** off and thank God he did. He fetched a paramedic for me, put on tourniquets and saved my life.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/01/03/paratrooper-who-lost-legs-is-british-skydive-champ-115875-21937552/

 

[CougarKing]

British troops reportedly face 5 more years of fighting in Afghanistan.

British troops will have to fight the Taleban for another five years, according to a leaked draft of the communiqué that will conclude the London conference on Afghanistan this week.

Participating governments are also expected to agree to bribes totalling hundreds of millions of pounds which will be paid to leading insurgents in the hope that they will stop fighting.

The controversial plan is likely to anger relatives of British soldiers killed by the Taleban in Helmand province. Last night the MoD said that a 251st serviceman had died, while the most senior US commander in the war zone predicted that the violence would get worse before it got better.
Gordon Brown, the host of the summit which begins on Thursday, will present the plan for stabilising Afghanistan. It foresees a bloody endgame, with Afghan forces only gradually taking on their rightful role over several years.

The draft closing statement lays down a timeline which is significantly less optimistic than that envisaged by President Obama, who has suggested that US forces would aim to begin drawing down troops from mid-2011.

It commits Afghan forces to “taking the lead and conducting the majority of operations in the insecure areas of Afghanistan within three years and taking responsibility for physical security within five years”.

“Providing conditions are met”, it adds, some of the more stable regions of the country may be put under the control of Afghan security forces at the end of this year or in early 2011, with Western troops providing support.

Yesterday Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, acknowledged that the transition to a more peaceful Afghanistan would be a lengthy process. “We’ll be able to hand over parts of Afghanistan long before we hand over other parts,” he said.

A similar note of caution was struck by the top US general, David Petraeus, who told The Times in an interview that fighting in Helmand and elsewhere in the south could intensify this summer. He warned that the particular combination of factors that produced a decisive drop in violence following the 2007 Iraq surge were unlikely to be replicated as quickly or dramatically in Afghanistan.

The centrepiece of the London conference, attended by countries with troops in Afghanistan, will be the reconciliation plan. It promises “an honourable place in society” to those who cut their ties with “al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups”. It will be underwritten by a “Peace and Reintegration Trust Fund” over the next three years.

The Times has learnt that the US, Britain and Japan are the principal donors to the scheme, the details of which were thrashed out in a meeting involving diplomats from 20 countries in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago.
...............



UK's Times link

 

[The Bread Guy]

Liam Fox: UK taking ‘unfair hit’ in Afghan war
Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox says our allies should fight or fund more of the war

LIAM FOX, the shadow defence secretary, suggested German money should subsidise British forces in Afghanistan, as he called for reform of the 60-year-old Nato military alliance.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Fox claimed it was unfair that the countries doing most of the fighting were also footing the largest bills.

“Our forces are taking a disproportionate share of casualties and our taxpayers are also taking a disproportionate financial burden,” he said. “Some countries neither want to fight nor fund.”

Fox said Nato needed to be reformed so members such as Germany with few troops on the front line would be forced to make cash payments to the states bearing the brunt of the the fighting.

He revealed that he planned to work closely with France, a country which also bears a heavy fighting burden, to grasp the “Nato nettle”.

His outspoken remarks come as the Tories wrestle with the need to make huge cuts in the Ministry of Defence budget while ensuring that the war in Afghanistan is properly funded ....

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7009716.ece

 

[daftandbarmy]

British troops reportedly face 5 more years of fighting in Afghanistan.

Only 5 years? So I guess they're not planning on hanging around until it's over...

 

[CougarKing]

A grim milestone indeed.

From the AFP

LONDON (AFP) - The government vowed to stand firm in Afghanistan on Monday after the death toll reached the number killed in the 1982 Falklands war -- amid warnings of a new surge in casualties as a new onslaught is launched.
The politically-symbolic figure was reached as Prime Minister Gordon Brown battles to persuade a sceptical British public that the Afghan conflict is worthwhile, months ahead of an election he is tipped to lose.


The two soldiers from the Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, were killed by an explosion in Sangin in Helmand Province on Sunday, taking the British death toll in Afghanistan to 255 since 2001.

"They were on a foot patrol bringing security to local people... when the explosion caught them... Two of our comrades have been cruelly taken from us, but their bravery and fortitude will not be forgotten," said a spokesman.


The news is a new blow to Brown, who recently pledged 500 extra troops and hosted a London conference on Afghanistan, but is struggling to avoid defeat to Conservatives in elections due by June.


In contrast premier Margaret Thatcher's popularity surged when she sent an expeditionary force to oust invading Argentinian troops from the Falkland Islands -- known in Spanish as the Malvinas -- in a 74-day war that left 649 Argentines as well as 255 Britons dead.


Responding to the latest deaths, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said every fatality was "a tragedy" but insisted Britain must stand firm in Afghanistan.


The country is braced for a surge in casualties as a major international assault against Taliban-led militants in the southern province of Helmand is expected to begin within days.


"We have seen an intense, hard and bloody period in Afghanistan but, as we prepare to consolidate our progress with the launch of Operation Mushtarak, it is imperative that we hold our resolve," Ainsworth said.


Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak added that he was "deeply saddened" by the latest British fatalities, offering his "sincere condolences" to their families and friends on behalf of the Afghan government.


"I look forward to the day when the Afghan security forces are able to take full responsibility for Afghanistan's security. We are trying very hard to make this day happen as soon as possible," he said in a statement issued by the MoD.


Britain has 9,500 service personnel in Afghanistan and reports suggest up to 4,000 will be involved in Operation Mushtarak.

The Falklands conflict was very different from Afghanistan, a conventional war between two nations rather than soldiers battling insurgents and threatened by roadside bombs or sniper fire.


"The Argentines acted as we did, in an honourable way. Afghanistan is very different. Our boys and girls are fighting people using essentially guerrilla tactics," said Falklands veteran Simon Weston, a former Welsh Guardsman.


But, he added: "Both forms of war bring the same level of despair for the soldier. One is very demoralising over a long period of time, the other is high impact and high intensity."


There are more than 110,000 international troops fighting the Taliban-led insurgents under US and NATO command, with another 40,000 arriving as part of a counter-insurgency strategy designed to bring an end to the war.


In southern Afghanistan, NATO commanders urged the Taliban to surrender -- but Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, told AFP by telephone: "Taliban fighters "prefer to stay and fight."

 

 

[Towards_the_gap]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Canadian+soldier+fights+Brits+Afghanistan/2532532/story.html


good friend of mine, and good to see CF recruiting going by the rules.

 

[daftandbarmy]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Canadian+soldier+fights+Brits+Afghanistan/2532532/story.html


good friend of mine, and good to see CF recruiting going by the rules.

The CF gave this guy the boot too. The British gave him a DFC:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2006/12/22/hasler-cross.html


I met quite a few Canadians in the British Army. I walked by one guy, who I went to high school with, at Sandhurst - we both did the hysterical double take/ madly pointing/ jaw drop thing. Ironically and tragically, he later died in a rafting accident in Alberta while on the adventure training component of a Pond Jump exercise. There were quite a few from Australia, New Zealand, Rhodesia (yes, that's what they called it), Kenya and other commonwealth countries as well.

I find it amusing that Canada bills itself as a multi-cultural army yet can't even tough most British units in that category as a result of the above recruiting policies.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Having been there, I can only assume that the results have improved the general atmosphere of the area. Hey, isn't that war supposed to be over?


Car bomb explodes at Newry courthouse 

Police were evacuating the area when the bomb went off
A car bomb has exploded near a courthouse in Newry, County Down.

Police said it was "a sheer miracle" no-one had been injured or killed by the bomb, which went off at 2240 GMT as officers were evacuating the area.

Officers had arrived at the scene shortly after 2200 GMT after reports of a suspicious car near the court.

Bomb warnings were also received by a hospital and a number of businesses in the city. Initial reports suggest dissident republicans were to blame.

Motorists have been advised to avoid the area.

Condemning the attack, Chief Inspector Sam Cordner said: "At this stage we are working to make the area safe and calling in experts to collect any evidence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8529541.stm

 

[PMedMoe]

Sniffer dog Treo given top honour

A LIFE-SAVING dog has been awarded the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross for his bravery while serving in Afghanistan.
Retired nine-year-old black labrador Treo, who has now returned back to his former unit at St George's Barracks, in Pennine Way, North Luffenham, received the Dickin Medal on Wednesday.

The heroic dog was presented with the medal for sniffing out bombs known as improvised explosive devices (IEDs) while working as a forward detection dog on two occasions in Sangin, Helmand Province, in March and September 2008. His detective work saved the lives of the soldiers he was patrolling with and innocent civilians.

Before Treo's deployment to the frontline, he and his handler Sgt Dave Heyhoe were based in Rutland with the 104 Military Working Dogs Support Unit, Royal Army Veterinary Corps, which has its headquarters in Aldershot.

Owner Sgt Heyhoe, Major Chris Ham, officer commanding the canine division at the Defence Animal Centre and the unit's current second in command Capt Fieke Taft, are pleased with Treo's success.

Capt Taft said it is fantastic for the dog to be commended. She said: "It is his work out in Afghanistan which has got him recognised for this medal."

Major Ham added: "If he had not indicated that the improvised explosive devices were there, casualities would definitely have been sustained as a result. He is a life-saving dog."

Sgt Heyhoe, who has worked alongside Treo for five years, is proud of his canine friend, who is now enjoying life as his family pet.

Treo started his training with the Army at the age of one, and Sgt Heyhoe said he is a born worker.

More at link


Here's a great picture of Treo and his medal.

Caption from picture:  Treo, a nine-year-old black Labrador from the Military Working Dogs, who is to be presented Wednesday with Britain's Dicken medal, awarded for bravery and commitment in wartime, the highest military honor an animal can expect, poses with the medal at the Imperial War Museum in London, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010. Treo is being decorated for his work sniffing out explosives in Afghanistan.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Truly unsung heroes. RIP Cpl Hayes and Ben.

Cpl Derek Hayes. Aged 28.

Killed when a booby trapped bomb exploded while the foot patrol he was part of, he was searching a field in the Crossmaglen - Area of County Armagh on the 21/05/1988.

Was killed along with his dog in a terrorist booby-trap bomb at Castleblayney Road, Crossmaglen. He went forward to investigate a box, partly hidden in a ditch, and on doing so the bomb detonated.
Corporal Hayes was buried with the ashes of his dog. (Ben)

http://www.palacebarracksmemorialgarden.org/Royal%20Pioneer%20Corps.htm