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British Military Current Events

RAF Tornado navigator dies as ejector seat throws him from upside-down plane

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=494077&in_page_id=1770
 
Paras' commander quits over breaches of Military Covenant
Jonathan Owen , The Independent, 18 Nov 07
One of the Army's brightest officers, marked by many as a future general, has resigned, it emerged yesterday, in protest at the Government's failure to honour the Military Covenant. Lt-Col Stuart Tootal resigned his command of the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, citing "appalling" and "shoddy" treatment of troops, particularly regarding issues over levels of pay, lack of training equipment and shortcomings in housing and healthcare.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence last night, Lt-Col Tootal said: "There has been much speculation regarding my decision to leave the Army. While my reasons for doing so are many and varied, they remain a private matter." He went on to pay tribute to the "exceptional" men under his command. The MoD defended its treatment of soldiers, saying: "We go to great lengths to look after our people on operations," and thanked Lt-Col Tootal for "his loyal service over 20 years".

The 42-year-old, viewed by some senior officers as a controversial figure, who will leave the Army in a few months' time, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order earlier this year for his leadership of 3 Para during a fiercely fought six-month tour of Afghanistan's notorious Helmand province in 2006.....

Click here for full article
 
More on the theme of the preceding comment:

Our forces can't carry on like this, says General Sir Richard Dannatt
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/18/nforces118.xml

The head of the Army has warned that years of Government under-funding and overstretch have left troops feeling "devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue", The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, reveals in a top-level report that the present level of operations is "unsustainable", the Army is "under-manned" and increasing numbers of troops are "disillusioned" with service life.

Gen Dannatt states that the "military covenant is clearly out of kilter", and the chain of command needs to improve standards of pay, accommodation and medical care.

"We must strive to give individuals and units ample recuperation time between operations, but I do not underestimate how difficult this will be to achieve whilst under-manned and with less robust establishments than I would like."

The report, a copy of which has been seen by this newspaper, reveals for the first time the general's concerns on virtually every aspect of the Army, from levels of pay to the quality of food in canteens...

In the new report, he says that operations on the two fronts of Iraq and Afghanistan are putting soldiers and their families under "great pressure", and that the long-term impact of operations is "damaging" and is "mortgaging the goodwill of our people".

In terms of "overstretch", the report says, "the tank of goodwill now runs on vapour; many experienced staff are talking of leaving".

Last week, Lt Col Stuart Tootal, 42, who commanded the Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan, resigned from the Army over the "shoddy" treatment of injured troops. In a letter to defence chiefs, he was reported to have criticised levels of pay, a lack of training equipment and the appalling housing - all issues raised in Gen Dannatt's report [emphasis added]...

The report adds:

• Delays to military inquests are a disgrace

• Military housing estates are unsafe and being overrun by immigrant families

• Poor food quality is creating a "pot-noodle and sandwich" culture among junior soldiers

• Work-life balance is an increasing concern

• Soldiers are "going sick" to get out of the Army

• Leave is often cancelled or constrained because of operational overstretch

• Harmony guidelines - the time between operational tours - are becoming meaningless

• The Army is no longer fun

• Fitness in the Army is tailing off and more soldiers are medically downgraded

The report's findings follow months of interviews with thousands of soldiers and their families from 47 units.

Entitled Chief of the General Staff's Briefing Team Report (2007), the findings are described by Gen Dannatt as a "comprehensive, vivid and accurate" picture of Army life...

The Armed Forces are safe in my hands
By Des Browne (UK Defence Secretry)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/11/18/do1805.xml

Our forces are the best, and deserve the best. Few people can be more aware than I am that we are now asking a lot of the services and their families. Iraq and Afghanistan place huge demands on our personnel. Many have been wounded; some have lost their lives. Every death or injury saddens me greatly, although this of course can be nothing to the pain and loss suffered by the families.

I sense a growing public appreciation of the sacrifices that our forces and their families make. Last Sunday, I was proud to pay my respects at the Cenotaph as the nation remembered all the gallant men and women who have made sacrifices in the service of their country. Remembrance Sunday is a day to honour not only the dead, but also the survivors, especially the wounded. This year it was noticeable how many young people wore poppies. The nation - and the nation includes this Government - holds our forces in great esteem. All of us want to see that esteem grow and build.

But those who claim the Covenant between the Government and the Armed Forces is in any way broken are wrong [emphasis added]. That does not mean that we, the Government, cannot do better. But the truth is that we strive constantly to ensure that the Armed Forces have the best possible package of care.

Despite media reports, we are providing by far the best kit our forces have ever had - delivering more than £10 billions' worth in the past three years. We have initiated a rolling programme that is flexible, responsive and delivers good kit on time to the front line. We have spent over £1 billion on force protection, and more on new helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and weapons. We've just announced that we are buying 140 more Mastiff vehicles for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. We will do more.

The opinions from the people who really matter - those on the front line - are encouraging. On my recent visits to Iraq and Afghanistan, troops gave positive feedback on a range of equipment we have delivered: Mastiff, Bulldog and Viking vehicles, Osprey body armour, Challenger tanks and base security. As the senior British commander in southern Iraq, Maj Gen Jonathan Shaw, said in June: "I have never seen a theatre so well supplied with new kit… this steady trickle of new kit has had real and almost instantaneous impact."

So we are making good progress. But there is a lot more to be done. I would certainly acknowledge that some service accommodation is not up to standard. We are working hard to put this right, but it cannot be done instantly. This year, we will spend £870 million (up from £700 million last year), and we plan to spend over £5 billion over the next decade. This is a big project that will take time. We are dealing with a legacy of under-investment that goes back decades. We are also helping people to buy their own homes and look to do more in this area...

Kind of makes our Hillier vs government stuff look rather thin gruel.

Mark
Ottawa
 
Who knew gunfire caused hearing loss? Thanks to The Sun for alerting us all to the danger!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article479094.ece
 
Army crisis as the number of troops leaving soars

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=MQGKMY3XT5EW3QFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/11/22/narmy122.xml
 
Hundreds turn out to cheer Anglians...

Well done lads.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7107898.stm
 
By General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, Chief of the Defence Staff, 1997-2001 (usual copyright disclaimer):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/11/24/do2402.xml&DCMP=EMC-new_24112007

Since I voiced my criticisms of government policy towards our Armed Forces during Thursday's defence debate in the Lords, many people have asked whether the five former defence chiefs who stood up were taking part in a planned ambush against the Government. They seem to think we all met up at Starbucks and plotted to give everyone in it a bloody nose.

In fact, the opposite happened. Far from being a co-ordinated plot, this was a spontaneous eruption from a group of people who find themselves at the end of their tether regarding the treatment of our Armed Forces.

Even though it was not planned, we all feel the same way. We are all concerned that we are heading for the rocks unless something happens soon, and we do feel strongly that some of this country's finest institutions are at risk in a way they have never been before.
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The Government had already been warned - but no one seemed to take any notice. Ministers claim that there has been a year-on-year increase in defence spending, but, even so, this does not reflect what has been happening around the world in terms of the increased demands being made on our Armed Forces.

I, for one, find the Government's attitude to the Services mystifying. We should give it credit for injecting some, if not enough, new money into defence, for Iraq and Afghanistan and for training. Undoubtedly, much of the equipment that has been introduced is as good as any equipment anywhere in the world.

However, it is unfortunate that too many people were killed and lives were lost through its late arrival; the equipment could have been made available earlier if adequate funding had been found sooner, when the requirement was known about.

The fact is that the defence of our country has been underfunded for years. In the Cold War, we got away with it, but took huge risks. To compound our difficulties, the government of the day took a peace dividend that now seems unwisely large, but that was a long time ago.

We now have Services that have been underfunded for years and find themselves desperately stretched fighting two wars.

At the Lord Mayor's banquet last week, the Prime Minister affirmed his commitment that he would, at all times, support and strengthen our Armed Forces, our defences and security.

In my experience as Chief of the Defence Staff, he was the most unsympathetic Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the only senior cabinet minister who avoided coming to the Ministry of Defence to be briefed on our problems.

The only time that I remember him coming to pay us a visit was when he came to talk about the future of the Rosyth dockyard, which was in his constituency. Gordon Brown must take much of the blame for the very serious situation we find the Services in today.

I am, though, delighted that he is now taking more interest. He has visited Iraq and Afghanistan on various occasions and has devoted more time to our people in the Ministry of Defence. But can he really understand how serious the situation is if he appoints a Secretary of State who is not fully committed to defence at such a time as this?

I, like others, speak to servicemen and women who view Des Browne's double appointment (he is also Secretary of State for Scotland) as a serious slight, particularly when you consider that the intensity of operations is far higher than it has been for many years. I cannot understand how the Prime Minister could do such a thing.

It is well known that the defence budget is under huge pressure, and it will be interesting to know which projects will be reduced and which scalings will be reviewed. We know that difficult decisions lie ahead, unless additional funding is made available.

Lately, ministers have been boasting about the extra money that has been produced for defence, but whatever has happened, it is woefully inadequate as far as running the Services today is concerned. It is not a matter for self-congratulation.

We find ourselves in a very dangerous world at the moment. Long gone are the days when we could remain safe in our own country, isolated from troubles elsewhere.

If the Government is really serious about defence and security, as the Prime Minister clearly said last week, funding must be properly increased or the Government will seriously damage one of the state's greatest assets beyond quick repair.

Mark
Ottawa
 
Maybe they just need a General like Hillier, who seems to be quite happy to poke the government in the eye BEFORE he's retired.
 
Officers quit in record numbers.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2937067.ece

And the rest are saying "Excellent chances for promotion now!"
 
daftandbarmy said:
Officers quit in record numbers.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2937067.ece

And the rest are saying "Excellent chances for promotion now!"

This particular comment in the 'Have your say' portion of Times Online had me incensed:

Look - lets face it! Since the military went in to a US war which nobody else wanted support for those who serve the military has collapsed. People don't ant their tax money wasted. As an example when the squaddies take over a community swimming pool, scare the kids and frighten the parents and won't pay their fair share is anyone suprided when decent folk are angered?

In an England where decent ordinary taxpayers are being let down day after day by the police, the NHS and the schools why should the military expect support given that it has joyfully and robustly suppoted a Yankee war no one else wants?



Desmond Carter, London,
 
daftandbarmy: No ICBMs, no wow (your source):

The RAF base at Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire will host a tracking system linked to US satellites and interceptor missiles based outside the UK.

Mark
Ottawa
 
Towards_the_gap said:
This particular comment in the 'Have your say' portion of Times Online had me incensed:

I hear you TTG,
Note that there are plenty of people here in Canada who also believe that the Iraq war is a US war of agression & resent them for it.
Oddly enough, while the Cdn people are luke warm about the Canadian involvement in Afghanistan, support for the Cdn Forces has never been (in my own 35 yrs) so high.  I've lost count of the number of times people have come up to me to shake my hand, tell me "thank you", give me a smile, a wave and the occasional salute..... who needs drugs when you're on that kind of high :)
 
Tell me about it! One of the (many) reasons I decided to move back home was the fact I could actually take some pride in my profession, in fact when I got back from my first Afghan tour and was slowly slipping under the table of my local pub here in London, ON, I was actually embarrassed in a way, for how many people said 'thanks for what you did over there' etc etc, when they asked where I got my awesome tan.

And the real shame of it is quite a few british people feel the same way, it's just that in the current political climate, any support for the forces is seen in some circles as support for bush/neocons etc, and so people are more reticent about showing support for the troops.
 
Soldier shot by Taliban captured on film.

Gotta love The Sun. Well done boot neck. At least it didn't hit you anywhere dangerous!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article509360.ece
 
daftandbarmy said:
Soldier shot by Taliban captured on film.

Gotta love The Sun. Well done boot neck. At least it didn't hit you anywhere dangerous!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article509360.ece

Rectum?... Damn near killed him!
 
Nice of Auntie Beeb to keep track for us...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/5121552.stm
 
A fine looking bunch of troops.

We will remember them!

CHIMO!
 
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