News headlines about yet more of our troops being killed in a friendly fire incident. I don't take the populist view and blame the pilot, until a case is proven. I do feel that yet again it is an example of how badly let down our troops have been let down by our politicians. We had the example of the Sergeant in the tanks having to give up his body armour at the start of the war and dying as a result. We have troops patrolling in snatch Land Rovers and being destroyed by IED's, other nations forces in their armoured vehicles being uninjured in the same instance. There are insufficient helicopters to support the troops in Helmand, not enough vehicle kits for the weapons, troops in bases running low on basic ammunition. The Government that we elected have failed these brave young troops consistently. Since coming to power the troops have been regularly placed in harms way, they have been expected and required to pull this Government's fat out of the fire. As this happens they then reduce the number of troops on the ground by cutting the number of infantry battalions, the very troops you need most. This has a number of effects, firstly it increases the amount of time the others have to spend in the field and this then increases the number who leave on their own request and thus we increase the spiral of pressure. As far as I know, no member of this cabinet has ever drawn on uniform and stepped into the line of battle, they penny pinch with the troops. If a family wants to send a parcel to father, mother, son or daughter in combat zone they have to pay for it, no reduction in postage, all the aggravation in regards to taxation of troops serving overseas, the recent furore regarding awarding a separate medal for service in Helmand. The final breach in this covenant is that when our troops get injured in the line of duty they are shipped back to the UK and get stuck in Selly Oak Hospital, no slur on the hospital or the hard pressed NHS staff but why do we not have dedicated Military Hospitals, the answer is that this Goverment got rid of them! So, we have under equipped troops, underpaid, over stretched and undervalued by the Government.
These same politicians are the one's who are voting an increase in their already generous allowances and salaries, why do we continue to put of with this? We need to hold them to account, will we do this the next time we go to the polls? If the Government can tear this most basic of covenants apart is it any surprise that they are also going to sneak in the European Constitution without a referendum. No wonder so many people are quitting this country and emigrating to Australia, New Zealand etc.
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9 comments:
Hi there,
interesting reading. I have heard about the lack of uniforms and equipment, and find it incredible to believe especially when they are keen to to recruit young men all the time.
When my son enrolled at college, the army was there in full force trying to get the youngsters to join the TA. He listened to the guy and was becoming interested especially when it got to the part where he said they would pay them £30 a week to attend twice, and would teach them to drive.
It was only when he went on the Internet and saw a little of what the recruiters did NOT say that he made his own mind up, and declined to join.
I did not know about the military hospitals being closed down.
It does not bode well for the future, and speaks volumes about the lack of care and regard they have for the troops.
Thanks Joanne,
At least your son had the sense to check before he leapt. So many don't do that.
Soldiers deserve better than they get at the moment.
I come from a small market town in N.Yorks. It is a small integrated society, and there is also a lot of interbreeding too. There are certain families which are very well known. One of these families runs the town. They are a bunch of low life scum, and they deal drugs to all the kids.
They resent new people coming to live here, and they themsleves never leave the town. they have no positive outlook on life and can be seen drinking in one of the many pubs on Friday and satuday nights.
Its called "market town mentality"
The other families are not much better. They all marry each other,and their children in general tend to be the thick ones in school.
A lot of youngsters from this town do not do well at school and opt for the army because they don't know what else to do.
When they come out of the army, they are the ones who frequent the pubs, and get into fights.
From whatI can see, going into the army when you are like this only provides respite for the town for a while. There are No other pluses.
Joanne,
Whilst this is a problem, the side that does not get seen are those whom the army turns round completely. The person who goes into the forces and it sets them straight, they realise that there is a better way of living, they get used to contributing to society. I think that the forces probably have a lower rate of recidivism than anything that the Prison Service achieves.
I have a nephew who has served in Afghanistan. His mother was scared witless while he was away.
There was no mention of shortages and he seemed to be happy with his lot; found it exciting.
He comes from in the North East and joined the army through lack of opportunities elsewhere and also for the adventure.
His attitude was that if he didn't do something postive like joining up he'd end up having a pointless existence in and out of jobs...........even though he is a bright lad he has no qualifications to speak of.
I read that those who go on tours of Afghanistan and Iraq have a 1 in 35 chance of coming back in a body bag. Chilling.
Nice to see a blog that has debate on "non industry stuff" as well as the industry debates.
I conceed. You are probably right. I merely pointed out one reason for young uneducated men to join the army since they seem to accept any level of intelligence!
LOL
You are not wrong Joanne. The less intelligent tend to end up in the infantry.
.......as for your point about the fighting, well, I wonder if they are any worse than other young men who aren't that bright. Lots of energy without the imagination to use it LOL.
The problem is that because they are fitter they'll do more damage and also by the nature of where they are located they will fight en masse.
GOM,
Thanks for your comments. Interesting perspective, you are correct that the less intelligent often end up in the Infantry, however there are some who join the Infantry to follow family tradition, to be in a teeth arm and because they don't want to be a PONTI(Person of No Tactical Importance) or REMF(Rear Echelon M..... F....er). I regards to the intelligence issue, I should add at this point that I served for some years in the Infantry. Maybe it shows...
Ha ha....just shows that you cannot generalise.
Your posts are far from unintelligent.
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