# Article on British Military in 'The Business'



## Towards_the_gap (30 Jan 2007)

Found this.........depressing reading to say the least.

Does anyone else see paralells with the CF of the '90's after government cutbacks?

Shared in accordance with the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

www.thebusiness.co.uk


*Immorality of forcing the military *   

Britain had 72 helicopters in Northern Ireland at the height of the IRA; but only 28 in Iraq last year. 
Over the past decade the government has failed the one public service that never fails the country..



In Iraq and Afghanistan, British troops are confronted daily with the shameful fact that they are now, more than ever, the best-trained but worst equipped advanced military in the world. Servicemen’s lives are regularly and unnecessarily put in harm’s way as a result of the use of obsolete or defective equipment and weaponry, in an unforgivable dereliction of duty on the part of the political classes towards those who put their lives on the line. 

Given the current state of the world, the belief that there remains a peace dividend to be spent is utterly misguided. One vivid illustration of this short-sighted and destructive policy – one of the great but still largely untold disasters of the Blair years – were the devastating pictures published last week of two British soldiers clinging to the sides of an Apache helicopter on a rescue mission. An RAF Chinook was two minutes away, but it is a flying bus and an easy bulls-eye for the Taliban; the soldiers were safer hanging on the side of the Apache than inside the Chinook. Had the Canadian, American or Dutch forces been on a similar mission in enemy territory to rescue a fallen comrade, their troops would not be dangling from the outside of a helicopter but travelling in one: probably a Huey, a Eurocopter or one of the many troop-carrying helicopters which their governments have furnished them with. 


full article here

http://www.thebusiness.co.uk/Document.aspx?id=CF87744E-13B8-49C6-8D55-D97C52860A49&doc_page=1


----------



## geo (30 Jan 2007)

> Had the Canadian, American or Dutch forces been on a similar mission in enemy territory to rescue a fallen comrade, their troops would not be dangling from the outside of a helicopter but travelling in one: probably a Huey, a Eurocopter or one of the many troop-carrying helicopters which their governments have furnished them with.


HUH???

Methinks the author is giving credit where it isn't!
While the Brits have Chinook flying buses
we have Bison & LAV III armoured buses.... with Leo in direct support


----------



## Towards_the_gap (30 Jan 2007)

Yeah I know, 0/10 for accuracy.


----------



## NL_engineer (30 Jan 2007)

We have Huey's  ??? and helicopters in Afghanistan ???


----------



## geo (30 Jan 2007)

(In your dreams!)


----------



## The Rifleman (31 Jan 2007)

In Northern Ireland most of the helicopters were at the end of their life and flying at altitude to prevent Gerry and his boys from shooting them down. Wessex Vs and  Scouts used to fill the air - but the Brits used to have troops to put into them as well. Many of those battalions don't exist anymore or have been merged. A cost cutting exercise that began the overstretch we see now.

The heavy lift capability that is lacking in the 'Stan is just one promise from New Labour that has failed to appear. We had to borrow ammo from the Danes and Dutch. We rely on Reserves for Force Protection and to make up the numbers in battalions that were just getting over their last tour. We have upgraded a 35 year old APC so that our troops have better protection. The list goes on. And yet VCs are being won and amazing feats of arms are being performed.

I don't know how long we can sustain this situation - the British Army is getting very tired - arthritis is setting in. Maybe the Army will go the way of many former state run bodies and be contracted out. Do Private Military Companies sell shares?


----------



## geo (31 Jan 2007)

Rifleman
Borrowing rides from allies is, unfortunately, old hat for us (most galling when they use the Chinooks we sold them).  We have refurbished / enhanced old APCs & have bought some state of the art LAVIIIs.  We have designed & built surface warships & bought some slightly used Upholder subs.  We have mothballed our MBTs & brought some of em back into service.  We have disbanded our Para capacity, cut back our land forces... and are now paying the pain of trying to cope while we grow some.

From Canada to the UK we say.... "been there, done that"..... (isn't it a pain)

CHIMO!


----------



## NL_engineer (31 Jan 2007)

geo said:
			
		

> (In your dreams!)



I was joking ;D

 I found it funny that the author said that we have air assets, other then C130's, in theater.


----------



## geo (1 Feb 2007)

NL...
Well - some of the Dutch Chinooks used to belong to us 
Sold off while in cost cutting / peace divident generating mode.

Lessons learnt ?


----------



## CrazyCanuck (1 Feb 2007)

...a private serving in Afghanistan is paid £13,800 gross on the current salary -- That per year or per deployment? anybody know what that is in CDN? I don't know the exchange rate.


----------



## geo (1 Feb 2007)

1 GBP = +/- 2.10$CA
....something like 28K
Note that that might be salary... does not necessarily include allowances


----------



## CrazyCanuck (1 Feb 2007)

Thanks geo

Presently, the salary range is roughly as follows for most jobs:

    * Regular Force (Full Time Employment)
      Officer: 	Start: $42K/yr 	After 5 Yrs: $66K/yr
      Non-commissioned member: 	Start: $30K/yr 	After 5 Yrs: $50K/yr

That's the one for the CF, and I think in Britain the cost of living is fairly higher than over here, so ya that's pretty dismal.


----------

