British Military Current Events

[geo]

Troops' warning over lack of equipment

Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
By Thomas Harding
Last Updated: 18/03/2008

Soldiers have warned the Government that their lives are being put at risk by a lack of equipment for training prior to their deployment on the front line.

Paratroopers due to go out to Afghanistan this week have been unable to train with night vision goggles because the Ministry of Defence cannot afford to buy enough.

The news comes just weeks after the inquest into the death of Capt James Philippson, 29, the first British fatality in Helmand province, in which the Government was severely criticised for sending troops into combat without night vision goggles.


Andrew Walker, the coroner, accused the Government of an "unforgivable breach of trust" in allowing soldiers to be defeated "not by the terrorists but by the lack of basic equipment".

While the MoD says it has sorted out the shortage of night vision goggles in Afghanistan with urgent orders, not enough have been bought for training back home.

Not only are the goggles important for giving troops the edge over the enemy on night patrols but they are vital for army drivers who use the roads at night without lights.

Soldiers deploying there this summer have now warned of further unnecessary deaths.

"This will end up killing people," said a Para about to deploy to Afghanistan. "Driving at night is particularly difficult and without any practice people will crash their wagons and kill each other, especially during a contact scenario when people generally speed to get out of it."

While much equipment has been provided under the Operational Equipment Training Package, the Paras are furious they have not been supplied with night vision goggles, particularly a sophisticated binocular set called Lucie goggles.

The goggles allow troops to line up a laser mounted on their rifle on to a target up to 100 yards away, allowing them to hit with near 100 per cent accuracy.

Sources within Capt Philippson's regiment have also reacted furiously to the shortage.

A source at 7 Para said: "The regiment is pretty upset about it as you can imagine. We are just getting goggles straight from the regiment that we are replacing in theatre."

 

[geo]

British, but only in battle

Gurkhas have equality in the army but their children must still pay hefty foreign student fees for UK degrees

The Guardian
Natasha Gilbert
Tuesday March 18, 2008

After a long fight, Gurkhas serving as part of the British army last year won equal rights and status to their British counterparts, allowing them to apply to settle in the UK and gain British citizenship. But their battle for equality is not yet over. A government oversight has meant the children of serving Gurkha soldiers are still regarded as foreign students and must therefore pay UK universities' hefty international fees of up to £13,000 a year. Gurkhas who are fighting and dying for Britain in Afghanistan and Iraq must leave the army or transfer out of the British Brigade of Gurkhas to the wider British army to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK and for British citizenship. Only when citizenship is granted will their children be regarded as home students in the UK.

Around 3,000 soldiers currently serve in the brigade, most of whom are based in the UK. The problem affects around 500 families.

One captain, who has served in the brigade for over 20 years, says he cannot afford to pay the international student fees, and if a solution cannot be found he will be forced to retire early from the army to ensure his two children can go to university. "I am one of the victims of the system. My son has been forced to take a gap year - which was not the original plan - in the hope that the situation can be resolved. There are several Gurkhas I know personally whose children have also been forced to take a gap year, or to discontinue their education because they cannot afford the fees," he says.

"I also know of several Gurkhas who have resigned from the army prematurely in order to get home student status for their children. If a solution cannot be found, the option for me is to leave prematurely otherwise my son will be taking a very long gap year," the captain says.

"Things have improved for Gurkhas but I believe there are still some areas that need to be considered and reviewed. The time has come to look into these areas. We deserve it."

A second serving Gurkha officer says he finds it disappointing that Gurkhas are still treated differently from soldiers of Commonwealth countries fighting as part of the British army. "What disappoints me is that for Commonwealth soldiers there are no barriers. But for us there are still some barriers. I cannot afford to send my children to university as foreign students, so I would have to leave the army as I would be wasting my time and my children's time," he says.

Gurkhas have been fighting for Britain for over 200 years. Serving as part of the British army during the two world wars, the Gurkhas suffered 43,000 casualties and won 26 Victoria crosses.

Chhatra Rai, general secretary of the British Gurkha Welfare Society, who retired from the brigade in 2005 after 20 years' service, said the soldiers and their families are in a "catch-22 situation".

"Most of the children have been educated at schools in the UK and most of the soldiers want to settle in the UK when they retire. To apply for leave to remain or citizenship they must first be discharged from the army," he says. "It's a catch-22 situation because they have to sacrifice their service to send their children to university, otherwise it's not economically viable."

James Gray, Conservative MP for North Wiltshire and former shadow defence minister, recently visited serving Gurkhas in Afghanistan.

"The soldiers could have raised any issue but the problem they were all raising was the barriers to their children's access to university," he says.

"Up until last year they were treated as foreign soldiers. They had no pension rights, no leave to remain in the UK, and could not apply to become British citizens. Then the law changed and they are now treated effectively as British soldiers. Some of them have been in Britain for 20 or more years, but they can't send their children to university here. It's an issue that fell between the cracks."

Gray adds: "These soldiers are risking their lives, so they should have the same rights as British soldiers."

The Ministry of Defence and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills say a long-term solution to the problem is being discussed. In the interim, Dius has asked universities to consider charging the children of serving Gurkha soldiers home student fees.

A spokesperson for Universities UK, the vice-chancellors' group, says: "Dius contacted UUK to ask if our member institutions would consider charging 'home fees' for the dependants of Gurkha and Commonwealth service personnel starting higher education programmes in the academic year 2008-09. Universities UK agreed to circulate this request to member institutions earlier on this year.

"We look forward to a government announcement later this year of a longer-term solution to the issue of the fee status of the dependants of service personnel."

 

[geo]

It is interesting that Ghurka soldiers, when they retire back to Nepal, receive a pension based on the Indian army's pay rates... I wonder if they receive the same pension payments as British soldiers if they decide to remain in the UK?
I wonder if a Brit soldier would receive an Indian army pension if he decided to retire to Nepal - in order to live with the Ghurka soldiers he used to serve with?

While the UK appears to want to do the right thing..... the sheer negligence with which they deal with their Ghurka soldiers suggests that it'll be a fight for every right others receive as a "given"

 

[foresterab]

As I recall the rate of pay and pension of the Ghurka  soldier was a specific clause in the formation of India as a seperate country due to desires of both India and Britian to have Ghurka regiments.  Both India and Britian must pay the same wages and recruit the same in order to be complient but with the reduction of Ghurka regiments in the British Army this has become less of an issue than it was in say the 1950's.

Pension would be based upon nationality..so a british retiree would get paid the same in Pokara, Nepal as they would in London.  However even at the Indian army pay rates Nepalese soldiers are still very high wage earners comparable to university professors and doctors (based upon informal discussions with locals and our host in Hetuda, Nepal). 

The Royal Ghurka Regiment and it's predecessors have always been extremely selective both upon Caste and tribe for troops and even decendents born overseas have had issues applying as they were considered "soft". Given the economic oportunities and hardships in Nepal it easy to understand why they may put up with it but as the general knowledge of the troops increases and employment oportunities decrease then the pressure to be more equal with their British counterparts seems to have occured.  The other part is that when talking with the locals in Pokara (near the british center for the Ghurka regiment) they dislike talking about difficulties of any type. While they were more open due than other communities we worked in we were still outsiders and it wasnt' something that was mentioned easily...a very large contrast to Canada or the US.

Will have to get home and check books for more details on the references to the formation of the Ghurka regimements and pay post India independence in 1948.

 

[daftandbarmy]

The Gurkhas are actually very well treated. Anyone who makes it into the 'British' Gurkhas is the equivalent of a lottery winner at home. If they were to retire in the UK, yes, they'd be pretty poor. But at home they're heroes, and rich ones at that. Join at 17, retire at home at 37 a rich hero or move on to contracting jobs for good coin. Not bad if you come from a poverty stricken country.

 

[baboon6]

New Gurkha Terms and Conditions of Service:

http://www.army.mod.uk/brigade_of_gurkhas/new_gtacos.htm

Things are being changed to bring them more into line with the rest of the British Army.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Shortage of Army doctors forces MoD to hire hundreds of temporary medics at £700 a day

A shortage of Army doctors and nurses is forcing the Ministry of Defence to employ hundreds of temporary civilian medics at an average rate of more than £700 a day.


At least £8million was spent on locums last year to cover more than 12,000 shifts left short by the manning crisis.

Dozens of civilian nurses and a neurosurgeon have been deployed in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=530372&in_page_id=1770

 

[geo]

Shortage of MDs?
Heh... bin there & done that.
Many civy MDs from Canada have served in KAF
Nothing we can do - the alternative is to do without... or deal with local witch doctors err - MDs

 

[daftandbarmy]

Shortage of MDs?
Heh... bin there & done that.
Many civy MDs from Canada have served in KAF
Nothing we can do - the alternative is to do without... or deal with local witch doctors err - MDs

There must be a business opportunity for a PMC (Private MEDICAL Company) who can provide access to a stable of mercenary doctors for a price. I kew a few such docs in my time who loved flitting around from conflict to conflict practising emergency medicine.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Royal Anglian Regiment squaddie Katrina Hodge Miss England I can be a model


SEXY squaddie Katrina Hodge is gunning to be the next Miss England.

Lance Cpl Katrina – dubbed Combat Barbie by troops – beat thousands of entrants to reach the competition’s final stages.

And the brunette, 21 today, is using the opportunity to encourage women to enlist.

She said: “You hear girls in beauty pageants talking about wanting world peace, but I’m out there trying to achieve peace for real and I want more girls to join up.”


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article949479.ece

 

[Yrys]

Patriotic tattoo prohibits army soldier to become a cop.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/article949586.ece

 

[Red 6]

Doesn't surprise me. Many PDs in the US are doing the same thing regarding tattoes on forearms, neck and other "visible areas." Dumb if you ask me, but nobody did. 

 

[daftandbarmy]

Marine who lost arm and both legs in Taliban blast is refused full compensation

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=542731&in_page_id=1770

 

[daftandbarmy]

Drilling for oil to start in Falkland Islands

By Jasper Copping
Last Updated: 12:55am GMT 09/03/2008

The inhabitants of the Falkland Islands are preparing for a South Atlantic oil rush which they hope will make them among the richest people in the world.

After 10 years of frustrating delays since oil fields containing up to 60 billion barrels of "black gold" were discovered off the islands, oil companies are planning to start drilling within the next 12 months.

The move follows the conclusion of lengthy, but successful, tests by geologists and significant cash injections by two major oil companies which plan to bring rigs to the islands by as early as autumn.

The companies with licences to drill in the area met in Edinburgh on Friday to brief officials from the Falklands' government on their progress, and preparations are under way in the South Atlantic to ensure that the islands can cope with sudden wealth.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/09/wfalk109.xml

 

[cameron]

Drilling for oil to start in Falkland Islands

By Jasper Copping
Last Updated: 12:55am GMT 09/03/2008

The inhabitants of the Falkland Islands are preparing for a South Atlantic oil rush which they hope will make them among the richest people in the world.

After 10 years of frustrating delays since oil fields containing up to 60 billion barrels of "black gold" were discovered off the islands, oil companies are planning to start drilling within the next 12 months.

The move follows the conclusion of lengthy, but successful, tests by geologists and significant cash injections by two major oil companies which plan to bring rigs to the islands by as early as autumn.

The companies with licences to drill in the area met in Edinburgh on Friday to brief officials from the Falklands' government on their progress, and preparations are under way in the South Atlantic to ensure that the islands can cope with sudden wealth.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/09/wfalk109.xml

You can bet the Argentines are following this very closely.  If there was one time the Brits needed to devote more resources to the defence of the Falklands, it's now.

 

[Yrys]

Teachers snub to troops

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/forces/article958598.ece

A Canadian hero welcome (shame Britain's treatments of ours troops)

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article957382.ece

(18 pictures)

Bakri slur on boxer Amir

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article956706.ece

 

[daftandbarmy]

The battle for Basra: Iraqis fight Mahdi army as British troops remain at base

Iraqi security forces battled with Shia militia in Basra yesterday in an intense conflict widely seen as a critical test of the Baghdad government's ability to control its own country.

The battle for Iraq's second city could have huge repercussions for the continuing US occupation and the legacy left by five years of British military involvement in the south.

Fifteen thousand soldiers from the Iraqi national army led the crackdown under the supervision of the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, against the Mahdi army, followers of the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. At least 31 people were killed and 88 injured, police and hospital officials said.

The fighting also raised the spectre of a new bout of bloodletting across the Shia-dominated south and the multi-ethnic centre of the country, by unravelling a ceasefire declared by Sadr last August. Armed members of Mahdi army appeared on the streets of Baghdad for the first time in six months.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/26/iraq.military

 

[daftandbarmy]

'Refusal is a slap in the face' 
By Angus Crawford
BBC News 


A soldier from the Commonwealth who served more than four years in the British Army, including two tours in Iraq, has been told he can't become a British citizen because he applied on the wrong date.



Rogers Jean-Baptiste was born in St Lucia. He made his application this January, but was told by the Home Office that because on the same date five years earlier he was outside the UK he didn't qualify.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7313541.stm

 

[geo]

Here is someone who wishes his turn to stand on a soapbox and speak his mind......

http://www.dotsub.com/films/moredemands/index.php?autostart=true&language_setting=en_1618

 

[daftandbarmy]

MoD should ditch key arms projects, say MPs

Pressures on the defence budget are so great that ministers should consider sacrificing one of its most prestigious projects - the £4bn replacement of two aircraft carriers - rather than simply delaying or cutting back planned new weapons systems, a powerful scrutiny committee will say today.

In a report critical of how the government procures new weapons, the cross-party Commons defence committee will challenge it to explain "what roles the two future carriers will perform ... and what capabilities these ships will give us that could not be provided in other ways".

Two carriers, the largest ships ever built for the navy, are due to be completed in 2014 and 2016 at an estimated cost of £3.9bn. Delays are likely to increase the costs while separate delays in the US Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme mean the first carrier will make do with ageing British Harriers, the committee notes.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/27/defence.military