British Military Current Events

[daftandbarmy]

Replacing regular troops with reservists is a cut too far, says MP

There are very few easy answers in politics. Decisions are usually grounded in the balance of financial priorities. Given the difficult hand dealt by Labour, this Government is doing a competent job in slowly turning finances round, writes John Baron MP

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10309847/John-Baron-defence-cuts-army-regulars-reserve.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

Tested to destruction: An ex-SAS officer reveals the terrifying selection process for special forces and says that, despite this weekend's tragedy, standards must not slip...

The Special Air Service (SAS) is an all-volunteer special forces regiment that is the envy of the world. I realise the phrase ‘envy of the world’ is often lazily trotted out in reference to all sorts of British institutions — from the NHS to our education system — but it is still actually true of the SAS.


Even the U.S. military admits that the SAS is pretty damn good. The Americans styled their special forces elite, Delta Force, on the British regiment, right down to the selection process.


It is that selection process that underpins the excellence of the SAS. It lasts for five months and has a 90 per cent fail rate.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2364723/Tested-destruction-Ex-SAS-officer-reveals-terrifying-selection-process-special-forces.html#ixzz2fg7tnF9y

 

[daftandbarmy]

British soldier killed after 'US soldiers failed to assess Afghan road for bombs'

American forces who examined an Afghan road for bombs shortly before a British soldier was killed by an IED failed to properly assess the risk of travelling that route, an inquest heard.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/10346829/British-soldier-killed-after-US-soldiers-failed-to-assess-Afghan-road-for-bombs.html

 

[x_para76]

At least now the Yanks are only killing us with incompetence and not friendly fire.

 

[daftandbarmy]

At least now the Yanks are only killing us with incompetence and not friendly fire.

That's OK, various crap hat units used to provide me with the same quality of service in Fermanagh and South Armagh  :

 

[GAP]

Military Cross for hero Gurkha who was shot and hit by a grenade... then took on Taliban gunmen armed with only his ceremonial Kukri

    Tuljung Gurung fought desperately to protect his comrades
    He used traditional knife to slash attacker, forcing him to flee
    Other soldiers were decorated for extraordinary bravery
By Ian Drury, 3 October 2013
Article Link

A hero Gurkha has won the Military Cross after single-handedly fighting off two armed Taliban attacking an Afghan patrol base... with just his ceremonial Kukri knife.

Rifleman Tuljung Gurung tackled the gun-wielding insurgents armed only with his razor-sharp traditional Nepalese blade and forced them to flee.

Incredibly, the soldier - now an acting Lance Corporal - battled them despite being dazed after a bullet smashed directly into his helmet and he was knocked down by shockwaves from an enemy hand grenade which he threw to safety when it landed next to him.

Now the modest 28-year-old has won the third highest gallantry award for his courage in Afghanistan.

Acting L/Cpl Gurung received the Military Cross for stopping the extremists from reaching sleeping British soldiers in the Helmand compound.

Top brass said his selfless bravery had prevented a ‘potentially catastrophic loss of life’.

He is among 117 servicemen and women who received awards in the operational honours list, published today.

Most of the honours go to troops who served with 4 Mechanized Brigade in Helmand between October last year and April.

Acting L/Cpl Gurung, who serves with the Royal Gurkha Rifles, was on duty at Patrol Base Sparta, in Nahr-e Seraj, at 4am on March 22 when he spotted two Afghans running towards his sangar, or watchtower.

When he challenged them to stop, the insurgents opened fire with an AK47 assault rifle.

One of the rounds struck him on the helmet, knocking him to the ground. Groggily getting to his feet, he saw a grenade bounce into the tower.

Fearing it would explode, the married Gurkha picked it up and hurled it away a split-second before it detonated, the force of the blast throwing him to the floor.

But as the dust and debris settled, Acting L/Cpl Gurung came face-to-face with one of the Taliban who was climbing into the 3 metre high sangar.

Lacking room to aim his rifle, the soldier drew his 18inch kukri and tenaciously took on the insurgent in hand-to-hand combat.

During the fight, the pair plunged to the ground outside the base. In a life-or-death struggle, Acting L/Cpl Gurung continued to lash out with the blade.

He said: ‘He was quite a bit bigger than me. I just hit him in the hand, body, I just started to hit him.

‘I just thought, “I don’t want to die. If I am alive I can save my colleagues”.

‘I thought, “Before he does something I have to do something”. I was like a madman.’

Faced with his ferocity, the Taliban turned and fled. Acting L/Cpl Gurung’s citation said he had displayed the ‘highest levels of gallantry and courage’.
More on link

 

[daftandbarmy]

Military Cross for hero Gurkha who was shot and hit by a grenade... then took on Taliban gunmen armed with only his ceremonial Kukri

    Tuljung Gurung fought desperately to protect his comrades
    He used traditional knife to slash attacker, forcing him to flee
    Other soldiers were decorated for extraordinary bravery
By Ian Drury, 3 October 2013
Article Link

A hero Gurkha has won the Military Cross after single-handedly fighting off two armed Taliban attacking an Afghan patrol base... with just his ceremonial Kukri knife.

Rifleman Tuljung Gurung tackled the gun-wielding insurgents armed only with his razor-sharp traditional Nepalese blade and forced them to flee.

Incredibly, the soldier - now an acting Lance Corporal - battled them despite being dazed after a bullet smashed directly into his helmet and he was knocked down by shockwaves from an enemy hand grenade which he threw to safety when it landed next to him.

Now the modest 28-year-old has won the third highest gallantry award for his courage in Afghanistan.

Acting L/Cpl Gurung received the Military Cross for stopping the extremists from reaching sleeping British soldiers in the Helmand compound.

Top brass said his selfless bravery had prevented a ‘potentially catastrophic loss of life’.

He is among 117 servicemen and women who received awards in the operational honours list, published today.

Most of the honours go to troops who served with 4 Mechanized Brigade in Helmand between October last year and April.

Acting L/Cpl Gurung, who serves with the Royal Gurkha Rifles, was on duty at Patrol Base Sparta, in Nahr-e Seraj, at 4am on March 22 when he spotted two Afghans running towards his sangar, or watchtower.

When he challenged them to stop, the insurgents opened fire with an AK47 assault rifle.

One of the rounds struck him on the helmet, knocking him to the ground. Groggily getting to his feet, he saw a grenade bounce into the tower.

Fearing it would explode, the married Gurkha picked it up and hurled it away a split-second before it detonated, the force of the blast throwing him to the floor.

But as the dust and debris settled, Acting L/Cpl Gurung came face-to-face with one of the Taliban who was climbing into the 3 metre high sangar.

Lacking room to aim his rifle, the soldier drew his 18inch kukri and tenaciously took on the insurgent in hand-to-hand combat.

During the fight, the pair plunged to the ground outside the base. In a life-or-death struggle, Acting L/Cpl Gurung continued to lash out with the blade.

He said: ‘He was quite a bit bigger than me. I just hit him in the hand, body, I just started to hit him.

‘I just thought, “I don’t want to die. If I am alive I can save my colleagues”.

‘I thought, “Before he does something I have to do something”. I was like a madman.’

Faced with his ferocity, the Taliban turned and fled. Acting L/Cpl Gurung’s citation said he had displayed the ‘highest levels of gallantry and courage’.
More on link

Umm... the Khukri they carry is hardly ceremonial... but good report nonetheless.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Eulogy for the T42s – Dinner in the Painted Hall, Greenwich – 3 October 2013
Rear Admiral Philip Wilcocks CB DSC DL

It is a serious challenge for me to speak this evening and give the eulogy for these wonderful and outstanding ships who have served the Royal Navy, our country and their ships companies for nearly 40 years. Especially challenging when I look at those here at this dinner – my peer group and those who have served with me in T42s – such a pity that David Hart-Dyke whose inspirational leadership of COVENTRY in war is legendary is not able to be with us tonight - his book which reflects so vividly the real challenges of command in combat and in adversity should be compulsory reading for every aspiring Commanding Officer.

But returning to our eulogy for SHEFFIELD, Birmingham, NEWCASTLE, COVENTRY, Glasgow, Cardiff, EXETER, SOUTHAMPTON, Liverpool, NOTTINGHAM, Manchester, YORK, GLOUCESTER, EDINBURGH. What made these destroyers so different in the last half century of the Royal Navy's history? And what is their legacy?

And please rest assured I am not going to even try and tell the story of each individual ship - after all you all want to get to the bar and swap dits. But it is good to see that a group of T42 sailors have been determined to keep the T42 spirit going and in fairly short order under Bob Mullen’s dynamic leadership have formed the T42 Association - whose standard we have seen paraded here tonight. An outstanding performance - first reunion already achieved, the next being planned for 2015 - and plans being formed to create a memorial to the ships and their people at the National Arboretum. I commend membership of the Association to everyone here who has served in a T42. After all, annual membership is only a small fraction of the cost of tonight's dinner!!

But before talking about what has been achieved by our ships, it is probably worth reflecting on how they came about. Born out of the aborted battle to get CVA01 into service, many of us here tonight can remember the intense economic difficulties that faced the UK in the late 1960s and 1970s - and the Cold War that was so dominant in defence planning at the time. When we consider the cost of their replacements, the T45s, the earlier T42s were comparatively cheap - but the combination of the Treasury and the Plans Division of the day had a significant impact on the design of the first 10. With an initial budget of £19M per ship(£280M in today's money), the first design was somewhat similar to the Batch 3s but came in at £21M. Therefore £2M (£30m) had to be saved - equivalent of 40ft of hull length forward of the bridge. Yet SHEFFIELD came in at £23M – unit costs rising rapidly to £40M by the time the last B1 entered service. The B3s ended up costing around £120M (£320M in today's money). So over the length of the building programme, and not forgetting the cost of that extra 40 feet in the hull length, the cost of the ships had only gone up by £40M in today's prices - I suggest that was a pretty good achievement.

Looking now at their service over 40 years - and they have been everywhere - in times of peace, tension, combat and war. From surveillance operations in the cold north off Murmansk to war and tension in the stormy waters of the South Atlantic, from counter drug and humanitarian operations in the warm waters of the Caribbean to peace support operations in the tropical heat of East Timor, from combat operations in the intense heat of the Arabian Gulf to intensive deterrence operations throughout the Mediterranean. Seadart has lived up to and exceeded its design spec destroying aircraft and missiles in combat while also providing a huge deterrence to manned aircraft. And we must not forget their Fighter Controllers and air teams who controlled Harriers in the Falklands, worked with UK and allied aircraft in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Adriatic and performed with distinction during a plethora of deployments to the Gulf. The T42s have been extremely effective AAW platforms. But there is more to being a modern destroyer than just the air battle. There is barely an UK operation that has not involved a Type 42 or more - perhaps with the one exception of the Afghanistan land campaign - and I suspect that was not for the want of trying!! Our country has had huge value for money for the investment made in these remarkable ships.

Just to reflect on some of their history – to reflect the diverse nature of their operations over 40 years:
SHEFFIELD & COVENTRY forever etched in the Navy's history following their loss in the Falklands and the death of 40 of their people. They have no graves amongst the flowers - just the waters that wash our shores. We remember their sacrifice with pride - SILENCE

Birmingham - only post Falklands T42 to retain 992 she is etched in paintings leading the Royal Yacht through the Silver Jubilee Fleet review.
NEWCASTLE - Evacuation of Aden and Yemen in 1994 with the Royal Yacht under command
Glasgow - Damaged in the Falklands, she had the challenge of coping with Indonesian submarines, fast craft and FGA during the East Timor operation
Cardiff - Two battle honours - Falklands & First Gulf War
Blue-bottomed EXETER also saw service in the Falklands & First Gulf War
SOUTHAMPTON - seized 3.5 tonnes of cocaine in the West Indies while doing counter drug operations just before she paid off
Liverpool - supported Montserrat following a devastating volcano eruption and has the diction of being the last T42 to fire her gun in action during Libyan campaign
NOTTINGHAM - covered oceans as far apart as the South Atlantic and Pacific undertaking almost every type of peacetime contingency operations during her career
The Busy Bee Manchester equally covered most of the seas of the world tending to specialise to a degree in counter the drugs trade and was the first RN ship to visit Cuba since the 1950s
YORK escorted HM the Queen during her State Visit to China and conducted the evacuation of civilians from war torn Beirut
The Fighting G shot down a Silkworm missile during the First Gulf War, both Cardiff and GLOUCESTER's Lynx helicopters helped destroy the Iraqi navy and she was involved with YORK in the Beirut evacuation
EDINBURGH - the last T42 - she escorted OCEAN during the Second Gulf War and has the distinction, sadly, of firing the last Seadart missile.

I hope that with these very few snapshots of their busy and active lives, I have captured in some small way the plethora of operations which each and every one of our destroyers have conducted with distinction through their busy lives. But let us not forget the things that made our T42s distinctive:
- the power of their machinery plants - who cannot remember the sound of the 2 Olys winding up to full power without a shiver down their spine
- their manoeuvrability - and the sounds from the galley when going starboard 35 at speed
- watching the flight commander’s face when he was invited to do an aft facing landing for the first time
- firing of Seadart at night
- doing OOD middle watch rounds of the big after mess decks when the boys had had a beer and curry run ashore
- the wonderfully distinctive aroma of the after heads
- BUT ABOVE ALL their graceful lines, justly meriting the title 'greyhounds of the ocean'

But the legacy of the T42 is not just what they have achieved - it is the way and manner in which they have influenced peoples lives - especially those who had the pleasure and privilege of serving onboard them - destroyer men and women - who have continued the destroyer spirit begun over 100 years ago when destroyers first entered service in the Navy. An enduring culture embodied by comradeship, adversity in danger, professionalism, courage and an outstanding team spirit that pervaded the whole ships company. As we approach the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War we saw that spirit writ large in the destroyers that flung themselves at the German Battle Fleet in 1916, patrolled endlessly the dangerous waters of the Atlantic and North Sea, and fighting the unseen underwater enemy. The same spirit was reflected as destroyers courageously evacuated the Army from Dunkirk, Greece and Crete, that refought the perilous battles against weather and the U boats in the Atlantic and Arctic.

Destroyers have for over 100 years been the workhorses of the Fleet - and our Type 42s have maintained that legacy for 40 of those years. Those of us who have served in these wonderful ships can be justly proud of our achievements - of our service to our comrades, our Navy, our Allies and to our country.

To paraphrase the Naval Prayer ….. These superb ships and their outstanding crews have been a safeguard unto our most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth and her dominions, and been a security for such as pass on the seas upon their lawful occasions; the inhabitants of our Islands and Commonwealth have lived in peace and quietness and all but 40 of our comrades have returned in safety to enjoy the blessings of the land with the fruits of our labours.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise.

The toast is to The Type 42s and their crews

 

[GAP]

Number of new soldiers drops by a third after Government privatised recruitment in bid to cut costs
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2448292/Number-new-soldiers-drops-Government-privatises-recruitment-bid-cut-costs.html
By Steve Nolan, 7 October 2013

The number of rookie soldiers joining the Army has dropped by more than a third since the Government outsourced recruitment in a £440million deal aimed at saving money.

The number of recruits attending selection interviews and tests has fallen by 35 per cent since a 10 year deal was made with private services company Capita back in March.

The number of those signing up for officer roles has dropped by nearly half, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The newspaper has obtained figures under the Freedom of Information Act that confirm that numbers are down more than 1,750 in the first four months of the Capita contract.

Since March, 3,259 recruits have signed up compared with more than 5,000 in the corresponding four months in 2012.

Less than 200 officers have been sent for selection compared to 379 last year.

Senior officers have complained that cuts to the defence budget give off the impression that the Army is no longer recruiting.

One officer said that although the service 'delivers savings, it doesn't deliver a result.'

The drop in recruits has raised concerns that operations could become more dangerous for existing soldiers with the Army already more than 3,600 personnel short.

Since Capita took over recruitment, new recruits are struggling to sign up online and some application forms are being lost or held up, claim understaffed Army regiments.

They blame a heavy reliance on the internet to drive recruitment - new recruits used to be given guidance when filling out paper application forms.

An Army source told the Telegraph: '(Recruitment) is less than half what it was last year.

'There's a big lack of knowledge about how many people are in the system and where they are in the process.'

Both Capita and the Ministry of Defence have said that the contract is in its infancy and that any teething problems would be ironed out.
more on link

 

[daftandbarmy]

Ulster’s two tribes are as far apart as ever

Fifteen years after the Omagh bomb, the idea of integration is little more than a dream

The Omagh bombing left 31 people dead – including two unborn children – and approximately 220 injured Photo: AP

This week marks the 15th anniversary of the Omagh bombing, described at the time by Tony Blair as “an appalling act of savagery and evil”. Quite apart from the fact that 31 people died as a result of the attack – including two unborn children – and approximately 220 were injured, what singled out this terrible act of terrorism from so many others in Northern Ireland was the fact that it took place only weeks after the Good Friday Agreement, and in defiance of the peace process that it heralded.

Fifteen years on, that process seems to have done much of its work. Full devolution was successfully completed in April 2010, when control of policing and justice was transferred to the Northern Ireland Assembly. In that assembly, two bitter enemies, Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party, sit in government alongside one another – something that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

Yet while the province is undoubtedly a much better place than it was, there is scant room for complacency. The Real IRA, which carried out the Omagh atrocity, has not gone away, and nor have its bedfellows. Meanwhile, sectarian feeling is running high. Only last weekend, the recent riots flared back into life, with a protest against a Republican march resulting in 56 policemen being injured. The Police Federation for Northern Ireland is now calling for all parades, by both sides, to be stopped for six months. And just last Saturday, Sinn Fein held a march in Castlederg commemorating two IRA terrorists who were blown up by their own bomb 40 years ago.

In short, it is difficult to imagine two communities further apart than Unionists and Republicans. Every year on July 12 there are ugly scenes in Belfast when the Orange Order insists on marching through the Catholic Ardoyne. Each side taunts the other. Each flaunts its flags and symbols. To the outsider, it is incomprehensible that bigotry and disorder are still so prevalent. But both insist on their right to protest, or simply to remember.

Even at the most fundamental level, Northern Ireland remains a deeply divided society. Some 95 per cent of children in Ulster still attend separate faith schools, meaning that the overwhelming majority of children can go from four to 18 without having a proper conversation with someone from the other religion (which is one reason why intermarriage between Catholics and Protestants is still a rarity).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10237755/Ulsters-two-tribes-are-as-far-apart-as-ever.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

MI5 chief security speech

Address by the Director General of the Security Service, Andrew Parker, to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Whitehall, 8 October 2013

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10366119/MI5-chief-security-speech.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

Ministry of Defence £2bn 'cash pile' scandal as thousands of troops sacked

The Armed Forces are suffering “unnecessary” cuts because the Ministry of Defence has failed to spend almost £2 billion of its shrinking budget, senior commanders warn

An “overzealous” austerity drive meant the Forces were missing out on vital equipment, senior military sources have told The Daily Telegraph.


They have accused ministers and civil servants of failing to manage the defence budget properly after the MoD failed to spend all the money it was allocated for 2012-13.


One senior figure accused Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, of going too far in his push to control the famously chaotic defence budget.


Another senior officer said Mr Hammond’s overcautious approach was putting at risk the Coalition’s plan to reconfigure the Armed Forces by 2020.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10374210/Ministry-of-Defence-2bn-cash-pile-scandal-as-thousands-of-troops-sacked.html

 

[Kirkhill]

Further to D&B's last - this paragraph deserves to be included.

Mr Hammond....

... added; “We now budget prudently and then roll forward any underspend to future years, allowing us to place new equipment orders.”

 

[daftandbarmy]

Johnson Beharry joins WW1 Victoria Cross panel

Lance Sergeant Johnson Beharry, the Victoria Cross winner, is joining a panel of experts to select the design of new monuments being created to honour British recipients of the medal from the First World War


Lance Sergeant Johnson Beharry, the first living recipient of the Victoria Cross in more than 30 years, has been appointed to a panel to decide on the design of new memorials being installed for every British winner of the honour from the First World War.


The plaques are to be laid in the home towns of the more than 400 soldiers, sailors and airmen who received the award during the conflict, under one of the Government’s main schemes to commemorate its centenary, which starts next year.


The first stones will be laid on 23 August 2014 to represent the date the first two VCs were won, on the same date in 1914.


These will be in Willesden Green, north London, to commemorate Charles Garforth, of the 15th the King’s Hussars, and in East Grinstead, West Sussex, to mark Sidney Godley, of the of the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.


Over the following four years, until 2018, the rest of the memorials will be unveiled on the 100th anniversary of the action for which the VC
was won. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/10375237/Johnson-Beharry-joins-WW1-Victoria-Cross-panel.html

 

[CougarKing]

LONDON — The Royal Air Force will axe the final C-130K special force Hercules from its fleet of airlifters by the end of this month. The Defence Ministry is cannibalizing the Lockheed Martin-built aircraft of its defensive aids suite to fit into some of the C-130J models being equipped to fill the role according to the MoD.

The decision to take the seven remaining Ks out of service brings to a close a 45-year operational association of the variant with the Royal Air Force. The decision leaves Britain’s tactical airlift dependent on 25 of the more modern J models ahead of the introduction of the Airbus A400M next year.


Defense News

 

[daftandbarmy]

I recall piling onto and being extracted from various darkened airfields by these and clinging frantically to the D-rings on the floor while it rocketed almost vertically upwards while the back ramp was closing.... and the friggin' RAF loadie just looking at us and larfing his bag off. Bastwerds...  ;D

 

[x_para76]

Johnson Beharry joins WW1 Victoria Cross panel

Lance Sergeant Johnson Beharry, the Victoria Cross winner, is joining a panel of experts to select the design of new monuments being created to honour British recipients of the medal from the First World War


Lance Sergeant Johnson Beharry, the first living recipient of the Victoria Cross in more than 30 years, has been appointed to a panel to decide on the design of new memorials being installed for every British winner of the honour from the First World War.

The plaques are to be laid in the home towns of the more than 400 soldiers, sailors and airmen who received the award during the conflict, under one of the Government’s main schemes to commemorate its centenary, which starts next year.


The first stones will be laid on 23 August 2014 to represent the date the first two VCs were won, on the same date in 1914.


These will be in Willesden Green, north London, to commemorate Charles Garforth, of the 15th the King’s Hussars, and in East Grinstead, West Sussex, to mark Sidney Godley, of the of the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.


Over the following four years, until 2018, the rest of the memorials will be unveiled on the 100th anniversary of the action for which the VC
was won. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/10375237/Johnson-Beharry-joins-WW1-Victoria-Cross-panel.html

I'm surprised with all that the CF went through during the Afghanistan conflict that a VC was never awarded posthumously or otherwise. Is it that the U.K and other commonwealth countries were too free and easy to award them or that Canada was too reluctant to award it? 

 

[mariomike]

I'm surprised with all that the CF went through during the Afghanistan conflict that a VC was never awarded posthumously or otherwise. Is it that the U.K and other commonwealth countries were too free and easy to award them or that Canada was too reluctant to award it?

Some discussion of that here.

"Will war in Afghanistan pass without a VC?"
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/108199.0

 

[daftandbarmy]

I'm surprised with all that the CF went through during the Afghanistan conflict that a VC was never awarded posthumously or otherwise. Is it that the U.K and other commonwealth countries were too free and easy to award them or that Canada was too reluctant to award it?

My Dad always said that, unlike in other Commonwealth countries, a Canadian had to win a VC twice before it was awarded once.

I guess we're just continuing the tradition.

 

[x_para76]

I'm surprised in a way that the CF chose to maintain the VC as it's highest award for valour since it seems in many ways we've tried to steer away from our British roots. The cynic in me always felt that we didn't award it because in some way we were worried that it would offend the French.