- Reaction score
- 2,147
- Points
- 1,160
When Kipling published his words about Tommy Atkins* , the British public had a very strong disdain for the soldiers, and in particular soldiers uniforms and the general appearance of soldiers. It was dress and department regulations, and the particular attention paid to that by NCO's to have the lads "sharp", "look smart now" and "cracking" in form as the British army was professionalizing itself from the inside out. Its true the public respect grew from battlefield deeds of the Boer War and especially the Great War, but I suspect it was the soldiers and NCO's who instilled a tradition of respecting the uniform and maintaining a sharp public appearance on the basis of not letting down those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
(Kiplings Tommy: "The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace")
How hard can it be to be keep hair and beards trimmed, uniforms neat and clean (when not in the field), carry on smartly and sharp, and in general not appear like a slouching, shuffling, dirty, sloth like prisoner of a Gulag when on garrison and especially in public.
Now I’m not saying you alll look like that, in fact most seem to be I fairly good order.
I like to think that one of the ways the Canadian Forces survived Trudeau the 1st was by acting better, smarter, with more class than than the man who was trying to torch the institution into the ground. I don’t know how the CAF is going to survive but one things for sure>>> people are not interested in joining a military that looks and feels like the campus at McGill.
Tommy: Tommy
(Kiplings Tommy: "The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace")
How hard can it be to be keep hair and beards trimmed, uniforms neat and clean (when not in the field), carry on smartly and sharp, and in general not appear like a slouching, shuffling, dirty, sloth like prisoner of a Gulag when on garrison and especially in public.
Now I’m not saying you alll look like that, in fact most seem to be I fairly good order.
I like to think that one of the ways the Canadian Forces survived Trudeau the 1st was by acting better, smarter, with more class than than the man who was trying to torch the institution into the ground. I don’t know how the CAF is going to survive but one things for sure>>> people are not interested in joining a military that looks and feels like the campus at McGill.
Tommy: Tommy
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