Honouring 'The Fallen'

If you haven't seen this then I recommend you watch it. It's available on BBC IPlayer and is being re-shown at other times on the various BBC channels.

Three hundred British troops have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in seven years - a death toll film-maker Morgan Matthews set out to honour in a three-hour programme. What drove him to make such a harrowing documentary?

For a year Morgan Matthews has been on a mission to reconnect the British public with the human cost among British forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was 12 months ago that he started work on an ambitious TV programme to chronicle all those who have died for Queen and country in these ongoing wars.

Matthews recalls well how the project crystallised in his head. He had been "flicking through a newspaper" and noticed "on about the fourth or fifth page... a report of the latest British service personnel to be killed, with a small thumbnail picture and a couple of paragraphs".

If you do watch it then be prepared, it is at times not easy viewing, and at times just plain distressing, but in my humble opinion, it is worth making every politician watch this before they blandly say we have done our best. It is also just plain humbling to watch the bravery of those left behind. After you have watched this programme then maybe, like the film maker, you will be able to say

"When I hear news, as I did this morning, of two people who have died, I think of them as people. And I think about the families behind them."

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Honouring 'The Fallen'

Armed Forces 'stretched beyond their capabilities'

Just after hearing the sad news of the death of another soldier in fighting in Afghanistan, we now have the news from the chief of the Armed Forces, Sir Jock Stirrup, that the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left the Forces

"stretched beyond the capabilities we have"

Now this will not be surprising news to many people who have been following the news of the conflicts, but to Des Browne it may come as surprise as he keeps telling us there are few if any problems with our forces or their equipment.

This is the first time the most senior officer in the British military has expressed such grave doubts about the struggle faced by troops fighting wars on two fronts, though a number of other senior Officers have expressed a similar opinion a number of times.

According to the Telegraph, Labour ministers have repeatedly denied suggestions that the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left the Forces overstretched, and opposition MPs said Sir Jock's candid remarks have made that position untenable.

As I reported earlier other senior members of the Armed Forces have given a similar stark warning and have been disciplined by Gordon Brown. What can Gordon do now? The problem is that, unlike the sheep we call Labour MP's, the senior Armed Forces Officers have a duty to both their Men(and women) and this country and regard this higher than pleasing our inept Political Leaders.

Let us hope that our Military Leaders can sort out this problem as their Political Masters are incapable of running the proverbial piss-up in a Brewery.

Britain's Armed Forces 'stretched beyond their capabilities' by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan - Telegraph

Woman soldier among Afghan dead

This is very worrying and very sad news.

With 9 UK soldiers killed in the past 10 days this is one of the worst periods of the current Afghanistan operation and doubly sad to hear that one of the dead was the first female UK soldier to die in Afghanistan.

UPDATE: I now hear that the three men who died were from 23rd Special Air Service Regiment, which is one of two Territorial Army SAS units. All four soldiers are expected to be named on Thursday after the Ministry of Defence changed its policy about keeping the names of special forces fatalities secret.

The British army spokesman at Camp Bastion, Lt Col Robin Matthews, said:

While the past week or so has indeed been bruising, and no-one would deny that, we must remain fixed on what the strategic imperative is here. That is delivering a better life, and progress, to the Afghan people.All of us have admiration for the work that both male and female British soldiers are doing here and the courage they are showing, acknowledging the risks that are apparent in this particular part of Afghanistan. He said recent events had led soldiers to "reflect on the nature of business here", but they could see the tangible results of their work and were willing to take risks.

My thoughts are with the families and friends of the soldiers who died and the injured soldier.


BBC NEWS | UK | Woman soldier among Afghan dead

Officers quit army in record numbers

This article just says it all, as Gordon Brown bleats on about how he is doing the best for the Armed Services and they are getting more money than ever.

It looks like the Officers in his Armed Forces are voting with their feet and leaving the services by the bucket load. Already in the first six months of this year 1,300 officers left which is double the rate of the previous year.

One officer, who put in his 12-months’ notice last month, said the reason most were leaving was that the army felt

“undermanned, undervalued and underfunded”.

“We are overstretched and quite clearly underfunded,” said 31-year-old Captain Will Richards. “It’s not a lack of job satisfaction – that still exists – but the incentive to stay in is no longer there. The forces no longer get the public appreciation and recognition, or the funding, they used to.”

Last night I blogged that due to the shortage of troops many are being denied the 24-month gap between frontline operations promised by the Ministry of Defence over the past four years. This is just another nail in the lie that are Armed Forces are properly funded and equipped.

Officers quit army in record numbers - Times Online

We should Hang Our Heads in Shame...

We should Hang Our Heads in Shame today that this could happen in our once Great Country.

Soldiers who suffered appalling injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan were verbally abused as they swam in a public swimming pool.

During a weekly rehabilitation class at a council leisure centre, 15 servicemen – including several who have lost limbs or suffered severe burns – were heckled and jeered by members of the public.

One woman was so incensed that the troops were using the pool at Leatherhead Leisure Centre in Surrey that she told them they did not deserve to be there.

Unfortunately this is only what can be expected when we have leaders of our Nation who have contempt for the Armed Forces.

The members of public who did this should be publicly named and shamed.

Wounded Iraq veterans driven out of public pool when told they might scare children | the Daily Mail

Rent-a-Jock

Apparently its not just "Two Jobs Des" who is trying to do two things at once. Due to the shortage of troops many are being denied the 24-month gap between frontline operations promised by the Ministry of Defence over the past four years.

The Herald reports

That one battalion, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, was given just one-third of the recommended time off between six-month stints of duty in the Balkans and Iraq.

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The unit is also the worst-manned of the five regular battalions in the new Royal Regiment of Scotland (RRS) with a shortfall of 97 trained men and a backlog of experienced soldiers who have already applied to leave the Army early.

The Black Watch, now 3rd Battalion, RRS, had only 12 months - half the time for rest and recuperation deemed necessary under the MoD's "harmony guidelines" - between two punishing tours of duty in Iraq in which it lost nine dead.

Before the King's Own Scottish Borderers and the Royal Scots amalgamated into 1st Battalion, RRS last year, the component battalions had 16 months and 18 months respectively between deployments in Iraq and Northern Ireland.

One officer who spoke to The Herald said the real situation is much worse because sub-units - 30-man platoons or 100-man rifle companies - are often re-assigned during what is supposed to be their down-time and "bolted on" to other battalions to bring them up to fighting strength for operations.

Under MoD rules, this does not show up as a unit deployment for the soldiers involved. To register as a tour, a battalion has to send a headquarters and at least two company-sized groups.

Anything less than that does not appear in official statistics as a breach of harmony guidelines.

The report then goes onto to make the point that the troop shortages are causing the problem by explaining the "Rent-a-Jock" System as follows

The officer, a veteran of Iraq, said: "Every battalion in the Army is an average of 70 soldiers short of complement. That means robbing Peter to pay Paul when it comes to fielding a unit in combat in the necessary numbers.

"It's known as the Rent-a-Jock' system. A prime example was the KOSB having to provide a reinforced company for six months on a rolling programme at a time to garrison the Falklands while the battalion was supposed to be in peacetime barracks and undergoing normal training in the UK.

"It has become a regular occurrence in this overstretched Army to haul guys away from well-deserved time with their families to bulk out another under-strength regiment which needs the bodies.

"It's little wonder that soldiers are voting with their feet and leaving. There are just too few men available."

Shortages Force Scots Troops Back Into Battle Too Soon (from The Herald )

Our forces can't carry on like this

	General Dannatt describes his report as an accurate and vivid picture of Army life

Read the attached article.

This is an absolute disgrace and it is not as if there have been no warning to the Government or the MOD. Combined with this story it is no wonder that recruitment is struggling and our service personnel are leaving the forces at an alarming rate.

When will this government understand that you cannot keep underfunding its Armed Services and then demand that they fight on ever more fronts with ever decreasing resources. This is a national disgrace and yet we have a part-time Defence Minister who appears disinterested with the plight of our armed services. We also have a leadership that is disintegrating into chaos and is more committed to trying to get itself liked rather than governing this country.

General Sir Richard Dannatt has warned, in the Sunday Telegraph, that years of Government under-funding and overstretch have left troops feeling

devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue

He also says in a top-level report that the present level of operations is "unsustainable", the Army is "under-manned" and increasing numbers of troops are "disillusioned" with service life, states that the "military covenant is clearly out of kilter", and the chain of command needs to improve standards of pay, accommodation and medical care.

The report also ays that operations on the two fronts of Iraq and Afghanistan are putting soldiers and their families under "great pressure", and that the long-term impact of operations is "damaging" and is "mortgaging the goodwill of our people". In terms of "overstretch", the report says, "the tank of goodwill now runs on vapour; many experienced staff are talking of leaving".

The report adds:

• Delays to military inquests are a disgrace

• Military housing estates are unsafe and being overrun by immigrant families

• Poor food quality is creating a "pot-noodle and sandwich" culture among junior soldiers

• Work-life balance is an increasing concern

• Soldiers are "going sick" to get out of the Army

• Leave is often cancelled or constrained because of operational overstretch

• Harmony guidelines - the time between operational tours - are becoming meaningless

• The Army is no longer fun

• Fitness in the Army is tailing off and more soldiers are medically downgraded

Last week, Lt Col Stuart Tootal, 42, who commanded the Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan, resigned from the Army over the "shoddy" treatment of injured troops. In a letter to defence chiefs, he was reported to have criticised levels of pay, a lack of training equipment and the appalling housing - all issues raised in Gen Dannatt's report.

Our forces can't carry on like this, says General Sir Richard Dannatt - Telegraph

Neglected and Let Down

The Guardian has a couple of interesting articles today about the armed forces and the fact that that the Military Covenant, which says soldiers should always be able to expect fair treatment in return for the rights they forgo, is not being upheld.

The first one Neglected and Let Down shows some of the actions that both the British Legion and BAFF are taking in the coming months.

The second one Care of soldiers compromised by failing army pact details some of the Broken Covenants currently being experienced by relatives and members of the Armed Forces.

The existence of a group like BAFF in itself is an indictment on the current government.

The fact that the British Legion is running a campaign like Broken Covenant should worry all of us.

Please take time to visit the website and add your signature to the petition.



We've been neglected and let down say combat troops | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited