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

New Award for families who have lost Service Personnel

The MOD and Des Browne have launched a new award today for the families of Service personnel who die on operations or as a result of terrorist action whilst on duty.This award will recognise the terrible loss and sacrifice made by the loved ones of Service personnel who die while serving their country.The Chiefs of Staff have recommended this new award and the recommendations have been endorsed by MOD Ministers and by the cross-Government committee on Honours and Awards, and approved by Her Majesty The Queen.
Commenting on the decision, the Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, said:

"Our Armed Forces demonstrate bravery, commitment and professionalism on a daily basis and as a nation we must continue to show our appreciation. It is equally important that we remember their families who play a vital role in supporting their loved ones serving in the Armed Forces. "It is a sad but unavoidable reality that some of our brave Service personnel pay the ultimate sacrifice in the name of their country. That is why my fellow Chiefs of Staff and I believe the time is right to recommend a new award for the families of those who die on operations in recognition of their loss. We will now be giving careful thought to how we can do this in a fitting way."

The exact criteria for the award, how far the award should go back, who will receive it and the design and production of the scroll and emblem are now being looked at by a team specially dedicated to the task. Further details are therefore expected later this year.

This may just be a little thing for the MOD/Government to do, but anything that we do to value the sacrifice made by our forces is worthwhile.

I just hope that this announcement has not been put out today to try and deflect some attention from the continuing problems of this government.

Ministry of Defence | Defence News | History and Honour | New Award for families who have lost Service Personnel

Resigning SAS Brigadier condemns lack of Resources

Brigadier Ed Butler has resigned from the services after 24 years service. He has claimed he was quitting because the pressures of overseas operations was having a ‘negative impact’ on his family.

The Mail on Sunday however says:

However paying tribute to the servicemen and women he fought with, Brig Butler said they operated 'within the well-known constraints and restraints', leading to speculation his departure was due to concern over troops' equipment and conditions.

Leaving the forces because of the negative impact on families is certainly not a new excuse. Many of those leaving just now quote this as their main reason. The forces are so stretched between Iraq, Afghanistan and their other commitments mans that despite assurances many personnel are having to do extended trips away from families without the required breaks.

Take a look at what I wrote back in November on exactly this subject to see that this is not a new issue. Among the complaints then were these.

• 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

None of these points have been resolved so we still have large numbers of personnel leaving the forces at the earliest opportunity. When this extends into the senior officers then you know the problem is getting worse rather than better.

This is not helped when you get Ministry of Defence insiders saying a key factor in Brig Butler’s decision was that he had been overlooked for promotion to Director of Special Forces, which would have given him responsibility for all special operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Two years ago, as commander of 3 Para, he criticised Government policy, saying the invasion of Iraq meant Nato troops were diverted from Afghanistan, leaving British soldiers with a much tougher task.

Brig Butler’s decision to tender his resignation comes just days after the head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt sparked a debate over military pay when he said that many of his troops earned less than traffic wardens.

It also follows the resignation last year of Lt Col Stuart Tootal, in protest at the ‘appalling’ and ‘shoddy’ treatment of troops.

Update: Please read this post in the Telegraph's Three Line Whip. The final paragraph by Con Coughlin says it all when speaking about the debt of gratitude we owe our forces

Indeed we do, and the fact that an officer of the calibre and experience of Brig Butler feels compelled to resign his commission at a time of war is a searing indictment of this government’s fundamental inability to understand the basic needs and requirements of our heroic armed forces.

Please contrast these with the actor Rupert Everett highlighted here.

SAS commander who attacked Iraq war quits his post 'over lack of resources for troops' | Mail Online

Nimrods are Still Safe to fly

Des Browne says Nimrods are safe to fly Beau Bo D'or disagrees and so do I.

Pigs fly over the Ministry of Defence - New animation for Channel 4 News.

Report and link to video report here.




Board of Inquiry- Nimrod MR2 XV230

Today in Parliament Des Browne acknowledged what anybody following the story of the crash of XV230 and the loss of 14 British lives could have told you.

According to the Times

Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, in an extraordinarily contrite statement to the Commons, said: “On behalf of the MoD and the Royal Air Force, I would like to apologise to the House of Commons, and most of all to those who lost their lives, and to their families. I am sorry.”

Gordon Brown sat next to him as he revealed the shortcomings that were at the heart of the worst fatal incident to be suffered by the Armed Forces in either Afghanistan or Iraq. The families of the victims are now due to receive substantial compensation.

Coming after attacks on the Government by five former defence chiefs who complained that the MoD’s budget was inadequate, the Nimrod affair was seized on as another illustration of the Forces having to depend on ageing and unreliable equipment.

The following condemnation from the same article reveals some of the problems.

The most damning condemnation of what had gone wrong in the general maintenance of the Nimrod fleet came from Air Chief Marshal Sir Clive Loader, Commander-in-Chief Air Command. Sir Clive said: “I conclude that the loss of XV230 and, far more importantly, of the 14 Service personnel who were aboard, resulted from shortcomings in the application of the processes for assuring airworthiness and safe operation of the Nimrod.”

The attached link takes you to the full report of the Board of Inquiry into the loss of Nimrod MR2 XV230 and the loss of 14 British Lives.

A quick scan of the report brings out that the likely cause of the crash was a fuel leak after air-to-air refueling and the subsequent ignition of this fuel by a pipe at above 400 degrees centigrade. What is staggering is that despite a seven fold increase in the number of fuel leaks and general knowledge of this problem no action had been taken to properly sort out the problem.

The graph shown here shows the number of leaks per 1000 flying hours and show that the rate increased from about 0.5/1000 hrs in 1984 up to 3.5 in 2006. This was apparently missed as being a problem and was not fully investigated.

A brief report is available here with the 33 recommendations it makes.

Michael Smith writing in his Blog in the Times has the following

The scandal of the deaths of 14 servicemen on board Nimrod XV230 continues. I am bound to say that I believed long ago that there couldn't be any more bad information coming out. But the release under the Freedom of Information Act of a report by QinetiQ, the defence company, on the extent of the leaks on board the Nimrod fleet and in particular the six aircraft flying over Afghanistan and Iraq simply beggars belief. The leaks represented a "critical" structural problem. Civilian contractors at RAF Kinloss were not only not required to pass on the substantial information they had on the leaks and how to deal with them to the Integrated Project Team which oversees how the Nimrod fleets is run, they were not required to tell the RAF technicians working on the aircraft at Kinloss that the Air Publications they were working to were out-of-date and of "little, if any, value". The problems with the leaks dated back ten years but were exacerbated by the "intense" schedule flown by the six Nimrods equipped with special video surveillance equipment fed back directly to commanders on the ground. Since these leaks were largely being caused by pressure from the aircraft's air-to-air refuelling system, never part of its original equipment and fitted as an emergency measure during the Falklands Conflict, they could not be replicated on the ground. "QinetiQ were unable to establish a clear impression of how these non-detected leaks are addressed," the report said. Or put another way, they couldn't be found so they couldn't be fixed. But so essential was the real-time video surveillance equipment to troops on the ground that the RAF had to keep the aircraft in the air quite literally, and tragically, at all costs.

The Times reports here on the release today of the report.

All I can do is express my sympathies to the relatives of the dead and hope that lessons are learned, in particular by this Government and the MOD, that penny-pinching results in the death of our Armed Forces. Let us hope that Des Browne did not lie when questioned in the house about the 15bn defence cuts that have been rumoured.

Ministry of Defence | About Defence | BOI Nimrod MR2 XV230

UK 'failed to make Basra safe'

173 members of the armed forces have died in Iraq since the start of the latest conflict and now we here that the UK

"has failed to make Basra safe"

What does this say about the sacrifice made by these people, Was it all worth it, what have we achieved and are we running away with out tails between our legs.

The report on the BBC says

The initial goal of UK forces in south eastern Iraq was to establish the security necessary for the development of representative political institutions and for economic reconstruction. Although progress has been made, this goal remains unfulfilled."

It also suggested that the relative security of Basra did not mean that the root causes of violence had been tackled.

The report added: "There remain murderous, corrupt and militia-infiltrated elements within the police which must be rooted out as a matter of priority."It went on to speculate on the future role of UK forces in Iraq. The report said: "If there is still a role for UK forces in Iraq, those forces must be capable of doing more than just protecting themselves at Basra Air Station.

This basically means we have achieved little in our 4 years in Basra and that our continuing presence is pointless with the current level of troops.

The report also explains that

The relative security of Basra is said to owe more to the dominance of militias and criminal gangs, who are said to have achieved a fragile balance in the city, than to the success of the multinational and Iraqi security forces in tackling the root causes of the violence.

So basically we have the standard gang warfare of a disintegrating society. This is our gift to Iraq.

I can only point to the relative success that the US now seem to be having in other areas after intensifying its commitments to Iraq. Our problem is that we no longer have the capability to do this and also fight in Afghanistan, why because we do not invest in our Armed Forces.

Des Browne bleats on about how the Defence budget is keeping pace with inflation completely ignoring that most of the increase is for two ships and that inflation in the highly technical defence world runs at least twice as high as normal bread and butter inflation. This means that year on year we have been, and are, losing up to 5% of our capabilities purely to inflation never mind any other cuts this government foists on the armed services at a time when they are at their most stretched in nearly 50 years.

Makes you glad to be British.

BBC NEWS | Politics | UK 'failed to make Basra safe'

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.

advertisement

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

3000 Troops Home By Christmas - Or Maybe Not

(Image courtesy of Rogue Gunner)

According to "informed defence" sources the Herald reports that 3,000 troops will be coming home from Iraq before Christmas.

I wonder if they have spoken to the opposing forces in Basra who now appear to be starting on all out war in the city and the surrounding areas. According to the Independent

A surge in violence in Basra has raised the prospect of British troops having to go back into the city if the security situation deteriorates further.
British forces, who withdrew from their last remaining base in Basra City earlier this month, remain officially in charge of security in the area and UK commanders have said that they are ready to step back in if necessary with a battlegroup, the Royal Welsh with Challenger tanks, on standby for such an eventuality.

Perhaps the withdrawal of troops from Iraq is more to do with saving money at the MOD who are being forced by the government to give troops a £140 rebate on their Council tax bills for a six month tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.

By withdrawing early they might be able to save some of this. This rebate by the government of £140 was of course announced by them as if it was NEW money but as often occurs with Labour it is in fact OLD money just being redirected.

The money for this rebate will have to be taken from the MOD budget which is already in short supply supplying our troops with the essentials like ammunition, helicopters, clothing, armour and the likes along with other sundry items like decent housing.

Of course if you actually look at the troops who are based in Iraq and Afghanistan you'll find that few will actually get the rebate as they don't pay council tax, as such, as they don't own/rent property in the UK.

All in all another piece of Labour Spin to cover up their inadequacies.


3000 Troops Could Start Coming Home From Iraq By Christmas (from The Herald )

Articles on Afghanistan

Some light reading on the current situation in Afghanistan, whilst our so-called Defence Minister, Des Browne is caught up in some problems nearer to home.

First an article in the Independent titled "Politicians must accept the reality on the ground"
This explores the current situation and the way reality is only slowly dawning on the government in this country that it's not going very well and they may have to get a policy and perhaps some firm goals on what they want to achieve there.

The second an article in the Guardian titled "We are making a difference in Afghanistan, insists Browne", This appears to be Des Browne saying things are slightly tougher than Labour expected (no Bullets required)

Now a few articles from the Telegraph that explore some issues on Afghanistan.
First a poke at Gordon Brown and his disinterest Tories condemn Brown's 'lack of interest'

Next an article that gets a bit more to the heart of the problem titled "Blunder, confusion and a rising death toll" which also explores the fact that the Taliban are not quite the pushover they were expected to be by our Government. It finishes with the following

It is only now, after British fatalities in Afghanistan have passed the 70 mark, that public disquiet over the way the Government has handled the Afghan issue is raising questions about whether, in these challenging circumstances, the British military has any chance of achieving its original objective of helping to restore order.

British commanders predict that it will take at least three decades, not three years, to turn Afghanistan into a fully functioning state. If the casualty rate continues at its current level it is unlikely that the British public would be prepared to tolerate so many fatalities for so little gain.

And finally to the BBC who can only provide this piece Browne defends Afghanistan role which is wonderfully short on any thoughts on the situation but does provide the following substantial quote

Mr Browne, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, said: "What we have to do is that very difficult balancing act of making progress militarily, which we can do.

"The British can over face the Taleban in any circumstances, we can over match them rather, we can face them down and we can drive them out of communities.

"The challenge is then to be able to build those communities, local government, their links to the provincial government and to the central government in such a way that that is sustained."

You have to feel that Mr Browne has forgotten what he is talking about and is drifting back to his Scottish role and how he might like to face up to the SNP rather than a distinctly more dangerous foe

Browne defends Afghanistan role

I see Des Browne has been defending our role in Afghanistan, and whilst I have no problem with what we are supposed to be doing there I do have a problem with the execution of that role.

The problem, has as usual occurred, because of the standard 4 P's, Piss Poor Planning and Preparation. The government as usual have put our armed forces in a situation where they are not properly funded, manned or supported. Just less than a month ago The Commons Defence committee report said Nato must commit more troops and aid to Afghanistan if it is to establish a stable democracy. In the report MP's were careful and measured, but there is no mistaking the central message, things are going badly, alarmingly wrong in Afghanistan.

The governments hope is that they can somehow disentangle themselves from Iraq in time to help sort out Afghanistan. All this will do, will be to desert one disaster, by putting a sticking plaster on a haemorrhaging situation. Real backing from NATO and the UN is required.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Browne defends Afghanistan role

Macavity Browne

I see our esteemed Defence Secretary Des Browne has been taking lessons from his bosses Blair and Brown and failed to appear for a Radio 2 interview with Jeremy Vine after specifically asking to come on the show this lunchtime. At 12:10 about 1 hour before the interview he was still due on but between then and 1 pm he pulled out, much to Jeremy's displeasure and judging by some the comments to the ire of the general public who were not best pleased. Instead a TV interview was released with the BBC's Vicky Young at the helm. No in-depth digging and basically a feed for Mr Browne to have his say rather than be questioned.

In the interview he basically says it was all everyone else's decision and he just had a "note" passed to him on the telephone about it. So it was only after he got to work on Monday that he changed his mind (more likely had it changed from him) and stopped the selling of stories.

Apart from making Britain, it's Armed Forces and our whole dealings with the Middle East look ridiculous then he has done little harm to us as a nation that hasn't already been done by Blair and Brown.

A resigning issue then you ask? When has a Labour Government Minister resigned when they have screwed up. Better to pass the buck and slope the old shoulders and hang onto screw us again later.

We can only hope that Scotland gives them a severe bloody nose in the May Elections and that both Blair and Brown along with Labour disappear back to the opposition benches as soon as possible.

P.S the photo is of Kali Mountford PPS for Des Browne, I googled for an image of Des Browne and the third one was this. I assumed it was Des in Drag at first!