British Military Current Events

[jollyjacktar]

It's about time.

The CBC reports that Northern Ireland police say they have arrested Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams on suspicion of involvement in the Irish Republican Army's 1972 abduction, killing and secret burial of a Belfast widow..

Hear hear  :cheers:

 

[daftandbarmy]

Happy?

Hell yeah...  :nod:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM

 

[daftandbarmy]

"Not a proper man unless you drink fish".... awesome, and kind of creepy


Army culture of 'drinking to oblivion' must end, warns defence minister after claim troops are sold TRIPLE gin and tonics for £1


Anna Soubry calls for an end to binge-drinking in the armed forces
Warns 'vast amounts' drunk by troops cannot be dismissed as 'comraderie'
Guide for commanding officers to be overhauled to tackle booze culture


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2616009/Army-culture-drinking-oblivion-end-warns-defence-minister-claim-troops-sold-TRIPLE-gin-tonics-1.html#ixzz30ouKlnVP
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[Colin Parkinson]

Yea I suspect it's more of a Working Class issue than just an army issue. Perhaps they drink so much to wash away the taste and memory of Messhall food

 

[daftandbarmy]

Are YOU a psychopath (and could it be the secret to success)?: New book by SAS hero Andy McNab reveals why having their character traits is vital to winning life's battles

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2621102/Why-psychopath-secret-success-New-book-SAS-hero-Andy-McNab-reveals-having-character-traits-vital-winning-lifes-battles.html#ixzz30xS96kPR
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Well, this clearly explains my former (The Parachute) Regiment to a 'T'. In comparison, the Royal Marines seemed positively normal.  ;D

 

[daftandbarmy]

Ulster flag protests: police injured in petrol bomb attacks

Four police officers have been injured in violent clashes in Belfast as more than 30 petrol bombs were thrown by rioters during further protests over limits on flying the Union flag.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/9797367/Ulster-flag-protests-police-injured-in-petrol-bomb-attacks.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

Where ‘Say Nothing’ Is Gospel, I.R.A. Victim’s Daughter Is Talking

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Helen McKendry was shopping recently when she spied a former neighbor who she is sure was one of the members of the Irish Republican Army who burst into her home 42 years ago and abducted her mother.

They stared at each other, then moved on.

It has always been that way for Mrs. McKendry and her nine brothers and sisters, the children of Jean McConville, a widow who was wrongly suspected by the I.R.A. of being an informer and dragged out of her living room in front of her family one afternoon in 1972. She was shot in the back of the head and buried on a beach in the Republic of Ireland. Her body was not discovered until 2003, when it was exposed during a storm.

The children grew up and went about their lives knowing the identities of most of the men and women who took their mother, but they never dared go to the police. They say they still see her abductors around town, even on a list of candidates running in local elections this month for Sinn Fein, the former political arm of the I.R.A. and one of Ireland’s main political parties.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/world/europe/where-say-nothing-is-gospel-ira-victims-daughter-is-talking.html?emc=edit_th_20140522&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=32103208&_r=1

 

[daftandbarmy]

Analysis: Sierra Leone to Kajaki, the spear tip
 

By Tim Ripley, and Ben Farmer

Since it was formed in 1999, Britain’s 16 Air Assault Brigade rapid reaction force has been at the forefront of the UK’s wars, earning it the nickname the “tip of the spear”.

Designed to offer a powerful mix of airborne soldiers backed up by artillery, helicopter gunships, light armour and specialist support troops, the brigade has been the first to land on foreign shores whenever the Army has been ordered into action.

Yet the illustrious brigade has now also fallen prey to the severe cuts sweeping the Forces. The cuts detailed in the Parachute Regiment’s magazine show the brigade will lose as many as 3,000 of its nearly 8,000 troops, insiders estimate.

As well as boots on the ground, the brigade is losing parts of its light armour, artillery, air power, and combat engineer support units.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10854481/Analysis-Sierra-Leone-to-Kajaki-the-spear-tip.html

 

[CougarKing]

What about the RNLI- the UK's Lifeboat service?

Lost at Sea? Don't Bother Calling the Royal Air Force for Help
Michael Peck in War is Boring



If you are ever on a sinking ship or your airliner ditches in the ocean, don’t expect the British to rescue you.

Because Britain can't, as became painfully evident this week during a search for four missing British yachtsmen lost on the North Atlantic.

Because the yachtsmen are British, naturally the British government felt obliged to help. But the only aircraft the RAF could muster was a C-130 transport aircraft, whose most sophisticated search gear is a flight crew using binoculars to scan the ocean.

Embarrassed British officials admitted that U.S. Coast Guard patrol planes, equipped with sensors and crews for maritime work, would have to bear the brunt of the search.

The RAF was supposed to have maritime patrol aircraft. The plan was to replace the Nimrod MR2 with the updated Nimrod MRA4. But the government scrapped the MRA4 in 2010, citing delays and cost overruns.


War is Boring

 

[daftandbarmy]

What about the RNLI- the UK's Lifeboat service?

The RNLI are for close to shore work and, being all volunteer, their wives would likely bring down the government if they all weren't home for their tea on time  ;D

 

[Journeyman]

But the only aircraft the RAF could muster was a C-130 transport aircraft, whose...

There was a time when Canada's largest SAR region (Prairie/Arctic) was covered predominantly by 435 Sqn Hercs out of Edmonton. 

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The RNLI are for close to shore work and, being all volunteer, their wives would likely bring down the government if they all weren't home for their tea on time  ;D

Coast Guard there mostly does cliff rescue as well with a few small trailable inflatables to rescue people trapped by tides. Trinity House does all the Navaid work.

 

[daftandbarmy]

32,000 British soldiers fail fitness tests amid fears of Army obesity crisis

Soldiers suggest poor diet is resulting in troops becoming too fat to fight

Army 'has dropped fitness standards to allow more women to join'


More than 32,000 British troops failed a key basic fitness test within the last three years, according to new figures that raise fears of an Army obesity crisis.


All soldiers are expected to undergo the personal fitness assessment, which involves press-ups, sit-ups and a run against the clock, twice a year.


But 29,600 male and 2,819 female troops have failed the test at some point in the three years to March 2014, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.


Soldiers suggested that poor diets were partly to blame, according to the Sunday Times, which first disclosed the data.


Separate figures showed that more than 22,000 troops were deemed to be overweight and at resulting risk of health problems.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10917716/Army-has-dropped-fitness-standards-to-allow-more-women-to-join.html

 

[Old EO Tech]

32,000 British soldiers fail fitness tests amid fears of Army obesity crisis

Soldiers suggest poor diet is resulting in troops becoming too fat to fight

Army 'has dropped fitness standards to allow more women to join'


More than 32,000 British troops failed a key basic fitness test within the last three years, according to new figures that raise fears of an Army obesity crisis.


All soldiers are expected to undergo the personal fitness assessment, which involves press-ups, sit-ups and a run against the clock, twice a year.


But 29,600 male and 2,819 female troops have failed the test at some point in the three years to March 2014, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.


Soldiers suggested that poor diets were partly to blame, according to the Sunday Times, which first disclosed the data.


Separate figures showed that more than 22,000 troops were deemed to be overweight and at resulting risk of health problems.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10917716/Army-has-dropped-fitness-standards-to-allow-more-women-to-join.html

Well since the British Forces are cutting numbers severely due to government direction.....looks like they have a valid if long mechanism to do so :-/

 

[daftandbarmy]

Britain’s armed forces 'not good enough' to deal with Jihadi threat, warns ex-defence chief

Lord Richards of Hertsmonceux also calls for defence spending to increase as the economy starts to grow again and says that if plans to replace regular troops with part-time reserves must work soon or junked altogether.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10921141/Britains-armed-forces-not-good-enough-to-deal-with-Jihadi-threat-warns-ex-defence-chief.html

 

[The Bread Guy]

Remembering those who came to fight for the U.K. and empire ....

Foreign troops who fought alongside British soldiers in the First World War must not be forgotten, a cabinet minister will say.

Britain must show its gratitude to the "Tariqs and Tajinders" who fought with the “Tommies in the trenches" for the hardships and horrors endured in a war fought thousands of miles from their homes, Lady Warsi will say.

The soldiers, sailors and airmen from the Commonwealth played in The First World War. More than 70,000 soldiers from the British Indian Army alone lost their lives during the conflict. Over 100,000 Canadians and Australians died in battle.

(....)

Around three million men from across the Commonwealth signed up to fight alongside British soldiers during the four years of war, with some travelling at their own expense from places as fair flung as Africa and the Caribbean to join the allied cause.

175 of these acted with such conspicuous bravery, self-sacrifice or extreme devotion that they were awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest military honour.

Soldiers from Canada, Australia and India as well as Belgium and Ukraine are among those who were honoured.

The plaques to each soldier who received a VC will now be sent to each soldier’s country of origin to be permanently displayed in public places.

As part of the commemoration of the centenary of WWI, the Foreign Office will be publishing an online digital archive of all the overseas VC recipients.

(....)

More in link here

 

[daftandbarmy]

Exclusive: BBC's Panorama team loses confidential information relating to a secret British Army unit


Highly sensitive and confidential information relating to a secret British Army unit which is alleged to have shot unarmed civilians in Northern Ireland has been “lost” by the BBC’s investigative team on the Panorama programme.

The material, which includes information on former soldiers from the controversial Military Reaction Force, leaked out following a lapse in security.

It is understood that at least one former serviceman from the elite unit has had his identity compromised.

The notoriously secretive MRF included men from the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment.

Names and details of other senior military figures – in addition to those who served with the MRF – were also contained in the compromised file.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is investigating the major loss of data by the Panorama team after an inexperienced researcher allegedly downloaded a cache of material from an online dropbox service on to a USB stick and handed it to a third party.

It is understood that the matter is being treated as a potential criminal offence under Section 55 of the Data Protection Act.

Initially, the data was believed to relate only to Panorama’s investigation into alleged questionable practices at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The researcher leaked the file to the office of the mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, because she did not believe the documentary, broadcast in April, was balanced.

The material included details of people who had contributed to the documentary anonymously. But The Independent has learnt that the file also contained confidential information relating to “Britain’s Secret Terror Force”, a highly sensitive previous Panorama programme, which was shown last November.

The experienced Panorama presenter John Ware hosted both documentaries, although he is understood not to be responsible for the breach in security.

During the Northern Ireland programme, made by the television production company twenty2vision, seven unidentified members of the plain-clothes Military Reaction Force discussed their covert activities.

They all denied they had been part of a death or assassination squad but one soldier admitted: “If you had a player who was a well-known shooter who carried out quite a lot of assassinations it would have been very simple – he had to be taken out.”

Another said: “We were not there to act like an army unit. We were there to act like a terror group. We had our own rules, but I don’t recall being involved in the shooting of an innocent person.”

Two fatal shootings were linked to the MRF; Patrick McVeigh, a father of six who was shot in Belfast in 1972 and 18-year-old Daniel Rooney, who was killed in West Belfast in 1973.

The Ministry of Defence said it had referred Panorama’s findings to the police.

Last night military figures expressed astonishment that the BBC could have put the anonymity of servicemen who served with elite undercover units at risk. The mistreatment of confidential sources was “absolutely disgraceful”, said Hugh McManners, a military author and commentator.

“Protection of sources is paramount and the BBC and its researcher have behaved utterly disgracefully. I cannot believe that anyone could be so lax. If the media is going to misbehave like that, the Ministry of Defence would be justified in refusing all media requests, which isn’t in anybody’s interests.”

In the making of the Tower Hamlets documentary, it is understood that BBC application forms for covert filming used in the Northern Ireland film were duplicated to use as a basis for applications to film undercover in east London. But due to an error, confidential details used in the Ulster films were not deleted, putting the identities of at least one ex-MRF contributor at risk.

The breach of security occurred at Films of Record, which made the Tower Hamlets investigation “The Mayor and Our Money”, and not at twenty2vision. The researcher, who only worked at Panorama for five days, has told The Independent she acted “because of my conscience”. She said: “My basic point was that this is damaging to the Bengali community.”

It is understood that the Tower Hamlets copy of the file has now been destroyed.

A spokesperson for the ICO said it had to be “particularly cautious” when discussing an investigation which may lead to a criminal prosecution.

“We have been made aware of a possible data breach at Films of Record. We will be making inquiries into the circumstances of the alleged breach of the Data Protection Act before deciding what action, if any, needs to be taken.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “There has been a lot of baseless speculation on the circumstances surrounding this programme. It’s not appropriate for us to comment further while there is an investigation by the ICO under way.”

Licensed to kill: Military reaction force

The Military Reaction Force (MRF) was a covert British Army unit operating in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s at the start of the Troubles.

The undercover unit, which is thought to have comprised 40 men, is said to have been given licence to operate a shoot to kill policy and ignore the Yellow Card rules which spelt out the circumstances under which soldiers were permitted to open fire.

The MRF included men from the Special Air Service (SAS), the Special Boat Service (SBS), the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment.

It has been linked to the shootings of several unarmed civilians, including Patrick McVeigh, a father of six children, who was hit by sub- machine-gun fire while manning a nationalist barricade in west Belfast in 1972. The MRF was disbanded in 1973.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exclusive-bbcs-panorama-team-loses-confidential-information-relating-to-a-secret-british-army-unit-9580340.html

 

[Edward Campbell]

It's not exactly military, but William Hague has just announced that he has resigned as Foreign Secretary, after four years, and will serve as Leader of the House of Commons.

 

[daftandbarmy]

15 slang terms that only make sense to a Royal Marine

Ahead of the first episode of Channel 4's Royal Marines Commando School, we take a peak inside Planet Marine with a short guide to speaking Commando. Hoofers!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/10951609/15-slang-terms-that-only-make-sense-to-a-Royal-Marine.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

Royal Marine on 'SAS selection exercise' fell 100ft to his death down a gorge after using Google to navigate because his own map had 'little detail' of the area

A Royal Marine died during a gruelling Special Forces selection exercise when he fell into a mountain gorge not shown on the map he was given by commanders, an inquest heard.

Commando Ashley Hicks, 25, slipped down a 100ft drop as he tried to reach a safe point while ‘escaping’ from other soldiers as part of the night-time training mission.

He had just warned his colleagues ‘mind your footing’ as they clambered over the rocks.

But seconds later, he plummeted into Maentwrog Gorge in Snowdonia, North Wales, and fell to his death. The drop was not shown on their scale map of the area.

Marine Hicks, of Solihull, near Birmingham, was killed while taking part in exercises to join an elite Special Forces unit believed to be the SAS.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2693075/Royal-Marine-SAS-selection-exercise-fell-100ft-death-gorge-using-Google-navigate-map-little-area.html#ixzz37ZcYut3w
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