St Crispin’s Day

BBC NEWS | UK | Forces’ centre gets £24m boost

Working on the assumption that this government has no empathy for our armed forces (and the current track record does not give lie to this idea), we can only assume that this increase in the budget to Headly Court is beause we are in these wars for the long haul.

It must be welcomed, at the very least we will have a better facility for a few years to come.

Let’s hope the locals don’t complain again!!

BBC NEWS | England | Beds/Bucks/Herts | Coroner attacks MoD over failure
The inquest heard how, before the incident on 11 June, 7 Para soldiers had complained repeatedly about a lack of proper equipment - chiefly standard night vision kits and weaponry.
Mr Walker, assistant coroner for Oxfordshire, said: “They (the soldiers) were defeated not by the terrorists but by the lack of basic equipment.”
He said sending troops into a combat zone without basic kit was “unforgivable and inexcusable” and “a breach of trust between the soldiers and those who govern them”.

He recorded a narrative verdict in which he said Capt Philippson was unlawfully killed.

Yes, bu his own government!  This has got to stop right now.  It’s criminal to have any sort of budget cuts in defence whilst we are going out on these operations.  If there is a squeeze on any budget, then eventually someone at the bottom of the chain says “let’s only take half the night vision goggles we need!”

I’m currently out on Salisbury plain playing a tiny part in the preparation of 16 Air Assault Brigade’s build up training prior to deploying to Afghanistan in March.

How serious do you think this training should be taken?  VERY? Well, just imagine how difficult it is to replicate the real conditions when you A. have ony 2/3 of the vehicles you expect to have out there.  B. You are missing weapons that you will have when you get out there.  C. There is not the available helicopter or air power to replicate what you will have out there?  Why have we not got this?  Because its ALL out there. 

I’m sure that a prime minister said that commanders would get everything they needed????

Third of Army helicopters fit for the front-line - Telegraph

I can shed some more light on this from what I observed in Iraq & Afghanistan recently.

Despite the fact that they are needed in Iraq for surveillance purposes, the fleet of ageing Sea King helicopters have been moved over to Afghanistan where they are needed more.  They have been replaced by Lynx, which have a much shorter duration(they spend less time over the target), and they won’t be able to fly at all in the summer as the temperatures are too high.

SOme of the outlying Forward Operating Bases in Afghanistan only get one planned visit by a support helicopter every 10 days unless their is a medical emergency.  On one occasion I heard that a company commander was “over the moon” that a soldier in his base had been injured, as he would now get a helicopter load of ammunition & food days before he was expecting it!

Hat tip to Rogue Gunner for doing the research.

In case you were wondering, St Crispin has returned home (hence the increase in blogging).  I’ll be back in Iraq in just under three weeks.

My journey home from Camp Bastion was fraught to say the least.  39 hours in total, and it’s only 3500 miles for goodness sake!  I could have gone to Australia quicker!

The main problem was this

Its a tristar.  It’s basically a piece of junk that the RAF purchased from several airlines back in the 1980’s when they no longer had use for them (as they were too old).  It broke down twice once on the gulf coast & once in the Mediterranean (5 hours & 3 hours respectively).  Another exmple of how the best troops put up with some of the worst equipment.  remeber most of these guys were going home to see loved ones for R&R. 

One interesting part of the journey was the unbelievable amount of updates we got regarding our delay at RAF Akrotiri.  It could’nt be anything to do with this old story could it? 

BBC NEWS | Politics | Troops to get council tax rebate

 Total spin, and a zero sum game, yet again.  The government really thinks we the public are stupid by insulting us with this announcment.

The money comes out of the forces budget, so there’s no overall benefit. In fact, it’s worse, as rather than paying additional monies to the MOD for the “extra” war fighting, it’s actually making them take more from thier budget for activities they have not chosen to do (i.e. it’s Blair, Brown who decided this. the Army would have probably prefered to stay at steady state readiness on the existing budget).

The military should not be paying so much council tax in any case, as many services such as nurseries & social clubs are proved on military bases and are wholy or partly paid for out of MOD funds anyway.

When we fight wars, we should draw a line under the peacetime budget, and any additional costs must come out of a war chest or reserve simple as that.

Why just Afghanistan & Iraq?  It’s just as sh*t being away from your family for 6 months in Sierra Leone, or Kosovo, or the Falklands as it is in Afghanistan. 80-90% of troops are in support roles and are not directly involved in fighting operations, so camp Bastion is no different for a chef than anywhere else?  It’s not WHERE your serving that really matters, it’s the fact that intervals between tours are getting shorter regardless of where in the world they are.

This guy is either badly briefed or has terrible judgment. 

The Brigade here in Helmand province is in the middle of a RIP (a Relief In Pace) a military term for a handover but with no loss of capability on the ground.  It’s terribly complicated, and needs lots of resources like accomodation, food, transport etc etc as there are nearly twice the numbers of people “in town” as usual.  So this guy rocks up with his enterage, and expects to get flights on , hercules’ helicopters, etc. We don’t have enough of those things during the normal periods of operation let alone during a RIP.  

A senior officer I work  with was booked on a helicopter pretty much every day for three weeks to do a 40km trip to get to a vital planning conference for an upcoming assault.  He only got to the HQ after the operation was half way through!!!

St Crispin himself has had his flight to Kandahar today cancelled, so no Tim Hortons donuts for me!!

A message to the senior officers, politicians, and other hangers on.  Please leave your visits to quieter times.  Phone us, we’ll tell you when we want you to come.

Oh, and to add insult to injury he only visited the hospital here.  So he highlighted the negative side of what’s happening out here, the sick, injured & dead!  He never bothered to visit the fighting men who’s high spirits & moral keep them going when equipment & supplies let them down.

Maybe the “soft fluffy” side of war is all poiticians are prepared to associate themselves with.  It would be too much to side with the fighters!!!!!

I’m so sorry I’ve not been bouncing arround the blogsphere recently as I would have seen this a month ago.

It seems that TOTAL STAR “Daily Referendum” has gone & done South Park characters for all his blogging buddies!

The reason blogging is reduced here is simple.  I’m stuck in the middle of a desert, on the end of a BGAN terminal that gives broadband via inmarsat satelite links, but the costs are simpy huge.

You get about 256Mb/s speed (not quite the broadband we are used to back home!).  The costs are something close to £1.50 per Mb.  Just looking at the screen, my team have racked up 145Mb today.  You do the maths!!

Here is the wonderful picture.  I absolutely LOVE it.

Thank you Mr Referendum.

As you may know, St Crispin is currently festering in the middle of no where.  The place is a called camp Bastion.  It’s in the Helmand province, in the area looked after the British.

It’s a massive camp with thousands of people here, and is one of about ten bases that we work out of.

As an idea of how long we are going to be here, I’ve just had a message that KBR who manage the facilities have signed a 20 year deal to manage the place.

Has your governement at home told you the taxpayer / voter that this is the intention?

Oh well, that’s  democracy for you!