A story in the Guardian claims that with the MoD planning to sell off its 178-acre vehicle complex at Ashchurch in Gloucestershire, in order to raise money, one of the options under consideration is to move some tanks and other armoured vehicles to storage in Germany.
The UK is in the process of withdrawing thousands of troops from Germany, at the same time as thousands of military vehicles could be heading in the opposite direction.
A BFBS news report says that thousands of members of the Armed Forces could lose their chance to vote this year if they don't fill out a voter registration form.
Every year service personnel across the UK and away on deployment can't have their say in elections because they don't register to vote in time.
BAFF reported last week that 45% of armed forces voters who think they are registered are not properly registered after all.
The Telegraph says that "senior Army sources" have spoken of their increasing concern that the Territorial Army is "not fit for purpose" and will leave Britain's ability to defend itself hamstrung:
In a scathing criticism of defence cuts the Public Account Committee said delaying the building of two aircraft carriers and the Astute class submarines had already increased the Ministry of Defence's costs by more than £5 billion in the long term. A report in the Daily Telegraph continues:
According to the Army Rumour Service website 'ARRSE', there is a plan for a small expedition to Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) in June 2012 to reinstall two memorials to soldiers of the Royal Gloucestershire Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment (RGBW) who died during the Regiment's first operational tour in 1994, when Battalion Tactical HQ, A and B Companies were based in Gorazde. Link to full details at the bottom of this article.
Erskine, the famous Scottish veterans' charity, is reportedly having to cut back on part of its commercial operation which provides valuable wotk for veterans. The Daily Record reports that:
Dr Rhonda Cornum was one of the first generation of women to serve on the frontline in the first Gulf War. Captured by the Iraqi army, it was her ability to withstand that experience that convinced her of the importance of teaching resilience to today's serving soldiers. Less than a week after retiring as assistant US Surgeon General, she's been speaking about resilience training in London. She told Forces News that when she was shot down as part of a rescue mission in 1991 she was certain she was going to die. ForcesNews reports (07 Feb):
Three quarters of service personnel believe that they are registered to vote but according to the latest research, 44% of those are not properly registered after all.
The Mirror has a story about an infantry soldier who was medically discharged from the Army for service-induced hearing loss. He has received other benefits to which he was entitled, but now his application for compensation under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme has been refused by the SPVA - because the service-induced hearing loss is assessed at less than 20%.
When the 20% threshold was imposed by the Ministry of Defence in the 1990's under the old War Pensions scheme, the justification was that compensation should be targeted more at those with the most serious injuries. The new Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), for injuries on or after 6 April 2005, is thankfully more generous than the old scheme but the 20% hearing loss theshold remains.
The ruling remains controversial, because 20% hearing loss is enough to get in the way of your work, domestic and social activities on every single day of life.
But actually discharging a soldier for service-induced hearing loss, and then dismissing his injury claim as in effect trivial, is straight from the pages of Catch-22. It's time to have another look at this ruling.
The Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Peter Wall, says that never again will British troops be deployed in operations like Afghanistan. There is neither the political appetite, nor the money.
Instead, they will be involved in more limited counter-terrorism operations, in cooperation with intelligence agencies and indigenous forces.
The latest feedback to CGS's briefing team, summarised in Soldier magazine, has highlighted concerns about cuts in Army numbers and spending on accommodation, and deep worries about future pension cuts. CGS used an article in the same issue to respond to the concerns raised, saying he sympathised with some of his soldiers’ complaints. From a report in The Daily Telegraph:
BAFF's primary interest at this stage is in ensuring the maximum participation in the referendum by those armed forces personnel and their partners who are registered or genuinely entitled to register to vote in Scotland, in order to make their own voting choice when the time comes.
"Maximum participation" raises various issues including publicity, information, ease of registration and, of course, the actual voting process, especially for those entitled service personnel who are away from Scotland at the time of the referndum, and their wives, husbands or civil partners. The franchise for the referendum must not be less than the franchise for Scottish parliamentary and local government elections.
UPDATE: The Westminster Hall debate on "Participation of Scottish armed forces personnel in a referendum on Scottish independence" , which was due to be held on Wednesday, 25 January, did not take place as the proposer of the debate was not present. This can often indicate that the Government has managed to persuade the proposer that, for one reason or another, the debate would not be timely.
The cancelled debate and BAFF's stance on the issue is mentioned at:
Will there be any continuing reserve liability after redundancy?
Although this may seem a rather remote issue to those currently considering their options, the question has been asked, and the answer may be surprising.
This article, originally posted on 18 January, is topical because of a report in today's Daily Telegraph (09 Apr).
Ahead of the T2 redundancy announcement, the Independent's Defence Correspondent writes that the blueprint for shape of the army will be submitted to the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, in the next two months. The plan will reduce Regular Army numbers to 82,000, and a number of historic regiments may be merged and bases more dispersed throughout the country.
In yet another sign that BFG really is closing down, this year's performance of Cinderella could be the last annual panto in Rheindahlen. The Panto Cinderella will be at The Liitle Theatre, JHQ on 19th-22nd January and 26th-28th January. Tickets cost €8, on sale at The Little Theatre. ForcesNews reports (12 Jan):
BAFF urgently seeks the views of members and supporters on Question 6 of the published Scotland Office consultation paper -
What are your views on which people should be entitled to vote in a Scottish referendum?
The British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) will be responding to the UK Government's consultation paper on how a "legal, fair and decisive" referendum is to be conducted.
Responses to that paper are due to the Scotland Office (a UK Government Department) by 9th March, 2012.
Similarly, BAFF is likely to respond to the SNP Government's own consultation paper which it intends to publish later this month. UPDATE: We are now starting to add our comments below as an indication of our likely responses to the consultations, subject to any further views received from BAFF Full Members or Supporters.
In February 2010 the Council of Europe issued detailed recommendations to its member states on the human rights of members of the armed forces.
Below is the main text of Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)4 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, about the human rights of armed forces personnel. Our notes in square brackets are not part of the recommendation. Click here for BAFF introduction to this document. Click here for Council of Europe's Explanatory Memorandum to CM Recommendation on human rights of armed forces personnel.
A Welsh Territorial Army soldier who shot dead an Afghan he believed to be in the act of laying an IED could become the first British soldier to be charged with murder in that theatre. While any charges under military law would be a decision for the independent Service Prosecuting Authority, BAFF has commented on an aspect of the case.
According to the armed forces mental health charity Combat Stress, defence cuts could see thousands more combat veterans needing NHS help to cope with a range of mental illnesses
From a story by Nick Hopkins of The Guardian:
A soldier in Afghanistan wearing the new camouflage pattern. Picture: Corporal Barry Lloyd RLC, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010According to the Army's in-house magazine Soldier, the relatively new PCS field uniform in Multi Terrain Pattern (MCP) camouflage material has been criticised as a "fashion faux pas" which is shapeless, too American and more akin to an Action Man costume.
We havent picked up such strong feelings before, to be honest. What do you think?
Inevitably, the dreaded "jacket v shirt" argument has been resurrected again! That particular argument goes back as far as the Second World War, when the Army supposedly rejected a jacket-type top because of representations from the Brigade of Guards, and the undeniably smarter short battledress jacket was adopted instead for temperate uniform.
Many members of the irreverent 'ARRSE' community website have been expressing their concern and good wishes for the early recovery of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh after an emergency hospitalisation. This video report shows HRH on duty earlier this month at RAF Kinloss, where he presented new colours to The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, recently returned from Afghanistan: