The Ministry of Defence has announced that British troops are to get pelvic protection to protect them from roadside bombs. The special anti-blast underwear consists of a three layered system of clothing and armour, which also includes special armoured trousers. Nearly 350 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan and many more have been injured, often by IED blasts. 

BritishForcesNews reports (16 Dec).

The House of Commons Select Committee on Defence has just published the following report:

The Department of Work and Pensions has confirmed that the review of bereavement benefits announced by the Minister for Welfare Reform on 12 Dec does NOT affect payments to service widows or widowers under the War Pensions Scheme or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.

The Defence Secretary has confirmed, as predicted, that women will be allowed to serve aboard Royal Navy submarines. In a major speech today at the Royal United Services Institute, Mr Hammond said that:

Dudley MP Ian Austin has backed a Parliamentary campaign against "plans to cut pay for members of the Armed Forces". According to the Labour MP's website:

The Chancellor, in yesterday's Autumn Budget Statement, announced that public sector pay rises would be capped at 1 per cent for two years when the current pay freeze ends in 2014. With inflation likely to exceed 1 per cent the pay cap means a pay cut in real terms for public servants, including members of the armed forces.

Unlike earlier announcements by the Coalition government and by their predecessors, there is no mention this time of measures to protect the pay of junior personnel.

While there are unique characteristics of military service which must always be reflected in a fair remuneration package, the armed forces are clearly not exempt from the current public spending situation. The real-terms pay cut should, however, be viewed in the context of ever-increasing charges and diminishing opportunities to save money from allowances.

Irreverent military bullshit website, the Army Rumour Service - ARRSE for short - has now produced what is laughably described as an insider's guide to the British Army. Author Major Des Astor is described by his own literary agent as "one of the most extensively passed-over officers in British military history". Astor told British Forces News what readers could expect. Update: This fine training pamphlet is now available in Kindle format, as well as in handy wipeable hardback.

The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), which was introduced and subsequently reviewed under the previous Labour Government, treats the most seriously wounded personnel more generously than the War Pensions scheme which preceded it. BAFF members who had suffered serious but not catastrophic injuries told us that their claims have been settled promptly and satisfactorily under AFCS. Yet the scheme remains controversial. The Sunday Mirror reports that:

The Sun reports that volunteer members of the armed forces will be working as security staff at the London Olympics. It appears that, in a similar arrangement as that for forces personnel assisting at Wimbledon, they will be paid by the MoD as normal during the period of duty. Supposedly, one difference from Wimbledon is that they would be wearing civilian security staff uniform. From the newspaper:

Philip Hammond gave his first newspaper interview as Defence Secretary on Friday, during a visit to British troops who have been involved in the Libya campaign from Italy's Gioia del Colle airfield. From MoD Defence News:

According to this report by the Daily Telegraph, an adviser to the Ministry of Defence has warned that the Armed Forces remain "critically ill" and recent proposals amount to "little more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic":

(Update 02 Nov: MoD response below). Various media have carried the story that apparently for the first time since the Falklands War in 1982, defence cuts have left the "stretched" Royal Navy unable to provide an emergency standby ship to protect British waters for a month. The Daily Telegraph reported that:

UPDATE: Aasmah Mir's report, which was in many ways uplifted by the positive approach taken by former Iraqi local staff who were relocated to Glasgow under the UK Government's Iraqi Locally Engaged Staff Assistance Scheme, is now available from the BBC iPlayer at the link shown below.

British troops serving in Afghanistan could miss out on mail from their loved ones because of the "huge and unmanageable" amount of donations sent by members of the public, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has said.

Army chiefs have revealed they are being "overwhelmed" by the volume of parcels and shoeboxes sent to unnamed British service personnel overseas.

They say that makes it more difficult for frontline supplies and post from families to get through. BritishForcesNews reports (16 Sep).

Poles, Czechs and Slovaks fought in British skies, far from home, and helped win the Battle of Britain.

Those service personnel who joined British forces in the skies and on the ground are being honoured in an exhibition at the RAF Museum in north London. BritishForcesNews reports (19 Sep).

Guardian 14 Sep 2011: "A family who were repeatedly denied compensation for their internment during the second world war were treated disgracefully by the Ministry of Defence, which acted in an "extraordinarily insensitive" way towards them, the parliamentary ombudsman has ruled." The story continues:

This year's Continuous Attitude Survey was published some days ago, but due to competing armed forces stories has received unusually little media attention. BritishForcesNews reported on the same day as the report was made available on this website for logged-in BAFF Members and BAFF Military Supporters. Now today's Mirror has a story about the survey.

A BAFF spokesman was asked about morale in three recent radio interviews about the tranche 1 redundancy notifications. Talk of "low morale" in the armed forces can be easily misunderstood, so our man made it clear that people generally were "not going about with long faces", and that service personnel were getting on with their jobs as they always do. But

On the last day for posting parcels to Camp Bastion, BritishForcesNews reports (02 Dec) that with comedy home movies posted on the internet having become something of a seasonal tradition, first out with their camcorders this year are the men and women of the Royal Logistic Corps's Eighty Postal Courier Squadron bracing themselves for a busy time ahead... Related links below.

The British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) has been quoted again in Parliament.

The British Armed Forces Federation takes the view that the Baha Mousa Inquiry chaired by Sir William Gage has made a fair and thorough job of a difficult and painful investigation. In addition to the fullest possible implementation of the recommendations, BAFF regards it as a further test of our system that any further investigation, prosecution or administrative action be conducted fairly, and not in the atmosphere of a witch-hunt or for reasons of political expediency.

While there can be no excuses for the criminal or undisciplined mistreatment of anyone in the custody of British forces, comparatively junior individuals must not be left to take all the blame after what the Inquiry found to be a clear “corporate failure” by the MoD to adopt a proper and consistent doctrine for detainee holding and questioning. Failures to plan and provide adequate resources for the occupation also played their part.

According to a story in the Telegraph (09 Sep), "Nineteen soldiers could face criminal charges for their role in the death of an innocent Iraqi man after a public inquiry found he was the victim of “appalling and cowardly” violence while in British custody":

The Report of the Baha Mousa Inquiry can be accessed from the Inquiry's site at the link below, but some may have difficulty accessing the pages, via Google Docs. Our immediate reaction is that the Chairman's statement was impressive, but we will be examining the report in more detail and would welcome comments from logged-in BAFF members and BAFF military supporters.

The report of the Baha Mousa inquiry will be released later today, Thursday 08 Sep 2011. The Chairman of the Inquiry will make a short statement at 11.00am "to mark the laying of the Inquiry Report before Parliament later in the day". BBC News reports:

A survey carried out on behalf of leading charity Combat Stress has revealed that 49 per cent of GPs are familiar with guidelines on PTSD from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on PTSD. Only 42 per cent were familiar with the guidelines. The Daily Telegraph reports that:

Half of doctors are unaware of official guidelines on how to diagnose mental health trauma because of battle scars from the frontline, a survey has found.

The news will lead to fears that thousands of veterans are not being diagnosed early enough to prevent the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

A survey carried out by independent pollster ComRes found that just 42 per cent of GPs are familiar with guidelines on PTSD from National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on PTSD.

Forty-nine per cent said they were not familiar with them at all. ComRes, which was commissioned by veterans mental health charity Combat Stress, surveyed 1,006 GPs across the UK in July 2011.

The guidelines set out clinical best practice on how medical professional should manage and deal with PTSD sufferers, as well offering ways of treating the mental illness.

Combat Stress, the veterans’ mental health charity which is raising money through its 'Enemy Within' appeal to deal with the problem, said its figures showed that too few doctors were diagnosing PTSD among veterans.

It found that over the past 12 months just 5 per cent of the 1,426 veterans it helped were referred to it by GPs.

Failing to diagnose PTSD early, and take medical action, can lead to the onset of much more serious problems, such as alcoholism and depression.

Walter Busuttil, Combat Stress's medical services director, said: “Our clinical audits tell us that 80 per cent of veterans who come to Combat Stress for clinical treatment have first tried to get help from either their GP or other specialist services, but have not received the support and treatment that they needed.

“This has led to around half the veterans who come to Combat Stress each year essentially self-referring.”

Dr Clare Gerada, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, admitted that “inequalities persist surrounding the care of military personnel when they return to the UK”, adding that the college has produced guidance “to help GPs better understand veterans’ particular needs”.

She added: “Veterans pose a unique challenge for GPs, but the role the generalist can play in identifying post traumatic stress disorder, or indeed any other mental health problems that may manifest as a result of the often difficult and dangerous situations that veterans work in around the world, is invaluable.”

More than 180,000 British troops have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.

... Last year, Combat Stress launched its “Enemy Within” appeal, supported by The Daily Telegraph, to raise funds for the network of psychiatric nurses to treat veterans.

To contribute to Combat Stress's Enemy Within appeal, send a cheque payable to "Combat Stress" to the charity at Tyrwhitt House, Oaklawn Road, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 0BX.

Or go to www.combatstress.org.uk/tele to donate online.

• Full story, by Christopher Hope Whitehall Editor, The Daily Telegraph
• NICE clinical guideli on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Defence Select Committee Inquiry into Medical Care for the Armed Forces - Written evidence from the British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF)
• Combat stress: 44 calls every week to Government helpline to discuss mental health problems

According to The Sunday Telegraph (04 Sep), Church of England Bishops are set to warn ministers that plans to care for the armed forces do not go far enough:

The Sunday Telegraph (04 Sep 2011) reports that British troops are being asked to secretly inform on their comrades as part of an investigation into allegations that soldiers systematically abused civilians during the Iraq War. The report, which includes significant comments from the British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) spokeman, continues: