The House of Commons Defence Committee has just released the findings of its inquiry into the defence implications of Scottish Independence, in the event of a Yes vote in the referendum.

The scope of the Committee's report includes a number of personnel-related issues, such as

• Interests of serving UK military personnel
• Future recruitment
• Participation in the referendum

BAFF Executive Douglas Young was interviewed on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio Wales about an expected Government announcement today (10 Feb 2010) of further improvements to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme for personnel injured on duty after 5 April, 2005. In welcoming improvements, Young supported the call by The Royal British Legion in their Election Manifesto for the Scheme in future to be kept under continuous review.

In his BBC Radio Wales interview, Young expressed concern that today's expected announcement was also preparing the ground for a more rigorous policy in respect of personnel who were unable to return to full military fitness as a result of injury or sickness. Young also commented on a call by the National Audit Office for Defence Chiefs and the NHS to deal with the consequences of a rise in the number of troops requiring treatment or evacuation from Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence has apologised after thousands of recently-retired veterans were underpaid their pensions. The former RN officer who discovered the error has criticised SPVA for "being happy to sit back and not inform them they were being paid incorrectly". The Belfast Telegraph reports that:

The Report of the Nimrod Review is now available online.

• The Nimrod Review: an independent review into the broader issues surrounding the loss of the RAF Nimrod MR2 aircraft XV230 in Afghanistan in 2006 report (Full report - PDF 4.62MB - download may be slow due to amount of interest)
• The Nimrod Review official website

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).

A prominent centre-page piece in today's Daily Telegraph declares that Scottish soldiers based at Catterick in Yorkshire "have been disenfranchised" in the independence referendum.

But the article omits the fact that regular service personnel from Scotland have the option of registering there as service voters, and then of voting by post or by proxy.

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

The Liberal Democrat party at its national conference in Glasgow this week [September 2013] has confirmed its support for organised representation of armed forces personnel.

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).