From the News of the World, Nov 2007

DEFENCE chiefs could be SUED over the squalid homes given to soldiers returning from war zones.

The troops' union is planning to take Defence Secretary Des Browne to court for compensation for servicemen and women forced to live in leaking, rat-infested old barracks.

And the British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) wants the Ministry of Defence to be ordered to refurbish the run-down homes. BAFF chairman Doug Young said: "It beggars belief that the absolute worst barracks seem to have been reserved for some of the same units who have been fighting hardest in Afghanistan."

BAFF is in talks with troops and is offering free legal representation for any of its members who want to take the MOD on. A report recently revealed 19,000 soldiers and their families are living in conditions described by former top soldier General Sir Mike Jackson as "shaming".

BAFF can be contacted on ...

(Originally published by News of the World, Nov 2007)

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 Army Recovery Capability (ARC) is a fantastic capability but it would appear, only PARTIALLY works.  Firstly, demand outstrips the supply, and second, access to Personnel Recovery Units (PRUs) is a ‘Command Led Process’.

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:

The British Army Recovery Capability (ARC) is a fantastic capability but it would appear, only PARTIALLY works.  Firstly, demand outstrips the supply, and second, access to Personnel Recovery Units (PRUs) is a ‘Command Led Process’. 

It is problematic firstly because the Unit Commanders’ priority is to prepare for Operations.  However, they must also triage their wounded, injured and sick (WIS) deciding which have the greatest need and therefore nomination to a PRU. They are then expected to effectively manage those that remain.  Second, the acceptance by the ARC Assignment Board of an injured Service man or woman to a PRU will be driven by PRU capacity. There are 154 beds in the 11 PRUs and 1000 places. So no matter what the need, if there are no spaces, management remains at Unit level. 

Which commander is prepared to stand up and tell those s/he leads that in the event of their injury, these are the odds they will be playing with, but not just them, their families too. The purpose of the ARC was to alleviate Unit Commanders of WIS management, for sound reasons, but this is only happening in part and the problems of the past systems (Y-List, SAM) remain and increase, for many WIS and their families.

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:

Review: Sean Rayment on Losing Small Wars by Frank Ledwidge, "an account of why Britain fared so badly in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan":

Admiral Chris Parry writes in The Daily Telegraph that:

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.

The Scottish National Party is to consider a proposal to grant "enhanced terms and conditions" to personnel in an independent Scottish Defence Force, including the official right of representation by a recognised body. UPDATE: The proposals were unanimously approved by the SNP party conference at Perth on Friday 18 Oct. More to follow.