A move in the right direction... but for the wrong reasons
Soldiers face longer tours in Afghanistan because of savage cuts to troop numbers
Quote:
"Soldiers face being forced to do extended tours of duty because of savage cuts to troop numbers, MPs have warned."
and
"Army chiefs have been under pressure to move to nine months on, followed by 27 months off, in a bid to increase the proportion of troops who can be sent to the warzone."
Then there is a comment about "harmony guidelines" as follows:
Quote:
"... there must be a risk that the length of operational tours will be increased or that harmony guidelines, which set out what proportion of time personnel may spend away from home, will be breached.’"
What the hell are "harmony guidelines" and why would they apply in time of war?
What the hell are "harmony guidelines"
JMA,
IIRC 'harmony guidelines' are:
Quote:
The Army guidelines determine that soldiers can be deployed for one six-month tour in every 30 months (six on, 24 off) and during that 30 month period a soldier should not expect to be away from his or her normal place of work for more than a total of 415 days.
From a 2009 parliamentary question:http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/...2-11b.253717.h
The issue continues as there was a shorter exchange in parliament in July 2011. Note in 2008 there was an external, medical analysis of the impact of breaches of the guidelines you may enjoy:http://network.civilservicelive.com/...s/view/260118/
Measures for Alcohol abuse and mental health...
The Brit study included findings relating to alcohol abuse and common mental disorder.
The tests are very basic and can be found here:
Alcohol Screening Test
General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12)
I took the alcohol test answering as accurately as I could going back 30 years and scored Exceeding 'Safe-Use' Guidelines. I was late for work once (by 15 minutes) during my career due to a binge the night before and don't and never have had a substance problem. So at a score of 13 I would have been just two points away from the Hazardous Usage: Help Strongly Urged which would indicate to me that they set the bar too low on this one.
Don't know how they score the mental health one.
Threadjack if you'll humor me
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JMA
Another month away from home where other than the ability to conduct live-firing (away from the prying eyes of the Health and Safety Nazis)
Is this true? I trained briefly with Royal Marines last summer (two weeks) and they talked about and showed us videos of pretty aggressive live fire training. I also remember Patrick Hennessey mentioning the British Army's "live fire tactical training" as a particular point of pride in his (great) book.
6 months... 9 months... 12 months...
The Brits have been slow learners on this but they seem to be coming round slowly...
Afghan tour of duty could double to 12 months for some British army units
Quote:
(Brigadier Ed Davis, commander of Task Force Helmand) suggested that the work of the British army in Afghanistan would benefit from increased continuity: "The constant churn of people with whom you have really strong relationships is hard, so I think you need to reduce that by having people in theatre for longer."
"I suspect over time we'll see these changes and a larger percentage of people doing longer tours … We are looking at nine to 12 months."
Well yes... it is truly sad that a once fine military took nearly six years to figure this out.
I wonder if the clowns who thought up the 'harmony guidelines' will ever be named and shamed in public?
A book to make your heart bleed...
Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in Iraq and Afghanistan
While sure to be a painful read I will buy this and read it.
Quote:
Reviews
'a passionate and at times profoundly shocking account of dysfunction at the heart of Britain's armed forces... razor sharp.' --James Fergusson, author of 'A Million Bullets' and 'Taliban'
'carefully researched and full of telling anecdotes, Ledwidge's book may make uncomfortable reading for politicians and some senior military figures.' --David Loyn, BBC foreign correspondent and author of 'Butcher and Bolt: Two Hundred Years of Foreign Engagement in Afghanistan'