On the up side, our uniforms are pretty snazzy, our banter first rate, and even though Selly Oak is full of amputees, everybody know...Chicks dig scars.
Also, it would seem the biggest contributors to the Help for Heroes fund are....individual members of the armed forces doing charity events. Er....I thought it was meant to be the general public helping us out...not us helping us out....?
The sooner I'm CGS the better, I say.
...so here are some tips.Originally Posted by Coldstreamer
a.) You belong to proper Regiment, full of "good chaps," married to "nice gals", so you have an excellent start.
b.) Get a tour in Special Forces under your belt, or even better, fail selection with an injury. "Frightfully bad luck" goes a long way.
c.) Lace your conversation with words like "Effect" and "capability." Mimic the vocabulary of SO-2s in the DECs, and arms directors.
d.) Be involved in some frightful disaster, that no one knows about - it's "frightfully bad luck."
e.) Write supportive articles in "Battle Notes" and the British Army Review.
f.) Stay "on message."
Hope this helps
Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"
- The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
- If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition
Sadly, there is no sense that things at MOD will improve. The headline '1.5% per annum increase' in defence spending over the next 3 years is misleading and Staff levels there are being 'streamlined' (i.e. further reduced by 25% - yes 1 in 4). Staff reductions will effect both civilian and uniformed posts (where a number are gapped already), which might be good news for those officers hoping to avoid a stint in Main Building, but a major concern for defence policy as over time the withering military footprint in Whitehall will lose influence. It may be apocryphal, but if the Dept of Health is being steered without doctors at the helm, the spectre of an MOD being run without sailors, marines, soldiers and airmen would make current problems 'the good old days'. Anecdotally, if I ever have doubts about my decision to jump ship, I can walk into MOD...
PS
BillF - gleaming advice....
a-e....all done already (noble injury rather than gucci pistol scenario, sadly)
f....sorry....all bull####ted out!
Paul - unsurprising. We remain a profession in perpetual decline - back to the watery backbones of our lords and masters. Not irreversible. Remedial action:
- All Military Staff in MOD posts to wear uniform at work starting next week, and remember who they are (I used to do that from time to time...it was as though I'd run into the building with a blood-dripping axe).
- Remember how to say 'no' when something makes no sense.
- Make output not savings based plans and decisions. Ensure logic trail is understood as to why infantry can't be trained in 14 weeks (I know your Patrol Based Infantry model sees efficiencies Wilf, but remember the start state of today's yoof).
- Only agree to do things 'properly', based on sound judgement and terms
Much of this is highly subjective - but that is the basis of professional knowlege, from Law to Medicine. For example, when the Govt forbade us to force generate for TELIC 1 because 'the decision for war had not yet been taken', resulting in numerous casualties from ill prepared troops, the Chiefs should have refused to soldier until we were adequatelly prepared, because the decision was bollocks. The difference lying between mobilising a force and using it. A ready force could have been stood down had Iraq complied...etc. But one example.
Too much hubris, too many fools, too many idiots masquerading as brains, too many ambitions overwhelming consciences...
I like the way Ya"ll talk...Ya'll must be from Southern England.
Yeah, only bad thing is they could be talking
about another country and defense department...
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