I agree with the fact that if you are at war with someone then fight to your last breath and inflict casualties where possible but I dont agree with the mindless and even cowardly beating of those captured by any armed force.....
Are all this current affairs threads about one person alone,i mean talk about suffocating and partronizing other members to agreeing to what you really dont have a clue about
This is my first post ever on this site (it's Mrs F who normally does it), but after sitting for the last hour or so reading this thread (which made me laugh, cry and filled me with anger) I thought I’d give it a go.
I served 15 years in the forces and left just over a year ago and I have much to thank for my time including my beautiful wife, Mrs Fun (who also served).
I am proud of our armed forces both past and present. I go religiously to Remembrance Sunday and openly cry every time, more so with the thoughts and memories of recently fallen friends.
There are so many issues raised during this debate and some of them, raised by the pig ignorant, who I shall not even waste my slow typing fingers on. There are numerous opinions of many who just tow the line for whichever newspaper they read or news channel they watch which in tern are guided by a political agenda. This is just the way of our media driven world. Vietnam was mentioned. This was the first conflict in which the worlds media had free roam across the blurred battle lines bringing blood and shit to your living room. How would the Somme have faired with 90,000 killed on the first day with today's media attention and political sway?
I have never met a soldier who has considered his or herself as a hero but I have witnessed many heroic acts and I would call them heroes although not to their face, they'd much prefer a beer.
Much is made of kit shortages and poor quality protection from IED’s. IED’s have always been a thorn in the side of any military forces wishing to dominate the ground since gunpowder was invented. It is both impossible and impractical to cover every eventuality and every soldier knows it. Enough said on that one. As for kit shortages, during the Cold War the Forces stockpiled every conceivable item possible. This was expensive as many items have a shelf life. The army being seen as a business with an ever-decreasing budget was out sourced to Civil Servants to streamline the business. This resulted in no more mass stock piles - as we no longer had a threat, there was no need to waste money - if we need it, we’ll order it. How easy do you think it is to order 70 thousand pairs of boots in various sizes? Is next day delivery an option? There have always been soldiers who put their hand in their pocket for “Gucci kitâ€, I know I did it. I wouldn’t dare to think how much I spent. What the army has started to do is watch what the guys are buying and then try and source something similar, this has been going on for years. The biggest change being the introduction of combat 95 which gave the guys Gor-tex boots, fleece jacket and a more practical and versatile uniform. They have always developed things specifically to meet operational needs but to go from research, through development and production, to distribution takes time.
As for Afghanistan and whether we should be there, is neither here nor there. We are there and for what I feel are genuine reasons (of course this is my opinion). Do we need to change our tact? Possibly, but that is for our elected government and other world leaders to decide on and our Armed Forces to act on. This of course, they will do with professionalism, determination and a great sense of humour.
Yes sometimes members of our forces can be social hand grenades but this happens with individuals in every walk of life and it would be wrong to tar every member of our forces with the same brush. They work hard and they play hard but some play much harder than others.
We should be proud of our armed forces. Not since 1066 have our boarders been breached. We made the White House white and Hitler said that with the British Tommy he could rule the world (he may have been mad but he made a good point).
Superb first post Mr Fun,and I salute you for it.
Post again as the forum always needs new views.
As I stated earlier in the thread, soldiers do not class themselves as heroes, but I think they are.
Hope to hear from you again soon.
If I " hero worship " then so be it.
I think they are heroes, as are other people in society. Yes they are doing a job, but then again so do some of the other " heroes ".
Heroic actions happen all the time in the field of battle. Men who risk their lives and sometimes pay the ultimate price, for putting their comrades above is what they are taught from day one.
MY opinion is that they are all heroes, and nothing ever will sway me from that opinion.
Sounds to me they might have been more than just yobs and quite possibly the kind of low life "shits", that shouted abusive remarks at the returning troops in Luton...just a thought...not all ferel yobs are limited to being just white teenage hooded morons!
No the hoodies are sometimes blue, sometimes green....ya get the picture?
What I would say is they are ALWAYS white indigenous little scrotes, who seem to be the ferel little toads.
No doubt nothing to do until they or their parents pick up their benefit cheque. Sterotyped?? I think not.
Why is it people blame the papers for everything?
Are they always wrong in their reporting?
There may well be a very few black kids as well, but in the main they are the same white thugs. They all look the same, their parents always look the same, and mostly they come from the same backgrounds.
Parents who don't work, or in most cases " parent " as invariably there is only one parent, as the Father has usually long since fucked off....who can blame him?
I wonder what the police will do about this? Anyone want to hazard at a guess?
I wonder if these kids want to play a game of hide and seek on the nearest motorway.
I would like to see the facts on those comments.....if there are any.
The only " facts " that I have are what the papers report on, and what it says on the news channels.
That is good enough for me.
Yes gun crime seems to be black against black in most occasions, but even you must admit it seems a lot of the crime, mainly through binge drinking is from white kids.
I do..
You been down Bexleyheath city centre or Welling, or Blackfen of a sat evening?
The proof is in the seeing.
My business partner has dj'd for over 20 years and he will back me up on the problems being causes by mainly white youths.
Still ain't going to continue this as this is not the right thread.
You want to start one???
Is this thread still about curry?
Some states have no army, and find themselves at the whim of other bigger states.
Some, like Switzerland have a full citizen army. Such armies were once the norm, but now an exception. Switzerland has the longest period of peace in Europe, if not the world.
Other states have standing armies of different size. once you have an army, what do you do with it?
Some find it easy to use the army. America in the great Pacific expansion of the late 19th. and early 20th. century. Russia through the 20th. century.
Others just train and train.
In the end it comes down to the whim and those in power. Britain defended Poland, late maintain peace in the Holy Lands. Still later repulsed an attack on The Falklands, and defended Kuwait.
Now we are attacking other states. Why? well that depends on who you listen to.
The one thing I can tell you for sure is that Britain's armed forces are under funded for the task they have been set.
Travis
:x
