Fitaloon at MicroShaft

Yet again the basics are blamed for the deaths in Afghanistan of four soldiers.The BBC has this

The coroner at an inquest into the death of four British soldiers in a blast in Afghanistan has pointed to “inadequacies” in their bomb training.

Coroner David Masters said the deaths also highlighted the problems of the Snatch Land Rover in which they died in 2008.

Verdicts of unlawful killing were recorded for Cpl Sarah Bryant and SAS reservists Cpl Sean Reeve, L/Cpl Richard Larkin and Pte Paul Stout.

How long do we have to listen to the same themes occur at Inquests before the Government, MOD, and our Defence Ministers understand what their responsibilities are to our Armed Forces.

The inquest heard soldiers had not been shown how to use metal detectors in the UK due to an equipment shortage.

The troops were forced to ask an expert on base in Afghanistan to pass on his knowledge.

Mr Masters said:

“In my judgment there was an inadequacy in training for this unit and its members.”

The inquest heard that the soldiers’ commander had requested a replacement for their Snatch Land Rover but was refused due to equipment shortages.

The vehicles could not cover soft ground and became stuck in a little water, which restricted the unit to driving along dangerous tracks.

“There was significant disquiet about these vehicles being the only resource available to this unit for a variety of reasons,” Mr Masters said.

He said his report to the MoD would seek a review on the use of Snatch Land Rovers by such a specialist unit.

At least 37 UK soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan while travelling in the lightly armoured vehicle, whose vulnerability to roadside bombs and other explosives has led some soldiers to call it the “mobile coffin”.

Despite this Bill Rammell, an apology of a Minister, had this to repeat

In respect of Snatch, commanders need a variety of vehicles and we cannot always put our people in those that are most heavily armoured as these vehicles have restricted manoeuvrability and are not able to drive across the most difficult of terrain

Did he not listen to what they said at the Inquest or is he just terminally thick. It’s written in bold above just in case he needs some prompting.

Today we should remember the four soldiers who died and hope that, in memory of them, lessons have been learned so that their deaths are not in vain. May they Rest in Peace.

BBC News – Troop bomb training ‘inadequate’.

As usual when there is bad news Gordon is to be found in his bunker.

As the Telegraph says

This pitiful assurance was given in vain. The poor bloody infantry on the Labour backbenches reckon their commander, Gordon Brown, has flung them into yet another unwinnable battle, with the result that hundreds of them are going to lose their seats at the next general election.

…Nobody said as much, but the sad truth was that Mr Rammell got shot because Mr Brown was hiding in the Downing Street bunker. One of the most outspoken mutineers, Lindsay Hoyle (Lab, Chorley), said he regretted having to fire on Mr Rammell: “I’m sorry for the minister that he’s become an apologist for a crass decision.”

Now I know it’s the MOD that supposedly recommended these cutbacks but surely there were better ways of saving £20 million than this.  The TA have been a vital resource for the regular army for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and treating them like this is  very poor reward for the service they offer.

The debate forced on the government by this decision makes for interesting reading. Even my own MP managed to speak on this issue.

Mark Lancaster  a serving TA officer made these very valid points during the debate.

Drill nights are absolutely vital for the reasons that I have stated, and unless we can get them back I fear for the TA, which cannot simply be mothballed and reopened in six months. Once we lose the culture of attending a drill night on a Tuesday or Wednesday, pretty soon that slot will be filled with something else. People will start going to the cinema with their wives, and it will be almost impossible to get them back in on a Tuesday night. We should not forget that a TA soldier will be paid just one quarter of a day’s pay for a drill night. They may receive two or two-and-a-half days’ pay for a weekend, so they can do three months of training on drill nights for the equivalent. That is why the concession is so minor. I believe that the Minister said today that giving one drill night back would cost £2.5 million, but that is relatively small beer in the MOD budget. That is why this is such a penny-pinching move, why it will ultimately be so damaging to the Territorial Army and why I call on him to think again, give greater concessions and allow more drill nights.

Much of the debate has focused on training, and the Minister has made it clear that he is convinced that all soldiers being deployed to Afghanistan will receive the appropriate pre-deployment training. Let us be clear that regular units—formed units—may undergo some 18 months of pre-deployment training before they are deployed on operations. At best, a TA soldier can currently expect to be mobilised some three months before being deployed to Afghanistan, the process culminating in two weeks’ testing at the reserve training and mobilisation centre at Chilwell. That is not always the case; colleagues of mine have been mobilised at just three days’ notice and have gone straight to the RTMC to be tested.

The proposal is to have a system where the RTMC will no longer be testing soldiers—it will be training them. Already soldiers are being deployed to Afghanistan at risk. The Minister said in the statement that no TA soldier will be deployed at risk, but that was wrong. This is a technical point, but I am concerned that if we are no longer simply testing at RTMC, but training there too, we will be deploying even more soldiers at greater risk. That is fundamentally unacceptable.

The TA contains specialists—I am a bomb disposal officer, although I am not currently in that role. Is the Minister really expecting specialists such as me—a bomb disposal officer—to be able to maintain their skills and potentially be deployed to Afghanistan having had no training for six months? That is ridiculous. I heard what was said by my colleagues at the meeting that the Minister attended this afternoon, so I know that he is beginning to realise the strength of the feeling in all parts of the House—it is being shown in this debate tonight—that this is a fundamentally flawed decision.

I cannot agree with him more a fundamentally flawed decision made by  a fundamentally flawed government.

Armed Forces minister shot in back by own side – Telegraph.

Bill Rammel, Labour MP for Harlow and Minister of State (Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence (since 10 Jun 2009) had this today at lunchtime:

“I believe the strategy is the right one. We are attempting to regain ground from the Taliban, to deny the Taliban a safe haven. “

Of course this lickspittle MP who has interests such as education and health, housing and regeneration, Europe and the economy, and sport is an acknowledged expert on Defence Strategy and in particular strategy in Afghanistan.

This is another incompetent Labour MP promoted beyond his experiece and ken to a position he should not be in. He joins with his boss “Slow Bob” Ainsworth to provide a talented twosome to help us guide the Armed Forces in Afghanistan.

Don’t worry, according to TheyWorkForYou, he has one of the lowest majorities (97)  in Parliament and is unlikely to be an MP or Minister for much longer. He also has asked lots of questions about the Millennium Dome, Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, Social Exclusion (Transport), Booked Hospital Admissions, Active Citizenship but not defence.

This seems to be how Gordon selects his ministers by seeing who knows the least about a subject and plonking then in that department so they can achieve little. This is typical of Gordon who has little or no respect for our Armed Forces

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