More troops to be cut as MoD gets its sums wrong.........................

[dave lukins]

Honestly, the size of the US military is a pittance compared to when i served as well. Back then during the height of the Reagan buildup, the US Army alone was significantly larger than the entire US military is today.

How do you see the future of the US army Bill? Are you fearful the same as the 'old sweats' Brits on the WAB or are we just being Luddites as old age taints our views;)

[Bill]

I think the US military will continue to shrink over time until we, too, are a 2 bit second rate power.

I believe the American empire is clearly on it's downward spiral. When we finally lose in Afghanistan, that's not going to help any either.

[T_igger_cs_30]

The defence review should be reopened

I am inclined to agree with this comment..............it should be re-opened.

Inexperienced ministers, who had spent only a few months in their posts, found it hard to stand up to senior officers with imposing military records – another reason why the review should not have been rushed.

As the rapid unfolding of events in the Middle East has shown, the strategic thinking behind the SDSR may itself have been flawed.

The defence review should be reopened - Telegraph

[astralis]

Brigade for brigade, division for division, the boys and girls today can crush our equivalent blind folded but ask them to face 213 Soviet divisions backed by 30,000+ nukes, they haven't a clue.

different times call for different armies. as it is, while NATO forces might not have a clue how to fight the old Cold War gone hot, relatively speaking we're considerably more dominant across the globe now than we were back then.

[Officer of Engineers]

This do more with less nonsense has bite us in the ass more than several times, especially during times of big wars.

[T_igger_cs_30]

This do more with less nonsense has bite us in the ass more than several times, especially during times of big wars.

Hear Hear Sir.

[tankie]

Yup and Libya is next with overstretched forces .

[T_igger_cs_30]

Armed forces set out plans for first redundancies

BBC News - 1 March 2011

The Ministry of Defence says the first wave of redundancies in the armed forces will be made in September.

BBC News - Armed forces set out plans for first redundancies

A review has found that, after natural wastage, a total of 11,000 redundancies will have to be made in three or four tranches (sure that should be branches)

Up to 170 trainee pilots will be made redundant, although the RAF says no qualified pilots will be affected.

He added that, at the end of the process, the UK would still have the fourth largest defence budget in the world

I honestly despair, these guys just do not get it do they

[tankie]

BBC News - 1 March 2011

I honestly despair, these guys just do not get it do they

In a word trigger NEIGHHHH , and neither do lots of peeps .

[tankie]

OMG can this seriously be true ,sadly methinks yes a report from the SUN paper , fcukin penpusher clerks lining their own pockets from kickbacks , nowt new there tho



The Ministry of Defence pays 22 pounds each for lightbulbs worth just 65p, according to The Sun

A soldier working at a UK army base said light bulbs cost the army "a fortune .

Defence chiefs also pay 103 pounds each for screw, the tabloid daily alleged, quoting a soldier who works in the stores at a UK base.

The public money spent on lightbulbs represents a mark-up of more than 3,000 percent on their true retail value, the newspaper says.

Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox is quoted as saying the inflated prices paid showed a "lack of common sense".

Invoices for the 100-watt fittings - known as lamp filaments in Army inventories - were shown to The Sun by the soldier, "sickened at the pen-pushers' incompetence."

Other paperwork revealed the MoD buys simple inch-long steel screws for the Army's Land Rovers for 103 each when exactly the same screw can be ordered online for 2.60 pounds, the report adds.

"I can't ignore this any more. the waste I see every day is criminal," the soldier told The Sun.

"I've seen the cuts they're making - sackings, getting rid of planes, cancelling contracts when it costs more than going ahead with them. And I see the forms - 22.51 pounds for a lightbulb, 103 pounds for a screw. It's like Monopoly money.

"You're talking about a fortune for these bulbs. If I order 100, that's over two grand. But you can pick them up for 65p each, the exact same ones.

"There must be thousands of lightbulbs across the MoD. If people paid attention to simple things like this, they could save a lot of money - and maybe jobs.

"The question isn't how many defence chiefs does it take to change a lightbulb - but how many soldiers' paychecks does it take to pay for them all," the newspaper reported the unidentified soldier as saying.

An MoD spokesman said: "Given the current financial situation, we are looking at existing contracts to ensure value for money and taking steps to make efficiency savings

[Mihais]

YESSS.We have another thing in common,besides uniforms.

Btw,if true the magnitude of the corruption in your army is,well,almost Romanian in size.There is no way only a few guys are involved in this kind of crap.

[tankie]

YESSS.We have another thing in common,besides uniforms.

Btw,if true the magnitude of the corruption in your army is,well,almost Romanian in size.There is no way only a few guys are involved in this kind of crap.

True ,there will be ministers involved somewhere along the line , maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel

[jlvfr]

Being a long time fan of the RAF, what's happening to it today really saddens me. But something happened here (Portugal) in the last few days that make me wonder at what the UK decision-makers were thinking...

A fishing trawler went missing of the Açores. Since it's much too far from land, of went a P-3 to look for it; saddly all it found was debris. But I was looking at a photo of the Nimrod, and it hit me: the RAF couldn't have done this mission!

With the demise of the MR2/4, the UK, with a huge maritime zone that includes some of the busiest sealanes in the world, now doesn't have the capability to carry out long range maritime patrol, search & rescue. I can (barelly) understand cutting the Harrier force (it can be argued that the remaning fighters can do their job), but loosing this capability entirely?! In a country so dependant on maritime trade?

[T_igger_cs_30]

Being a long time fan of the RAF, what's happening to it today really saddens me. But something happened here (Portugal) in the last few days that make me wonder at what the UK decision-makers were thinking...

A fishing trawler went missing of the Açores. Since it's much too far from land, of went a P-3 to look for it; saddly all it found was debris. But I was looking at a photo of the Nimrod, and it hit me: the RAF couldn't have done this mission!

With the demise of the MR2/4, the UK, with a huge maritime zone that includes some of the busiest sealanes in the world, now doesn't have the capability to carry out long range maritime patrol, search & rescue. I can (barelly) understand cutting the Harrier force (it can be argued that the remaning fighters can do their job), but loosing this capability entirely?! In a country so dependant on maritime trade?

If this is true, its very scary........can someone with more expertise and knowledge in this field than myself confirm this? And if true have we taken steps to overcome it?

[jlvfr]

If this is true, its very scary........can someone with more expertise and knowledge in this field than myself confirm this? And if true have we taken steps to overcome it?

The job is supposed to be taken up by C-130s... which have neither the gear, the trained crews or, judging by their current flight hours, the time to do it...