Des nouvelles de la British Army

[Gibbs le Cajun]

THE PRESS AND JOURNAL

Saturday 12 December 2009

corporal gets engaged after medal honour

Hero marine makes palace visit a double celebration

Published: 12/12/2009

BIG DAY: Corporal Bradley Malone with fiancee Sacha Wilkinson outside Buckingham Palace

More Pictures

A Royal Marine awarded a gallantry medal yesterday had another reason to celebrate when he got engaged to his girlfriend at Buckingham Palace.

Corporal Bradley Malone, 24, of Arbroath-based 45 Commando, received the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross from the Prince of Wales after displaying “fighting prowess and gallantry” on three separate occasions during a recent tour of Afghanistan.

His citation included a description of how he led a bayonet charge against enemy insurgents who turned and ran.

He used the occasion of the palace’s investiture ceremony to propose to partner Sacha Wilkinson, 24.

The hairdresser from the Loch Lomond area said: “I’m surprised, really surprised and delighted, now it’s a double celebration.

“He went down on one knee and said: “I've got something important to ask you, will you do me the honour of being my wife?

“I was crying as he said that and I said “yes”.”

Marines who were awarded honours yesterday for their exploits in Afghanistan were praised by the senior officer who led them. Brigadier Gordon Messenger, 47, who was born in Dundee, described those who served under him in Helmand Province earlier this year as “not superheroes” but dedicated men and women who rose to the challenge.

Two other marines from 45 Commando and Lieutenant Colonel James Morris, who commanded their unit were also honoured.

Corporal John Ballance and Sergeant Andrew Leaver were awarded the Military Cross.

Lt Col Morris was presented with the Distinguished Service Order.

The Brigadier also received a bar to his existing DSO.

[Service de semaine]

Cure d'amaigrissement pour la British Army...le Parachute Regiment serait aussi menace...

The new head of the army has ordered a cull of more than 300 senior officers, including two major-generals and up to 32 brigadiers.

The move by General Sir David Richards follows concern that the army has more than twice the number of generals than it has regiments, with many top brass frittering away their final years of service in pen-pushing roles.

There are 94 regiments while there are a total of 255 brigadiers, major-generals, lieutenant-generals and full generals.

La suite:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6954598.ece

[alexandreVBCI]

Des dépassements de budgets monstrueux si on lit le résumé sur le site defensenews : http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4419549&c=EUR&s=TOP

LONDON - Britain's defense budget is facing a shortfall of up to 36 billion pounds ($58.6 billion) over the next 10 years unless the government takes drastic action to rein in equipment programs and capabilities, according to a report due to be released at 12:01 a.m. GMT on Dec. 15 by the National Audit Office (NAO).

A memo obtained by the BBC said that the cost of building the biggest-ever warships for the Royal Navy had ballooned by about 25 percent to around 5 billion pounds. (BAE SYSTEMS CONCEPT) The Major Projects Report 2009 spells out a future that could see British defense spending plans cut between 6 billion and 36 billion pounds over the next decade. The NAO, a government spending watchdog, says the government will be required to take "bold action" in the coming strategic defense review to close the gap between spending plans and budgets.

Related TopicsEurope

"The size of the gap is highly sensitive to the budget growth assumptions used," according to the NAO report. "If the defense budget remained constant in real terms, and using the department forecast of defense inflation of 2.7 percent, the gap would now be 6 billion pounds over 10 years. If, as is possible given the general economic position, there was no increase in the defence budget in cash terms over the same 10-year period, the gap would rise to 36 billion pounds."

Britain's annual defense budget stands at 39 billion pounds, of which equipment and support spending accounts for about 13 billion pounds. The NAO said the MoD had already reduced the deficit between the defense budget and planned expenditure by 15 billion pounds, but the new figures showed more needed to be done as the financial crisis means a substantial increase in funding is unlikely.

Analysts here, though, believe the situation could be even worse, with actual double-digit cuts to defense budgets in the coming years as governments seek to protect spending in areas such as health and education.

The defense sector is already bracing itself for a series of capability cuts to meet the immediate requirement to balance the books in the 2010 planning round and beyond.

An announcement is expected as early as Dec. 15 outlining the beginning of cuts to capabilities and programs that are not focused on the war Britain and its allies are waging in Afghanistan against the Taliban.

The media has been reporting for several weeks that Royal Air Force fast jet numbers will be pared back, with Harrier and Tornado fleets reduced; Nimrod surveillance aircraft numbers cut ahead of the introduction into service next year of nine new Nimrod MRA4 aircraft; warships idled and other cuts, including possibly a base closure.

One MoD source said it was unlikely all the cuts would emerge immediately, but he expected the Army would also suffer, with heavy artillery and armored regiments among those taking hits.

The major decisions, though, will likely be left to the strategic defense review pledged by all the major parties for the other side of next year's general election.

To sweeten the cuts, the government could finally announce its new helicopter strategy, known as Vision 2020, which involves an eventual buy of up to 30 new Chinook helicopters from Boeing.

The U.S. aerospace giant could also benefit from an order for another C-17 airlifter to add to the six it already has in service with the Royal Air Force.

The Major Projects Report 2009, an annual look at how the MoD manages its top programs, has strongly criticized the government's tactic of achieving affordability in the near term by delaying programs, saying it eventually causes large increases in overall costs.

The NAO has been a long-time critic of the MoD's procurement process, but this year it has pointed to improved performance, outside the fact that nearly two-thirds of the cost increases recorded in the report on the MoD's top 15 programs were caused by the delays to programs.

"This short-term approach to savings will lead to long-term cost increase. In 2008-09, costs on the 15 major defense projects examined by the NAO increased by 1.2 billion pounds, with 733 million pounds of this increase directly due to the decision to slow projects," the NAO will say in a statement Dec. 15.

The NAO highlighted the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier and the Astute-class nuclear submarine programs as among the most glaring examples of delays leading to cost overruns.

Just months after signing up with industry to build the two 65,000-metric-ton carriers, the MoD decided to slow production of the first by one year and the second by two years to reduce forecast expenditures by 450 million pounds over four years.

The NAO reports that after that four-year reduction, costs will rise by 1.12 billion pounds, giving a net increase in costs of 674 million pounds.

On the Astute attack submarines, the NAO says the decision to slow production of boats two through seven will lead to a net cost increase of 400 million pounds, arising as a result of reducing spending by 139 million pounds up to 2013-14.

The slowdown will also result in a shortfall in submarine availability between 2015 and 2021 against MoD stated requirements, the report says.

NAO head Amyas Morse, until recently a senior executive at the MoD, said in a statement that the ministry has a "multibillion-pound budgetary black hole which it is trying to fix with a 'save now, pay later' approach. This gives a misleadingly negative picture of how well some major projects are managed, represents poor value for money, and heightens the risk [that] the equipment our armed forces require will not be available when it is needed or in the quantities promised. Bold action will be required to prioritize defense spending as part of the planned strategic defense review."

Defending the MoD's position, Quentin Davies, the minister for defense equipment and support, said: "This report focuses on the top 30 of almost 2,000 projects managed by the MoD in the last financial year. During that time our priority has been - and continues to be - operations in Afghanistan and ensuring that our forces on the front line have the equipment they need, and that is one reason why some projects that are not essential for current operations have been delayed.

"We fully accept the need to address shortcomings in our long-term equipment planning, and that is why we are working on a strategy for acquisition reform, which will be published in the New Year," he said.

[Service de semaine]

Mais en attendant, 22 Chinook de plus pour la RAF...soit un total de 70 Chinook lorsqu'ils seront tous livres. Ca c'est de l'aeromobilite....en echange, une base fermera et plusieurs squadrons moins utiles seront dissous.

Troops will receive 22 new helicopters to Afghanistan it was announced today but cuts to defence spending in other areas are believed to be paying for the additional air power.

Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, said the first 10 Chinooks would be deployed by 2013 and fleet numbers of heavy-lift helicopters would increase from 48 to 70 through the purchase.

The Ministry of Defence has yet to agree a price for the new RAF helicopters with manufacturer Boeing but it is understood the cost will be met by fierce cutbacks in other areas. Mr Ainsworth is expected to make further announcements this afternoon in the Commons.

La suite:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6957237.ece

[alexandreVBCI]

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4421054&c=EUR&s=TOP

Les sacrifices que devront faire les britanniques pour équiper leurs forces en Afghanistan :

Fast jets, surveillance aircraft, naval vessels, and an air base are among the casualties of the U.K. Ministry of Defence's new effort to make room for purchases of equipment for Afghanistan and balance its budget in 2010 and beyond. The cuts are expected to save the MoD around 1.5 billion pounds ($2.4 billion), although no official figures have been released.

.../....

The Royal Air Force is the big loser, although the air service will also receive much of the new big-ticket equipment items as well. On the debit side, the RAF will:

■ Lose one of its five Harrier attack aircraft squadrons. The Harrier base at Cottesmore will close starting as early as March next year. The remainder of the joint RAF/Royal Navy GR9 force will be based at RAF Wittering.

■ Lose a further one or two squadrons of Harrier or Tornado GR4 strike aircraft, or maybe one of each, will be cut with a decision taken on the make up of the fast jet force taken in the 2010 defense review expected after the general election due by mid-next year.

■ Stand down the Nimrod MR2 maritime surveillance aircraft fleet early year. The first replacement Nimrod MRA4 will not enter service until 2012, leaving a hole in Britain's long-range surveillance capability. Ainsworth said C-130 Hercules and Merlin helicopters would fill the gap. BAE Systems is scheduled to hand over the first of nine MRA4s next February, three more later in the year, and the balance by 2012.

On the credit side, the RAF will receive:

■ Twenty-four new Chinook helicopters, bringing the fleet of heavy-lift machines to 70 by 2016.

■ Five Reaper UAVs, which will double the size of the fleet.

■ A seventh C-17 airlifter to boost the airbridge between Britain and Afghanistan.

■ Approval to buy the Typhoon fighter's future capability program phase two, which will add Brimstone and other weapons to its arsenal.

■ Better C-130J defensive aids and maintenance support packages.

The 900 million pounds will also fund anti-IED capabilities, a better dismounted close combat equipment package, more Bowman tactical radios and patrol satellite systems and an additional 80 million pounds aimed at special forces communications.

Other Hits :

The defence secretary said that other areas of the MoD would be taking a hit to pay for the uplift. For example, some Army training not required for current operations will be cancelled, such as for the Challenger 2 main battle tank training as an example.

Other cuts will mean:

■ Early retirement for a Royal Navy minehunter and a survey ship.

■ Early retirement of some older Lynx and Merlin Mk1 helicopters in the transition to the new Wildcat and Merlin Mk2.

■ Cancellation of an unprotected utility vehicle competition; the program will be deferred for two years.

■ Service and civilian personnel numbers will be cut.

[Chaps]

En voyant la liste des achats, j'ai du mal à parler de "sacrifices" !

C'est plutôt une modernisation et renforcement des capacités ! 7 c-17, 70 Chinook , qui a ces capacités en Europe???

+ upgrade (limité) des typhoon, retrait (logique) des vieux hélicoptères et achat de nouveaux, plein de moyens de communication moderne.

En contre-partie, retrait des Harriers à bout de souffle et de deux bateaux pas tout neuf.

Tout ca en payant les coûts de 9000+ hommes déployés dans des combats réels avec tous le support logistique et des appuis en quantité suffisante et qui fonctionnent...

[pascal]

Plutôt d'accord avec Chaps mais dans le même temps la Navy lutte pour sa survie et ce n'est pas très bon pour l'avenir...

[alexandreVBCI]

Il faut aussi lire le blog de Merchet (et les commentaires) à ce sujet :

http://secretdefense.blogs.liberation.fr/defense/2009/12/les-britanniques-auront-bient%C3%B4t-70-h%C3%A9licopt%C3%A8res-lourds-chinook-.html#comments

[alexandreVBCI]

http://defensetech.org/2009/12/18/top-secret-brit-laptop-stolen/

The theft of lap­tops with ‘top secret’ gov­ern­ment and mil­i­tary data has become a punch-​​line in the UK.

There were 28 lap­tops lost or stolen in the last four months and 66 in total since January 1, 2009. Looking back over the last 4 years there were 658 that van­ished. A major hunt is now on in London after a lap­top crammed with secret data was stolen from inside the Ministry of Defense (MoD) nerve cen­ter. FROM THEIR HEADQUARTERS !

[Chimera]

Une news qui vient de mp.net

La British Army change de camo pour un dérivé du Multicam:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8422942.stm

Introduction en Astan mi 2010

[Service de semaine]

Super ! Desormais, ils vont pouvoir se faire passer pour des airsofteurs.....

:lol:

[Gibbs le Cajun]

se multicam reste basé sur le DPM quand on regarde les motifs,et s'est vrai que pour les brits ,sa fait au moin 40 ans que le DPM est en place (d'ailleurs je le trouve efficace ).

maintenant il le change leur camo (qui était déjà trés efficace ),et pour un truc qui me paraît efficace ...

quand on voit se qu'on propose à l'armée française ,rien en l'occurence   :'(

[Gibbs le Cajun]

Scots rush to join Army despite mounting death toll in Afghanistan

From The Times December 10, 2009

Charlene Sweeney

Despite the mounting death toll in Afghanistan and increasing public hostility to the war there, a career in the Army is still seen as attractive to young Scots.

Military chiefs yesterday reported a 25 per cent increase in the number of new recruits this year, with 1,000 men and women joining between April and December.

The figures are the best in three years, and were warmly welcomed by the Army’s head of recruitment, who said they reflected increased national support for the Army.

While public support for the war in Afghanistan has waned, support for the troops there remains strong.

Brigadier David Allfrey, Commander 51 (Scottish) Brigade, said: “Although Scotland is traditionally supportive of the Armed Forces, a positive swing in the national mood towards support of the Armed Forces on operations, a weight of engagement with communities across Scotland, initiatives such as Summer Challenge and Armed Forces Day, homecoming parades and battalion surges, have all helped to raise our profile and the awareness of what we offer.”

However, he conceded that the recession could have also boosted numbers. “This strong growth is bound to be due in part to the prevailing economic conditions,” he said.

The argument was echoed by the Nationalist MSP Christine Grahame, who said that the rise was due to Scots having no other career choice open to them.

She also accused the UK Government of sending soldiers unnecessarily to their deaths. This year alone, the war in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of 100 British soldiers, with the latest fatality, Lance Corporal Adam Drane, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, dying on Monday.

“The grim reality of joining the British Army is that if you join up you have a one in nine chance of coming home seriously wounded or worse, in a body bag,” Ms Grahame said.

Her comments were in direct contrast to those of her party. Bruce Crawford, the Minister for Parliamentary Business, had earlier welcomed the rise in recruitment. “We recognise the valuable contribution made by members of the Armed Forces living and based in Scotland. And once they leave service, service personnel have a lot to offer,” he said.

Labour called on Alex Salmond, the First Minister, to condemn Ms Grahame’s comments, saying that they were an insult to Britain’s armed forces.

Units that recruit from Scotland include The Royal Regiment of Scotland, the Scots Guards, The Parachute Regiment, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, The Royal Tank Regiment, The Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and the technical specialists that support them.

Twenty of the latest recruits were on parade at Dreghorn Barracks in Edinburgh yesterday. Among them was Anthony Murray, from Glasgow, who was inspired to enlist after watching Ross Kemp in Afghanistan on television. The 25-year-old left school at 16 and struggled to find a job that kept him interested.

“You name a job and I’ve probably done it. I get fed up dead quick of doing the same thing every day,” he said.

John Tennant, the magical 1,000th recruit, said that he joined because he was seeking adventure. Mr Tennant, 26, also from Glasgow, said: “Daily life for me becomes quite boring. Enlisting gives me the chance to do things I probably never would do if I didn’t join the Army.”

He said that he would miss his children during tours of duty, and understood that he risked losing his life: “The soldiers go into this kind of job knowing this is going to happen to them or someone they know. It’s a really dangerous job. But if anything it has made me more determined.”

[francois]

l'anglais s'adapte avec une fusil 7.62 pour l'afghanistan:

http://www.janes.com/news/defence/jdw/jdw091229_1_n.shtml

[Philippe Top-Force]

l'anglais s'adapte avec une fusil 7.62 pour l'afghanistan:

http://www.janes.com/news/defence/jdw/jdw091229_1_n.shtml

Houla mais tu es en retard de 2/3 jours  :lol:

[Service de semaine]

Pour les ecossais, le "rush"pour s'engager c'est vraiment nouveau....quand je pense que le Royal Scots, qui etait le plus vieux rgt d'infanterie brit a ete dissous et amalgame car les rgts ecossais etaient ceux qui avaient le plus de mal a recruter...il faut croire que la crise tape dur dans le nord....

[Philippe Top-Force]

Pas terrible leur DTO  :lol:

About half of the armored vehicles used by the British Army in Afghanistan are unfit for operational usage according to figures published in the Daily Telegraph. The vehicles, ranging from lightly protected patrol models to more heavily protected MRAP (mine-resistant ambush protected) types, have either proven vulnerable to insurgent roadside bombs and the topography and climate of Afghanistan, or have been pulled from service due to the need for repairs and refurbishment.

Most prominent among these vehicles are the 6x6 Mastiff (a British-configured version of the U.S. Cougar MRAP) and the 4x4 Ridgback (also based on the Cougar, in the Category 1 model). These MRAPs were procured by the Ministry of Defence under Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) contracts extended in late 2007 and 2008. The MoD has ordered somewhere in the range of 350 Mastiffs, with 271 so far having been delivered. Of these 271 units, only 134 are rated ready for operational duties by the Army. Regarding the lighter Ridgbacks, only 73 of the 118 units are considered serviceable at the present. The first Ridgbacks and Mastiff 2s (Mastiffs converted by UK-firm NP Aerospace to an advanced armored version) were deployed in Afghanistan in June 2009, begging the question as to how many units have atrophied either through climactic conditions or combat damage.

The British MoD, for its part, argues that repairs and refurbishment are an obvious necessity for vehicles used in combat theaters as they ensure the safety of their operators. Under fire from all sides since 2006 due to the growing list of British casualties in Afghanistan which have stemmed from improper or insufficient kit, the MoD has rushed to provide improved armored vehicles (thus the Mastiff and Ridgback UOR orders) and has placed UOR orders for armored tactical support vehicles (the Coyote, Husky and Wolfhound).

The MoD has also withdrawn the highly-criticized Snatch Land Rovers from outside-of-base duties in Afghanistan. The lightly-protected Snatch Land Rovers proved particularly vulnerable to insurgent IEDs (improvised explosive devices). Public criticism focused on why vehicles originally designed and purchased for patrolling duties in Northern Ireland would be used for operations in vastly different circumstances in the Near East. Scrambling to retain a light patrol vehicle element for the Afghan and Iraqi theaters, the MoD pushed out an enhanced version of the original vehicle, the Snatch Vixen, in 2008. Some 150-200 Snatch Vixens were procured, though these also proved vulnerable to roadside bombs despite the additional armor and counter-IED measures installed. The MoD is now looking to place an urgent operational requirement order for 400 new Light Protected Patrol Vehicles (LPPVs) to replace the Snatch Land Rovers. Only 358 of the total 653 are in workable condition.

All told, the MoD claims to have invested GBP 1.3 billion ($2.07 billion) on armored vehicles for the British Army from 2007 through 2009.

[alexandreVBCI]

Un logiciel "dangereux" aurait causé le crash d'un Chinook britannique en 1994, faisant 29 morts.

Le 2 juin 1994, un hélicoptère CH-47 Chinook Mk2 de la Royal Air Force s'écrasait en Écosse, causant la mort de son équipage et de ses passagers. 29 morts en tout ! Très rapidement, le ministère de la Défense britannique avait mis en cause les pilotes dans une enquête officielle d'avril 1995. Mais la BBC vient de découvrir dans un document militaire rédigé neuf mois avant l'accident que le logiciel assurant le contrôle des turbines était "vraiment dangereux" (positively dangerous). Le ministère de la Défense a réagi en affirmant que cet élément ne justifiait pas l'ouverture d'une nouvelle enquête.

http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-monde/2010-01-04/un-logiciel-dangereux-aurait-cause-le-crash-d-un-chinook/1648/0/410370

[Gibbs le Cajun]

Pour les ecossais, le "rush"pour s'engager c'est vraiment nouveau....quand je pense que le Royal Scots, qui etait le plus vieux rgt d'infanterie brit a ete dissous et amalgame car les rgts ecossais etaient ceux qui avaient le plus de mal a recruter...il faut croire que la crise tape dur dans le nord....

gibbs

bof  ,les clichés :soit chômeurs ou soit l'armée ...

avec la casse en opex ,il y a quand même un engouement .

je suis tombé sur un reportage de la BBC qui relate le long chemin de deux soldats blessés par IED en afghanistan ,et franchement il y a de quoi  refroidir du monde ,même le gus desespéré  au chômage  quand on voit les blessures ...

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-B1F5izOIY

impressionnant le LCpl Tom Neathway des paras .

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwD4jq78Jh8

[Service de semaine]

Voila la situation concernant le recrutement des regiments ecossais en 2001,  2005, puis en 2007; franchement, sur le long terme, c'est pas brillant :

Army uses headhunters in crisis over recruitment

By Tara Womersley and Michael Smith

Published: 12:00AM GMT 13 Mar 2001

THE Army has turned to the private sector to help find recruits, amid one of the worst recruitment crises in its 300-year history.

It is 8,000 soldiers short, and has called in professional headhunters to find 2,000 new recruits in Scotland over the next 12 months. The Army needs 25,000 recruits a year just to ensure it keeps pace with the number of soldiers it is losing.

(...)

According to the Army in Scotland, more than 1,500 new soldiers are needed each year to maintain staffing levels. More than 400 posts are currently vacant in Scotland's six infantry battalions.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1326090/Army-uses-headhunters-in-crisis-over-recruitment.html

Published on 26 Dec 2005

SCOTLAND'S infantry is almost a battalion short of full strength and recruitment and retention is in freefall just three months before the proposed formation of the new Royal Regiment of Scotland.

The Herald can reveal that despite a GBP9m advertising campaign over a period of several months, the six existing units are now 469 men below their fighting establishment.

There are 68 fewer trained soldiers than two months ago, when recruiters were gloomily describing the situation as "dire." The average line battalion has an authorised strength of between 527 and 590 soldiers, depending on its role as light, armoured, or air assault infantry.

To add to the Army's woes, only 344 volunteers have signed up since last April out of an annual target figure of 600, leaving recruiters struggling to find another 300 in the next three months.

Between 15per cent and 30per cent already "in the pipeline" will also be lost by failing to pass basic training or deciding to quit, say officers involved.

The current Scottish Division should have 3286 officers and men. It has only 2817, even with the inclusion of 223 Fijiians drafted in to help make up the growing shortfall. One Scottish regiment has 102 in its ranks, the equivalent of a full rifle company and a fifth of its overall manpower.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/army-recruitment-crisis-worsening-infantry-ranks-a-battalion-short-after-gbp9m-ad-campaign-fails-1.33608

Army facing 'decline' in recruits

Last Updated: Sunday, 30 September 2007, 16:39 GMT 17:39 UK

The Army is facing a decline in recruitment north of the border, figures given to BBC Scotland reveal.

The figures show that the numbers of Scots enlisting have fallen by 30% from the level five years ago.

The drop coincided with the run up to the Iraq War, but the Army denied there was a recruitment crisis.

In 2002/03, the year before the Iraq war, 2,346 people in Scotland enlisted in the Army. During 2006/07 that number had fallen to 1,617.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7020108.stm

Maintenant, il est vrai que la possibilite d'aller au combat a souvent ameliore le recrutement.

Historiquement, l'USMC a toujours bien recrute en temps de guerre. La difference, c'est que le taux de rengagement est en general mediocre; les gars font trois ans, ils voient ce qu'est vraiment la guerre et ensuite ils cherchent a revenir a la vie civile.

[pascal]

Le film de Michael Moore FARENHEIT 9/11 montre très bien que les recruteurs des MARINES draguent les gusses désoeuvrés dans les centres commerciaux et sur les parkings. Pour ceux-ci un engagement peut signifier la fin des galères et une bourse d'études en fin de contrat.

Durant la seconde guerre mondiale dans le PACIFIQUE les divisions de MARINES ont connu des taux de pertes en 43/45 à BETIO, HOLLANDIA, IWO JIMA, OKINAWA (morts blessés graves disparus) équivalents à ceux des divisions de 14/18.

Ces MARINES étaient dans leur très grande majorité des jeunes du vieux sud américain agricole très pauvre, peu ou pas scolarisés. C'est d'ailleurs pour les motiver que le général BUCKNER autorisa les drapeaux sudistes à OKINAWA...

Tant que la guerre n'est pas synonyme d'horreurs çà passe après c'est autre chose. Tous les soldats ne sont pas des héros de cinéma.

En clair les soldes d'OPEX c'est bien mais les pertes refroidissent un peu tout le monde.

C'est d'ailleurs un des problèmes de l'Astan... y faire repartir des gars qui y sont déjà allé. Tous ne sont pas partants.

C'est là où l'encadrement, l'équipement et l'entraînement jouent un rôle énorme sur la motivation.

[Clairon]

collatérallement cela influence aussi le recrutement "légion". Il y a toujours eu une composante "anglo-saxone" dans la légion, qui semble se tarir de plus en plus étant donné que les armées anglo-saxonnes offrent depuis 2001/2003 nettement plus "d'aventures" que notre bonne vieille légion.

Clairon

[g4lly]

Licenciement de "réserviste" au retour d'Irak ...

http://www.military-world.net/Afghanistan/2991.html

Simon Sunderland, 37, was laid off as a production operative with diesel engine manufacturer Cummins, days after serving on the front line. He was one of 440 workers laid off at the US-owned company's plant in Darlington, Durham, as a result of the economic downturn.

...

[Service de semaine]

Les Brits quitteraient les premières lignes en Afghanistan….

British troops set to hand frontline Afghanistan role to US

Three and a half years after British troops first arrived in Helmand the towns that line its infamous “green zone” have become household names — for all the wrong reasons.

On June 11, 2006, the town of Sangin claimed its first British life when Captain Jim Philippson was shot trying to rescue an injured comrade. Two months later Musa Qala claimed its first victims when a rocketpropelled grenade destroyed an armoured car. By September Kajaki was on the map as well: Lance Corporal Mark Wright was killed in an unmarked minefield.

All three towns, and the poppy fields around them, have become synonymous with British casualties. The bulk of Britain’s 243 dead and the hundreds more who have suffered life-changing injuries fought in the upper reaches of the Helmand valley.

It is these killing fields that British troops may be on the verge of leaving.

la suite est la:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6981599.ece

[Gibbs le Cajun]

une fille mise à l'honneur .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4baA5hs3vEY