Cosford Garrison...

[ORAC]

Torygraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/15/niraq215.xml): MoD is considering an Army 'super-garrison'

A "super-garrison" of thousands of Army personnel may be created to house British troops when they are brought back from Germany. The Army base would be built at the historic RAF Cosford site in Shropshire, now home to a flight training and engineering college where 2,000 people are employed. The college, along with much military training, is being part-privatised and looks likely to be moved to south Wales under a controversial £10 bn contract.

MPs in Shropshire and the west Midlands are angry about the possible transfer and are this week stepping up their campaign to stop it. But Ministry of Defence officials are considering turning Cosford into a huge troop camp to help soften the economic blow to Shropshire and head off critics. The MoD said earlier this year that about 4,000 troops would return from Germany but following another manpower review it appears likely that a further 3,500-4,500 will be brought back over the next four years......

[London Mil]

s'pose that Tommy would easily blend into Telford. :O

[Cumbrian Fell]

Apart from a few inaccuracies in the article, what is the problem with the Army moving into Cosford - near it's recruiting COG? The RAF need for the site will be minimal if training moves to the Land of No Vowels - or would people prefer it to be 'given' to some housing developer? It is high time that the army was brought back from Germany.

[glum]

I can only imagine the battleground that the Shrew will become!:eek:

[Kitbag]

Its difficult to see what inaccuracies there are in such a short article, however, why not leave the college where it is and move the army, as a gesture of goodwill to the St Athan site? This would would mean only b£ggering about one group of people, doesn't interrupt training programmes and also revitalises South Wales, or am I being too simplistic? :hmm:

[Cumbrian Fell]

Try 'flight training....' at Cosford

[Kitbag]

Guess that'll be UBAS? The link from the Cosford site does rather indicate that flying trainig is c/o. http://www.raf.mod.uk/cosford/flying.html

[teeteringhead]

As the Cosford airfield is kind of physically separated from the main site I see no problem in keeping UBAS .... and the AEF ...... and the VGS ........ and the Flying Club. And after all, some of the "units returning from Germany" have aircraft too.....

And of course, it's nothing to do with the fact that Saints is in a Labour marginal and Cos is in a Tory marginal......:rolleyes:

[Gaz ED]

4 pubs in Albrighton, last time I was there. So a thousand squaddies in each. Oo' 'eck! Goodbye the Shrew, Harp, Crown, and (ahem) Bush!!

I suppose the local "maidens" will be well catered for though....:}

[India Four Two]

Guess that'll be UBAS? The link from the Cosford site does rather indicate that flying trainig is c/o. http://www.raf.mod.uk/cosford/flying.html

I couldn't resist clicking on Kitbag's link to have a look at my old UAS and I was surprised to see that they (and 8 AEF) are apparently still flying Bulldogs.

Is that correct? I thought the Bulldogs had long since been replaced by Tutors.

[cargosales]

I couldn't resist clicking on Kitbag's link to have a look at my old UAS and I was surprised to see that they (and 8 AEF) are apparently still flying Bulldogs.

Is that correct? I thought the Bulldogs had long since been replaced by Tutors.

Ditto. They have been.

http://www.ubasonline.co.uk/index.php

[Always a Sapper]

Ditto. They have been.
http://www.ubasonline.co.uk/index.php


So why is a Bulldog oft parked on the pan at the secret Wiltshire place? or is it really an Albert in diguise .....

[LFittNI]

As one of my companies is involved (sub, sub etc.) in this business of PFI-ing service training and other bits and pieces, I have had to become familiar with the desperately arcane maths behind the programme.
Ppruners might not realise that any PFI deal is subject to highly controversial discount rates, by which the MoD (and all HM Gov't departments who do PFI) basically use the figures to justify moving the debt off HMG balance sheets and shovelling it onto revenue accounts (which are not part of the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement). In the process, investment can be "encouraged" down various routes........
Government departments (using our money) are then hamstrung over many years by paying this off, using "current" money--which reduces still further the money available for front-line services.
End result--Gordon keeps within his targets, front-line delivery suffers over decades.
Knowing something of what has been going on re. the whole St.Athan/Cosford business and the calculations behind it, I would bet that the former expands and the latter will shortly be acquiring a shade of brown.
Public sector finances--a whirling hall of mirrors.

[Two's in]

LFittNI, good summary, you just missed out the bit about the Private shareholders selling the stock publicly on the news of a Government PFI award, making a killing and moving on either before the money runs out or the PFI not delivering what was promised. And I can't even spell Qinetic.