A UK single Armed Force?

[taxydual]

I posted this on a seperate thread.



Would the amalgamation of the three (shrinking) Armed Services , into a single Service (with a single service budget) be such a bad thing?

Only a thought, not a wish.

Discuss?



Think, before you chew my head off.
Bear in mind, it's a thought and not my wish, however..................................

[HARRIERPILOTNAS]

Bloody Hope NOT!

[Green Flash]

You mean like Canada?

[taxydual]

The Canadian Forces (CF) (French (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language): Forces canadiennes [FC]) are the unified armed forces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_forces) of Canada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada), governed by the National Defence Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defence_Act), which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."

[Ancient Squipper]

1.4G
The Canadians did try a single armed force I remember it during the 1980's. They all wore dark green uniforms It did not work they reverted back to three seperate services but I don't what date.

[green granite]

I thought this governments objective was one European force. :hmm:

[L1A2 discharged]

GG correct but for one letter .... I thought this governments objective was one European fArce

[ZK-NSJ]

something similar to the us marine corps, where you have maritime, land, and aeronautical elements?

[MRAF]

So we just do it the Army way and be done with it no doubt. Lots of shouting, dogmatic rules and aviation becomes the underclass coz its not 'Tooth-arm! enough' Infantry & Cav first wot wot!

If there has to be any 'streamlining' :mad: Grrrrrrr - A split to Navy and Army (back to the original plan!) would be much better than just one, giving at least 2 views on how to use airpower.
I am, to make it very clear, most deffo not advocating getting rid of the RAF! The whole reason for being was to step back, look at the wider picture and have a force that can use its resources to best serve the requirement of the UK Forces. If the RAF is amalgamated then airpower will be improperly utilised! Just look at the RA and their use of UAVs. " Its for Brigade not for everyone!" :sad:

[petoprobe]

Top idea call it the British Army:= Split it into three arms one for the English one for the Scottish and one for the Welsh:ugh:. Once that has been achieved why not hand the whole lot over to the French and Germans for thier much cherrished European Army. Job done

[XV277]

1.4G
The Canadians did try a single armed force I remember it during the 1980's. They all wore dark green uniforms It did not work they reverted back to three seperate services but I don't what date.

Yes and no - technically, they are still one 'Canadian Forces' , albeit they refer to the component commands as Navy, Air Force and Army.

About DND/CF | National Defence and the Canadian Forces (http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/about/index_e.asp)

I always thought purple uniforms would have been most fetching.......

[The Adjutant]

Now, just lets think about this. We already have JPA, JHF, joint staff training, joint service basic trade training (some trades) PJHQ, Harrier sqns made up of Navy and RAF, and people from each service working alongside the other services just about every place you go. (Oh yes, almost forgot the Joint Chiefs of Staff ) From where I sit, we are more or less there already.
I have a theory that the RAF won't see its 100th birthday as within 10 years we will have seen the UK Armed Forces shrink so much that joining us into one force will be the only practical solution. Can't say I like the idea much, but by 2020 we will be UK Armed Forces Plc, a member of the SERCO group of companies. (Chief Exec Mr G Broon)

[Blacksheep]

All for one and one for all isn't exactly new. :hmm:

We could call a new military combined operations force...

"Overlord"

[Aeronut]

Call it what you want, it will likely have ships, tanks and aircraft.:ugh:

[Wrathmonk]

The RAF and the RN could (possibly) merge quite easily. However, you may have seen the pain and grief caused when Army regiments were merged - imagine the wailing if all the regiments/corps/squadrons etc were to go in a "all for one" Service. Household Cav become No 1 Regiment etc. Let alone getting rid of the purple trousers, grandad sweaters etc.

However you dress it up Joint is spelt A-R-M-Y. If anything I suspect we are likely to see a drive away from jointery (which is why I believe JFH will become a light blue only outfit long before JCA/F18/Rafale/Mar Typhoon [delete as appropriate] appear on HMS QEII / PoW) as individual Service chiefs start the "not on my watch" campaigns. Just my view.

[LeCrazyFrog]

It is true that everyting is going Joint and the UK is well ahead of other nations in that respect. However, there are limits to the evolution : theguys that will go at sea will still have to be sailors, the guys shooting the tanks will have to be pongos and even if we fly the same aircraft, getting everyone current in all the possible missions will be impossible, therefore there will be guys landing on the carrier and there will be guys doing the the AI, CAS etc...

Changing the paint on the front door will not change basics of the job...

[I'm Off!]

I'm all for it. Then again, my username should give you a hint what I think of it all!!!

[RNAV8R]

Crikey, a combined force would merely lead to even more of the bitter infighting that we see now. Forget a move to combined and lets try to make Joint work first - that means recognising we are all on the same side and focussing our efforts outwards rather than wasting all our effort fighting petty parochial battles

Phew, rant over, where is the gin?

[moosemaster]

Didn't the Aussies go "Combined" a few years back, and then call themselves the Australian Defence Force (ADF)

How did that all pan out?

(Genuine interest expressed, not trying to be funny or owt, I seriously don't know the answer.)