Crab's off to golf again

[XV666]

What's with the Daily Mirror (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/03/05/anger-as-search-and-rescue-helicopter-is-used-to-drop-raf-personnel-off-at-golf-party-exclusive-115875-21172263/)? :rolleyes:

If Crab and his mates want to go to golf: good luck to them :ok: I'd rather see my taxes spent on that, than Brown and his cohorts digging their snouts deeper in the trough :mad:


Anger as search and rescue helicopter is used to drop RAF personnel off at golf party - Exclusive


By Richard Smith And Chris Hughes 5/03/2009

An RAF search and rescue helicopter drops military personnel on a golf course... after flying them seven miles for a retirement party.

Questions were being asked about the misuse of taxpayers' money after a dozen passengers were seen climbing out of the yellow Sea King to play nine holes yesterday.

One angry source said: "It's just a complete waste of taxpayers' money. When we are deep in a recession how can the MoD fritter money away bringing their mates to the golf course? I was told it was a retirement party, but it would certainly have cost more than a tenner to fly in all those people."

As the RAF launched an investigation, the source added: "Imagine what our troops would think in Iraq and Afghanistan, where money for new equipment is so tight."

The helicopter, believed to be carrying mostly non-commissioned officers, took off from RAF Chivenor in north Devon and landed seven miles away at Willingcott Valley golf course, near Woolacombe.

Lib Dem defence spokesman Nick Harvey said: "If true, this is an outrageous abuse of an exceptionally precious commodity.

"Soldiers' lives are being put at risk because of helicopter shortage and search and rescue is under great strain. The public will want real answers on how the MoD thinks this is an appropriate use of resources."

The use of the chopper for a social jaunt follows a row last year when Prince William used a £20million military helicopter to fly him and brother Harry to a stag party on the Isle of Wight. An onlooker who watched the RAF golfers yesterday said: "They were wearing civvies. The whole group seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"A young man in military fatigues walked across the course and called in the players shortly before 5pm."

The golfers refused to talk to a Daily Mirror reporter when they were approached after their game.

But last night, an MoD spokesman said: "There are strict rules in place regarding use of military aircraft and we are urgently investigating this incident to ensure regulations have been observed.

"Search and rescue cover was not compromised in any way while this sortie took place."

[iainms]

When I was serving in Belize, and not in the jungle, the crabs where always running us out to the Keys for a spot of R&R. Whats wrong with that ?

[detgnome]

Nothing wrong with that, but it was far away from the public eye. As is often the case, I'm sure the ac was on the way to do something else ie training and there would have been no additional costs incurred. That said, in this day and age you have to be whiter than white doing this kind of thing and I think that it is going to be difficult to argue the training value of dropping some people off on the golf course. Someone's for a one way interview with OC22/SARFC...unless they were in the party of course!:ok:

[sunnywa]

I'm sure they were all medics being dropped off after someone there had a stroke (or two).:)

[3D CAM]

Can't have been yesterday, Chiv were off line, crewing problems.:confused:O.K. today though, two crews available.:ok:
3D

[SASless]

"They were wearing civvies. The whole group seemed to be enjoying themselves.


There you go Lads....the problem defined!

We cannot be having the uniformed mafia enjoying themselves and acting like civvies!

Where's the Mirror when you get dropped off in the middle of the sand box somewhere and you spend weeks wearing the same clothes, doing without a bath, dodge bullets, mortar rounds, RPG's and other things that go BANG!

But....Crab dear fellow....as you were telling us how the SAR gang spends lots of time training and trying to be ready for every contingency that might crop up during real missions....what would this sortie have as it's teaching points?;)

[3D CAM]

what would this sortie have as it's teaching points?

Don't get caught?? Oops, failed that one!:ok:

Sorry Crab, only banter!
3D

[detgnome]

what would this sortie have as it's teaching points?

Don't get caught;)

[TorqueOfTheDevil]

Sloping ground landings?
LL Nav including IP to Grid?
Erm...

[levo]

If its good enough for the Prince it should:ok: be good enough for the boys .

[DOUBLE BOGEY]

If it was a commercial company would you see such compliaints when many thousand of pounds are spent on "Sports and Social" activities.

If the boys in Blue and Green, who risk there lives and freedom for sake of others, cannot get a bit of R&R then the world is a sorry sad place.

I would just love, for once, for some top brass to show some balls and say:

"My boys go the extra mile every day to keep others safe, putting themselves in harms way to preserve the lives of others (who often have done something stupid to get themselves lost/rescued/casevaced in the first place). I fully support the release of tension and increase in morale that this jolly may well have provided and if anyone disagrees, CLIMB INTO A UNIFORM AND LETS SEE WHAT YOU'VE GOT"

Good for the CRABS they get payed ****e and work 24/7 when required. I fuuly support the infantesimal amount of tax I may have paid to give the lads a nice jolly.

And for the politician, bet he has never served queen and country risking the ultimate sacrifice for sake of others!!!!

[Tuckunder]

Cuoldn't agree more with the above comments. Mind you the mirror is hardly a paper to worry about. Yes it would be nice to see the Command boys put up an umbrella on this one. Shame on them if there is a b....ing.

[tacr2man]

If they were not wasting military funds like this the MOD could afford the overspend on the chinooks a lot easier :sad::confused:

[arandcee]

Not that I do anyway, but yet another reason not to vote for that . . . . . Harvey. Kn0b.

They use the helicopter for witless wonders (and deserving causes) all the year, a trip to the golf course is the least they deserve. And I bet it scared the ladies section!

[ShyTorque]

When I was serving in Belize, and not in the jungle, the crabs where always running us out to the Keys for a spot of R&R. Whats wrong with that?

It kept the pilots out of the bar, for a start. ;)

In this case it seems obvious to me that the boys being landed on the golf course were in fact practicing being in the desert.... bunkers are full of sand, innit? :D

[[email protected]]

Extra cost to the taxpayer = zero, it was done at the beginning of a training sortie and took a whole 5 mins out of a 2 hour SAR training sortie.

Value to the Military fraternity = lots as it was a request from the Royal Marines who have been working very hard sandy side.

The Daily Mirror had a photographer on scene so they must have been tipped off by some well-meaning idiot who can't see the wood for the trees.

They would be better off questioning why the 'one-eyed Scottish idiot', to quote J Clarkson, had to waste thousands of taxpayers money just so he could preen himself on the international stage instead of sorting out the mess he and his govt have made of this country.

[HOGE]

These non-stories are one of the many reasons I don't buy a newspaper.

[Geoffersincornwall]

My first reaction was shock horror but when the story is told I am sad that I should have thought so badly of these chaps. Shame when such worthy gestures are lost on those members of the public who may not appreciate the ton of benefit that comes from an ounce of kindness amongst the military fraternity.

:ugh:

[3D CAM]

Crab.
Never thought I would say this but..... agree with you 100%:ok:
Time these k##bs in Parliament started dealing with the real issues!!!!!
3D
P.S.
I suggest a liason visit for said minister to your flight! Could involve a bit of wet winching/trawling???:D

[bast0n]

Wonderful - good for the Crabs and I don't say that often! BUT GOLF!!


There are some things that are so uncool they become, in a strange way, cool, but golfing is not one of them. Golf is so irretrievably uncool that it comes with its own anti-fashion, including sun visors, horrendous shoes, and shirts with insurance company logos on them. For men, a devotion to golf often indicates a wholesale embrace of middle age, the putting aside of childish things like not being fat or caring about what sort of jumpers you put on. For women, a sudden devotion to golf is often a sign that you have, for reasons best known to yourself, married someone much older than you. Having established that golf is transcendentally uncool, we must concede that it is popular nevertheless. For non-golfers the point of the game has always been a bit of a mystery. It doesn't, on the face of it, look like much fun. It is not, as any non player who has visited a golf course will testify, generally played by the sort of people one wants to hang out with. And yet still people succumb to it. We may conclude from this that golf is in some way addictive. The evidence is certainly there: a staggering proportion of the game's celebrity adherents have been sequestered for addiction treatment in the past. It's astonishingly popular among party-animal rockers who, through no fault of their own, have accidentally lived past 30. Add to this the fact that it’s on a par with darts in terms of physical exertion, and you have a perfect sport for a whole generation of people who forgot to die in a hotel room in the 1980s, and are consequently at a loose end. It would be a harmless way of keeping them out of the way if only it weren’t such an inefficient use of space. If we could only get them interested in deck quoits, then we could house the lot of them in a space the size of a tennis court.:)

[Non-PC Plod]

I'm with the Mirror on this - lets ban fun. Make sure there is no prospect of any enjoyment in the services. Lets go and paint rocks white and do more foot drill. That'll sort out the recruiting problems! Doh!:E

[SASless]

People who play Golf will cheat at other endeavours as well!

[Hummingfrog]

Don't know what the fuss is about - when I was at Lossie I took a 2 star over to Dornoch so he could play golf!

HF

[whoateallthepies]

Crab
Bloody good on you for looking after the Bootnecks. I don't pay tax these days but if I did I would gladly give it to my old SAR mates!

From experience I know how many heart attacks occur on golf courses, so any landing there can be put down to essential training. http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m412/omanjohn/2637784011.jpg