Originally Posted by
Scud-U-Like
The Sunday Times 7 December 2003:
Hoon Poised for £2bn Cut in Forces
A number of senior officers, however, see the white paper as a chance to break out of the service’s historic regimental structure.
“Anybody who argues on emotional grounds for cap badges and so on doesn’t understand the needs of the army today,” a senior officer told a private Whitehall audience last week.
The army wants to move from a structure based on battalions of about 600 men to an emphasis on company-sized sub-units of about 120 men that can be more easily deployed.
I hope that bit is true and that someone has seen sense at last. The regimental system belongs in a museum, not in a modern army.
I'm sorry I disagree.
Are you going to get rid of all historical regimental and squadron nameplates and colours?
It would be sad to get rid of the Foot Guards Regiments or 617 Sqn and replace them with a number that has no history or tradition.
I appreciate the RAF is still young, but I believe being in a unit with a proud history and tradition is good for unit cohesion and ethos. It gives the troops a passion. I remember my Grandfather with a Scottish background saying he wanted to be in the Black Watch and not any other regiment.
I also believe that keeping historical units and traditions is respecting what those units went through and achieved. It teaches the youngsters, for example Army Barracks named after Napoleonic or Crimean battles, I've stayed in RAF accommodation named after RAF Victoria Cross recipients.
That Senior Officer appears to criticise "emotional attachment to cap badges" as a way to justify cutbacks and reductions in manpower.