I am now getting irritated by the constant criticism of RAF Close Air Support by the Army.
It is wholly unprofessional and short sighted to slate RAF aircrew for following ROE. (As per the Guardian article link above.) Not only does it display a misunderstanding of the implications that may be faced by a pilot should he break ROE and subsequently incur a blue on blue, but also shows a clear lack of understanding of the bigger picture.
The RAF only has a handful of aircraft in theatre. It would be great to have an aircraft CAP over every bloke on the ground but there are not enough assets. RAF's fault? Hardly, look at the way the Gov't has slashed the number of fast jet ground attack assets over the last few years.
There is always room for improvement in the way that the services interoperate, and public in-fighting does nothing for morale, public support, the credibility of the services, or their relationship. Ill thought-out statements about CAS are as helpful as saying, for example, the Army has been on the ground for 3 years and it still hasn't stopped all the fighting.
The way that some Army personnel were dealt with in Cyprus recently on their R+R was unacceptable, a '1 off' and it was right that a recurrence of this should not occur. However Public criticism of the RAF from Army quarters for having an ageing transport fleet and not enough CAS aircraft is completely misdirected.
Criticism on these fronts needs to be directed towards the Government and not the RAF who are out there trying their hardest to give the guys on the ground the best support they can.