Armed Forces "jointery"
I am long out of the air force now; my involvement was in the Falkland Islands when I must say I was very impressed by the co-operation of not just the RN and Army but also numerous civvies, merchant navy, Royal Fleet Auxilliary etc. etc.
All that mattered then was getting on with the job! All this changed when the rule books arrived and the suppliers became storemen and started to hoard their supplies and stop supplying them; low flying rules tightened up, bean counters arrived and "Admin" reverted to normal!
What needs to happen now is for the CNS, CAS and CGS (Chief of the General Staff or whoever heads the army) COLLECTIVELY to stand together on this. The country needs ALL elements of the services and that includes the FAA and RM, (and the RAF Regt) and none are "optional extras".....Divided loyalties have no part here and will lead to even fiercer in-fighting in the future and only play into the polititians hands.
After the end of the Cold War, the then necessary review "Option for Change" promised a leaner and better equipped armed forces. We are certainly much leaner now but we must not allow the equipment promises to be broken anymore than they have been already.
Stand together is the message, and to remember that attack is sometimes better than defence....we ought to expect senior military officers to know this and speak out against political decisions which they know are ill thought, and which prejudice our defence posture.....both now and in the future.
Why do we never learn from the past?
MB