MoD lawyers soar

[Melchett01]

alfred,

I might be wrong, but you seem to have completely missed my point.

The politicians set the national policy and direction, and as you say, rightly so. For it is that policy that gives the military a defined end state to work towards - or it should if the politicians have done their job correctly and not raced half-arsed into a situation just because their wives told them something must be done after an uncomfortable kitchen table supper with friends. In conjunction with that end-state defining policy are the ROE which will provide the commander with his left and right of arc, and as you say, rightly so. We are professionals not barbarians.

But once the political direction is established and any constraints set out, then leave the military commanders alone to get on with the job! This has nothing to do with thinking we should all be following the Maj Ripper and Col Kilgore approach. It has everything to do with allowing your senior officers and military commanders in the field to used their cumulative professional experience and judgement to meet the required endstate. As Whenurhappy notes, most POLADS are young thrusting fast streamers who wouldn't know one end of a rifle from another and for whom a getting a bit of sand on their boots is just another rung on the ladder and an interesting dinner party story for when they get back. The LEGADs, yes, they wear a uniform, but again, how much experience?

And yet the system has developed in such a way that they, with that relatively limited experience of military ops, can exert an undue level of influence at the tactical level over a commander and his HQ. Really? You think that is right or appropriate? Sounds not so different from the days of the Political Officer in the Soviet Regiments; no military experience but a political appointment to ensure the unit commander did what the Party thought he should do not what the tactical situation dictated. If you do think it appropriate for inexperienced POLADs and LEGADs to have such undue influence, well you can just get rid of most of the command element from the military, save the MOD a fortune and simply replace them with POLADs and LEGADs.

But how do you think it assists the overall 'political' situation when a TST is missed because the LEGAD & POLAD pressed pause on the op to take advice? I've seen that happen before. And when the commanders out in the field have to start second guessing themselves and their men in case they are hauled up before the courts 5 years down the line for a well meaning and tactically sound decision made in the heat of battle, now coming under scrutiny because the rules have changed. I'm dealing with at least 2 such cases at the moment in my unit - is that appropriate?

We are clearly coming at the POLAD / LEGAD perspective from diametrically opposed angles, and I suspect that won't change. I think LEGADs and POLADs should be tolerated, largely because we now have to, but they should be there as advisors and no more. I would much rather have a decent CULAD taking up the post instead.