Ok, now my headache has subsided can I just confirm that so far on this thread that we serving, ex-serving and interested thread posters acknowledge that:
1. The pseudo ring fencing of Defence and the ability to deliver operationally trained, equipped and experienced forces (less so Navy) due to Afghan will stop abruptly in 2015.
2. The Defence budget will be cut by a significant amount over the next 4 years.
3. Any funding savings requested by HMT will be delivered by the MoD via savings found in DE&S and DIO, in what appears to be the way that procurement and Defence contracts are awarded.
Have I got that right, or is last night's ale blurring my naive judgement?
Just one more question if you don't mind, is there a military definition for the term strategic, specifically in the timeframe that any SDSR should review - 5, 10, 15 years? Is there a set time metric, or is it decided upon every SDSR or by its very (political) timing it only looks out to the next 5 years acknowledging that a change of Government of the day will invariably result in a change to Defence?
Last edited by MaroonMan4; 1st Jan 2015 at 17:50.