(#27 refers),
Gentlemen,
I seem to have rattled a cage here ! First let me thank all those who have leapt to my defence so swiftly; it does my old heart good to realise that I have so many friends in this our old cyber crewroom.
But now to the nitty-gritty:
Hangarshuffle, it would be helpful to know your age: I have always thought that it should be mandatory - (not optional) - to declare age correctly here, as it enables the rest of us to place you in the general timeframe, and this is important.
In answer to you: I'm 95 as stated here. I retired from the R.A.F. 45 years ago. "Work outside" (odd question ?) - well, I flew five years in war, then two as a civlian pen-pusher, flew five more years in Cold War (does that qualify as "outside" ?), medically grounded, spent last 17 years in Air Traffic Control (mostly warm, snug and dry). What is the relevance ?
Let us not all pile on top of Hangarshuffle too readily, for there is a fundamental problem which needs to be addressed: we have not had a major war for almost three generations and are in danger of forgetting the nature of the beast. The first disturbing signs were to be seen in the Falklands in 1982, where the curious notion of an "area-limited" war, a "half-war" (ie, only in the "Exclusion Zone") was first mooted. Immediately the anomalies appeared:
The Captain of "Conqueror" has the "Belgrano" in range, torpedos ready to go.....what does he do ? .... he signals Northwood to ask permission to fire ....... (What would one of Nelson's Captains have done ? - and Nelson would've Court-Martialled him if he didn't).
"Oh, those poor Argentinian sailors left to drown in the 'Belgrano'...... was/wasn't it in the Exclusion Zone ?" .... was it in the Zone coming out ? .....or outside going in ? ....... Why was it at sea at all ? - to give the crew a health-giving cruise ? - or to do us harm ?
Pardon me: Argentine has invaded British sovereign territory. A State of War
de facto exists. You are entitled to defend yourself. You hit your enemy as hard as you can with everything you've got. We bared our teeth only once: Black Bush did minimal damage to Port Stanley airfield, but the subtext was clear: if we can get so far, we can get to Buenos Aires - (and who knows what might be in the bomb bay ?) Galtieri had that to think about !
Shift to Afghanistan, last year I Posted an excerpt from the "Daily Tel". (The Thread concerned the well- merited appointment of the first WRAF Officer to command a FJ Squadron). A threat had been detected. A Tornado was scrambled to remove it. I believe they have a cannon in the nose . But they didn't fire it, but just buzzed the 'baddies' - they ran off. ..... DCO (???)
Minimum Force, you see. You do not win wars in that way, I'm sorry to have to tell anyone who thinks you do.
But, Hangarshuffle, you've hit the nail on the head with:
...it's the pay and conditions mate...
Pay them properly, house them and feed them properly, give them a decent future - and they'll stay ! If not, they won't.
My thanks to our Moderators for allowing me to get my piece in before lowering the boom on this !
Danny42C. (still moaning on about his day - and will continue to do so !)