Desert tests expose military weakness

[rivetjoint]

News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2165376.stm)


When oh when will the people at the top realise?!
What will old Dubya have to say to ol' Tone?

[BEagle]

Wonderful spin coming from the Ministry of BuffHoons! Allegedly the exercise was hugely successful as it allowed in-theatre assessment of our existing military kit to be conducted!

As Austin Powers would say, "Rrrriight......."

[Sloppy Link]

If they had listened in the first place, the sending of troops to the Oman to prove we were right would not have been neccessary. Pr@tts.

[Talking Radalt]

Of course we could all trog off to Iraq just to be absolutely sure we are totally ill-equipped. :rolleyes:

[rivetjoint]

I see the King of Jordan said that ol' Tone is worried about action in Iraq. I suspect Dubya will invite him over to the ranch soon for a mild chat, then he'll leave singing from the Bush family songsheet again.

[timzsta]

I seem to remember in late 1990 we trogged off to Saudi with this wonderful new tank called Challenger I. But we found in the desert the filters got clogged up with sand every 4 hours. So we sorted it out I believe.

In 2001 we trogged off to Oman with this wonderful new tank called Challenger II. But we found in the desert the filters got clogged up with sand every 4 hours.

In 1990 we found the boots for our boys we not very good. Eleven years later they are still no good.

Why these problems. Because we never get things sorted once and for all, we never learn the lessons. Instead we take a "management risk" that it will be alright under the name of "financial prudence". What we end up with is kit that only works Tuesday to Thursday on Salisbury plain.

[Archimedes]

Have we had decent boots at any time since....er....? Trench foot in World War 1; Trench Foot in the Falklands; problems with boots in 1990 (recall a local rag reporting that the local shoe shop had sent out a batch of desert boots to the Staffords...) and still problems. Suppose this time that at least the boots that are designed for use in the desert functioned as advertised, but Prudent Uncle Gordon has stopped us from buying enough?

[SneintonJim]

Reminds me of the late 70s when I was in the school CCF. We got issued with Army boots and combat gear and I decided it was a pile of crap. Couldn't do much about the clothing but I got myself some surplus German para boots - absolutely superb quality - and the envy of everyone else when their feet got soaked during adventurous training.

Funny thing was that during the summer camp - with the Blues and Royals at Detmold - squaddies kept coming upto me asking if they could buy my boots off me..

It does make you wonder how a 16 year old could have a better boot procurement programme than the MOD.

Cheers,

Jim

[Fox3snapshot]

It least it has been made "public" and the deficiencies that exist have been revealed to the world rather than covered up in the typical fashion that we have come to expect!

An exersize of this nature in the Middle East (or similar environment) is critical for highlighting these problems for the "critics" of this type of deployment. Of intrest the exersize was significantly scaled down from original conception......who knows what else would have come out if it, had all the planned assets made the trip to the sandpit!

And Sloppy....its not "the Oman" simply "Oman" or the "Sultanate of Oman" if you are not in a rush....The Oman as you put it reminds me of my days in "the Sudan" back in 46 fighting the Jerry "what what, pip pip away we go and all that good poop!"

:cool: