Two squadrons of Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft will be scrapped.
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In all honesty I don't believe that the Army would want the RAF Regt task.
Whilst it is true that the RAF Regt do a lot more than walk the wire it is still one of their core tasks. How many infantrymen do you know who would be happy being detached to Afghanistan to guard an airbase?
If the Army did take the task I could see them raising a deployable version of MPGS to carry out the task with longer periods of deployment on shorter fixed-term contracts in a similar manner to the US with their auxiliary security staff (such as the ones that used to guard Camp Doha in Kuwait).
Whilst it is true that the RAF Regt do a lot more than walk the wire it is still one of their core tasks. How many infantrymen do you know who would be happy being detached to Afghanistan to guard an airbase?
If the Army did take the task I could see them raising a deployable version of MPGS to carry out the task with longer periods of deployment on shorter fixed-term contracts in a similar manner to the US with their auxiliary security staff (such as the ones that used to guard Camp Doha in Kuwait).
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How many infantrymen do you know who would be happy being detached to Afghanistan to guard an airbase?
An infanteer doesn't see things in those terms, certainly not after he's been in for more than 5 minutes anyway.. and in company sized groups, our usefullness to battlegroups in strict terms is limited, although Sierra Leone saw the Corps at the forefront of operations as it has been elsewhere. The Regt role is varied and offers far more than you might imagine. I've had far better general conditions of service and had some useful experiences so yes.. I guess they'd have liked my job.
I think I'm right too, in saying that the RAF Regt is the only regular infantry organisation which has constantly been on active service somewhere every year since the end of WW2.
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I'm sorry but although the points you raise may be true that is not how they would appear to an infantryman, I know as I was one and for a little bit longer than 5 minutes.
Pride in ones regiment is a huge part of being an infantryman (I still have pride in the regiment I was part of that I left 12 years ago) and I don't know of many regiments that would be proud to take on a role which is often seen in the wider British Army and beyond as guarding 'guins for a living.
Yes (as I stated originally) there is a lot more to the RAF Regt than walking the fence line but the oft mentioned remarks about the 'short range desert group' will linger on as off hand comments about the RAF Regt always have and I don't believe many Lt Col's would happily let their battalion step into those shoes. Of course they'd no doubt gladly cherry pick the SFSG tasks which the RAF Regt are an important part of but the less glamorous tasks I'm sure wouldn't be as palatable.
Of course most of this is based on pure ignorance and misconception of the role of the RAF Regt, but in a British Army that in many quarters is still stuck firmly in West Germany facing off the 3rd Shock Army the thought of tootling around in WMiK's at Basrah doesn't have the same appeal as being an armoured infantry battalion racing across some as yet to come Salisbury Plain photostat battlefield.
Pride in ones regiment is a huge part of being an infantryman (I still have pride in the regiment I was part of that I left 12 years ago) and I don't know of many regiments that would be proud to take on a role which is often seen in the wider British Army and beyond as guarding 'guins for a living.
Yes (as I stated originally) there is a lot more to the RAF Regt than walking the fence line but the oft mentioned remarks about the 'short range desert group' will linger on as off hand comments about the RAF Regt always have and I don't believe many Lt Col's would happily let their battalion step into those shoes. Of course they'd no doubt gladly cherry pick the SFSG tasks which the RAF Regt are an important part of but the less glamorous tasks I'm sure wouldn't be as palatable.
Of course most of this is based on pure ignorance and misconception of the role of the RAF Regt, but in a British Army that in many quarters is still stuck firmly in West Germany facing off the 3rd Shock Army the thought of tootling around in WMiK's at Basrah doesn't have the same appeal as being an armoured infantry battalion racing across some as yet to come Salisbury Plain photostat battlefield.
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Whilst it is true that the RAF Regt do a lot more than walk the wire it is still one of their core tasks. How many infantrymen do you know who would be happy being detached to Afghanistan to guard an airbase?
Quote:
I think you'll find it is Camp Bastion.
I think you’ll find I was being facetious, and it looked more like an airfield last time I was there. Thankyou
I think you'll find it is Camp Bastion.
I think you’ll find I was being facetious, and it looked more like an airfield last time I was there. Thankyou
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Clear finals said:
So in the absence of any words of defence, is the consensus that it is merely the occurence of Herrick and Telic that is prolonging the existence and delaying the disbandment of the RAF Regt?
So in the absence of any words of defence, is the consensus that it is merely the occurence of Herrick and Telic that is prolonging the existence and delaying the disbandment of the RAF Regt?
So in the absence of any words of defence, is the consensus that it is merely the occurence of Herrick and Telic that is prolonging the existence and delaying the disbandment of the RAF Regt?
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Spinning (Cuts, rather than flat)
Gents,
Seems to me that the Regt will go to the Army in the near future precisely because the RAF will need to offer up something to protect Typhoon - and which CAS is going to decline a grand bargain of passing the Regt to the Army (called whatever it's called) which will help the Army get back to full(er) manning in return for some positive feedback from the other service chiefs on the importance of Typhoon to "defence". (Never understood this new innovation to describe MoD/Services' input ot anything as "defence"... but what do I know?)
Salve, Regt.
S41
Seems to me that the Regt will go to the Army in the near future precisely because the RAF will need to offer up something to protect Typhoon - and which CAS is going to decline a grand bargain of passing the Regt to the Army (called whatever it's called) which will help the Army get back to full(er) manning in return for some positive feedback from the other service chiefs on the importance of Typhoon to "defence". (Never understood this new innovation to describe MoD/Services' input ot anything as "defence"... but what do I know?)
Salve, Regt.
S41
