Support for mil
 

There was a young girl on 'The Voice' last night. She said she had flown two thousand miles to be there from Cyprus. The panel asked if she had been on holiday, 'No' she said 'My husband is in the services and I'm a military wife.'

There was a spontaneous round of applause from the audience. I don't know why but I was surprised to hear the clapping (and very heartened I may add). It could have been a scene from an American show where you would expect that sort of thing. Am I getting old and miserable or do I misread the amount of support the mil has these days?

Did not see it, but sounds like a positive and spontaneous response - and good luck to the contestant

Lets see if it lasts past SDSR 2015....

I saw the show and it seemed spontaneous, but you never know how these things are edited.

Vin Rouge - what is the word on SDSR15? More redundancies?

Not sure about more redundancies, we are already collectively running well past hot and the plan to do things on the cheap through the Reserves doesn't appear to be working out all that well.

But with what will be viewed the inevitable but myopic Afghan dividend, coupled with a reluctance to get involved in anything more dangerous than sandbagging half of Somerset, it doesn't look promising :uhoh:

I think there is one reason why the politicians are desperate to get out of Afghanistan and one reason why the Army want to stay.

Remember, we are only 40% into budgetary cuts to re balance the deficit; whatever happens, I suspect a large land force with a significant armored force will not feature in the post 15 (post afghan) model.

As to redundancies, who knows? I do know that salaries, pensions and benefits are a significant slice of the MOD budget.

Good question, Thing. Actually, I think there is huge support in this country for mil pers. Not so much for the political imperatives that require them to fight unpopular wars. Look at the Military Wives Choir. Look at the Memorial Day Celebration at the Royal Albert Hall last year. Look at the turn out for returning bodies at Brize and Lyneham. There is a lot of public support for our guys (intended to cover both genders) these days.

Long may it continue. Soon may they all return safely.

It's OK, NEM will sort that out! :hmm:

Four years ago I took my then 8 year old son to an ANZAC dawn service in Auckland.
Eerie experience - lines of silent elderly servicemen with medals, and then a Mustang, Spitfire Herc and Seasprite at low level - flying over the war memorial Musuem.
What surprised me though was the large number of young people, both male and female, prepared to get up at 4am in the cold and dark... many in their 20s.
I thought about it afterwards, and wonder if one of the consequences of 9/11 and the ensuing conflicts has meant that a new generation has seen what wars look like, realised the value of the military and the sacrifices they make.
Its sobering to appreciate that there'll more than likely always be bad people somewhere of some kind, and while there are, we need good, brave people to stand in their way.

'All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.'

Edmund Burke.

My old Mum always used to say that the post 1980's generation had far more respect for the military than people born in the period 1945-1980

Just look at the sales of Poppies and the way people respect 11:00 on the 11th Nov these days - when I was a kid it might be remembered on the nearest Sunday if you were lucky

I only see support within a few miles of garrison towns.

When I've been to big cities miles away from a military unit, there is no sign of support. When someone asks what you do and you tell someone you're in the RAF, they say nothing and move on.

tartare

The resurgence of interest in Anzac day started long before 9 / 11.

In the 1990's as the Anzac tradition was reinvigorated.

gr4techie

"... you tell someone you're in the RAF, they say nothing and move on."


What on earth do you want them to say? What do you mean by 'support' after all, you make the forces sound like a sport team.

There is wide spread sympathy and empathy for what folk in the forces are going through as a result of misadventures such as Iraq and Afghanistan, there is much wider spread support for the concept that going there was a fundamental mistake and has made life in the UK that much more dangerous.

Look at how returning vets were treated in the US and Australia after Vietnam, now they had a case for a lack of support, I don't think anyone in today's armed forces has anywhere near such a case. Thankfully.

Thing - There appears to be growing support for the forces over the last few years if the evidence in the collecting tins for the Annual RAFA "Wings" Appeal and the RBL Collections is anything to go by locally. Also for the last 4 years or so at the end of the Wreath Laying Service in Ely on Remembrance Sunday the spectators have broken into spontaneous applause as the Regulars, Reservists, Veterans and Cadets have marched off the parade. Quite difficult to shout orders and see where you are going when you have a lump in your throat and dust in your eye!
Long may the applause continue, the boys and girls in the Forces face down many dangers in our name and deserve all the gratitude we can give them.
BL

If you have been watching Paxman's Great War series you will no doubt be as interested as I was that even a hundred years ago, soldiers on leave were complaining that no one seemed to care.