ARmy Rumour SErvice

Sounds reasonable, especially keeping the capbadges for local conections

I think it could cause a little upset to those of a crab persuasion :D

What a load of old bllox. "What we need is..." Yes, Robert Fox=weapons grade knobjockey with a high opinion of himself inversely proportional to his actual knowledge and ability.

Anyone want to bet on how long it takes, after we cut Artic/Jungle training, for a couple of wars to break out in exactly those regions?

"It is better to keep an Army for a hundred years, even if you need it for only a single day."
-The Art of War, by Sun Tzu

A very interesting article that really says nothing. It assumes that junior officers and JNCOs are better qualified to do the forward planning that experienced senior ones with no actual evidence to back the statement. It also assumes that the future is a known fact , who 20 years ago would have foreseen the situation that exists today. It's always easy to know the answers when you set the question but a little more difficult when events set the question. The major strength of the British forces is there ability to adapt to a given situation. As for the glib comment on regiments he obviously has no inkling of the cement that binds the Brith army together, the regimental system is a tried and tested system that has stood the test of time .

Originally Posted by Private_Pike

I think it could cause a little upset to those of a crab persuasion :D

Are you referring to this bit ?

The RAF should be held at 40,000 personnel, and should stick to its core business of deep strike, surveillance, transport and emergency rescue.

I'm not sure that the RAF had any plans for "branching out" into others areas. Or where he identified that list as "core business". No more close air support then? Or Air Defence of the UK, or expeditionary air superiority?

However ...

Extravagant equipment programmes need to be cut or cancelled. The Typhoon aircraft (£24bn), ........ and the new Joint Combat Aircraft (£20bn-plus) all need reviewing.

I would think that some new/replacement aircraft are needed.
FFS, we've only just retired Jaguar, having had it in service since 1974.
And we've been operating Harriers since 1970.

I think the Army should be re-issued with .303 rifles, on that basis

I particularily liked this bit:

The structure of the forces needs to be less fragmented and complex. There are too many HQs. The Army, in particular, is over-officered

Not having an anti officer bash but our tiny little army has a considerable number of chiefs. I doubt the Army really justifies Four Star command these days. Potential to reach General rank must be higher now than it has ever been due to the shrinkage at the bottom of the rank structure.

Oh hanng on what was that?........ Just formed 11 Light Bde, oh good.

Whilst much of what he says has the appearance of a pacifisr rant, I do think he has an arguement on some of the structural things. I think we are too top heavy both in uniformed and non uniformed staff, and that many working in administrative roles add little value to the task and there is good justification for reducing staff numbers by removing the jobs that we don't need doing