Very negative feelings over impending tour

[Djbutler]

This is without a doubt a wind up..like my partners gone awol..

 

[Hector_Chavez_V]

Has he got the Lotto numbers for Saturday?

He needs to vocalise his problem, loudly, and to the right people, there is nothing worse than metaphorically carrying someone who's heart isnt in it, he may end up being a serious problem if he melts down and thats the last thing you want when your a couple of miles from the PB and on your chinstraps.

*edited to add I've just clicked on he's an armourer, I'm assuming his biggest fear will be running out of tabs or being forced out for a bit of phys*

 

[sparky8]

How many armourers have died on ops since 2006?

A few & at least one from your Bde if memory serves me right.

Something however seems fishy on this to me. The Army is still desperately short of Armourers and as such there is absolutely no way he is going to deploy away from trade so the whole driver story seems flawed. Why have a (guessing) Class 1 JNCO tradesman be a driver when a RLC Pte can do the job?

 

[Golf_one_one]

A few & at least one from your Bde if memory serves me right.

A ******* nice bloke actually, driving a Vector.

 

[shortarms]

A few & at least one from your Bde if memory serves me right.

Something however seems fishy on this to me. The Army is still desperately short of Armourers and as such there is absolutely no way he is going to deploy away from trade so the whole driver story seems flawed. Why have a (guessing) Class 1 JNCO tradesman be a driver when a RLC Pte can do the job?

On H13 it was not unusual for Armourers to be used as drivers or gunners on jackals, all hands to the pump.

 

[Porridge_gun]

On H13 it was not unusual for Armourers to be used as drivers or gunners on jackals, all hands to the pump.

If your stumpy legs reach the pedals

 

[fatboy69]

Is this a wind up? Your fella has been spammed for a drivers job because the other fella has lost his FMT600. Piss off, I'm not having that.

 

[Army_Rizzle]

I call wah.

Purely on Armourer doing a drivers job, just simply wouldn't happen at the minute.

 

[dingerr]

Even though he is working within the C-IED TF it's not necessarily all doom and gloom (never did me any harm!).

Besides the teams that deploy onto the ground there are the supporting elements that are safely ensconced in Bastion. Besides working in the armoury, he could be used to help maintain the remote equipments (wheelbarrow, cyclops, chevette) or he could work with the Weapons Intelligence Section (WIS) dealing with recovered insurgent weapons. He could be employed as a driver purely for use within Bastion, after all there are welfare and training and QM elements that require such support.

To deploy onto the ground he would have had to do much more training than just holding an FMT 600.

To actually leave the Santuary of Bastion with a team he would have to be trained in one or more of the following:

Advanced Search
IEDD HT No2
WIS
Husky and/or mastiff vehicles.
ATO's Escort (there is no training for this, but he would be warned and have integrated with a team).

Whatever happens if he feels that he may struggle mentally on the ground as a result of PTSD he must have the moral courage to let people know, otherwise he will be a liability. I suggest he speaks to the padre or a TRIM trained SNCO.

Anything else you need to know about the C-IED TF just PM me.

 

[dingerr]

A few & at least one from your Bde if memory serves me right.

Something however seems fishy on this to me. The Army is still desperately short of Armourers and as such there is absolutely no way he is going to deploy away from trade so the whole driver story seems flawed. Why have a (guessing) Class 1 JNCO tradesman be a driver when a RLC Pte can do the job?

He'll be deploying as an Armourer, but with the requirement to drive. It's not unusual.

 

[Blokeonabike]

Bottom line, its an ever decreasing pool of manpower in the Army. X factor has been paid. If he has a genuine medical reason not to deploy it is either long term - in which case he should either be medically discharged or will be exempt deployment until he is fit - but he needs to seek the appropriate help. If not, he should get on with the job he has been and is being paid to do or sign off.

The difference between this scenario and the more general "would you do something if it didnt feel right" is that he is, and has been, accepting his pay (including X factor) on the basis of being willing to do the job. The job is operations - in barracks bits being simply training and preparation for operations (even in peace-time). If everyone who had a bad feeling about going on ops was given a free pass the British Army would be a laughing stock.