SAS commander quits 'over kit'

[Derek]

"I recently visited Afghanistan, and 100 per cent of those I asked said they were now satisfied with their equipment."

Funny that. I know a couple of boys out there and 0 per cent of them are satisfied with the equipment. Either that or satisfied means still useless but a little less useless than before.

I suppose it could have been the coffee machine at the airport he was referring to.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Derek S

Funny that. I know a couple of boys out there and 0 per cent of them are satisfied with the equipment. Either that or satisfied means still useless but a little less useless than before.

I suppose it could have been the coffee machine at the airport he was referring to.

Trust me my lad is going back there and he WILL have to go out and buy his own kit. The kit the army issue is old and not fit for purpose.

He has to buy boots and webbing because the issue kit is no good in the environment they will be operating in.

.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Sirius

Trust me my lad is going back there and he WILL have to go out and buy his own kit. The kit the army issue is old and not fit for purpose.

He has to buy boots and webbing because the issue kit is no good in the environment they will be operating in.

.

You should (and anyone else in this position) should send an invoice direct to the MOD on behalf of our brave soldiers - it's a national disgrace!

"I recently visited Afghanistan, and 100 per cent of those I asked said they were now satisfied with their equipment." Next time you go on a jaunt perhaps you should speak to some british troops and not american ones then because no soldier i have known for a very long time was satisfied with issue kit. Though a long time ago now i used to get a lot of basic kit from a place called sass dunno if they are still going but always had much better selection and better quality then the crap we were issued.

[Osem]

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/uk_..._kit_comments/

[Osem]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7725133.stm

Now Hutton admits our forces are palpably overstretched but:

"defended the preparedness of troops currently in Iraq and Afghanistan, after recent criticism of equipment shortages and deficiencies, saying they were better equipped than for many years."

Anyway since Mr Hutton thinks our troops need some breathing space, perhaps he could ask the Taliban for a ceasefire while he and the MOD sort this mess out....

Are any of us so naive as to think this is a problem that politicians will admit too i think we all know better then that afterall they don't need to admit equipment shortages as long as there is plenty of ink and paper for them and of course secretary's.

[Osem]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8144431.stm

It's about time HMG and the MOD sorted this out so best of luck to her..

Meanwhile.... in a world all of his own.... Gordon Brown cynically carries on the spin and deceit:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8145364.stm

"We must and we will do everything we can to support our forces as they put their lives on the line... blah, blah, blah..."

Yeah right!

[SMG]

Kit has been improved over the past year & most guys are satisfied, however, no soldier can have everything he or she wants, unless they buy it themselves. Boots are a common gripe amongst the lads. Gordon Brown & his cronies will tell you we have the best equipped Army in the world, & we all know its just BS.

SF have, & need, much more sophisticated gear then the ordinary soldier, costing thousands more. The Special forces budget is very high compared to the average infantryman.

I agree we should equip our forces with the best we can afford, the trouble is, a lot of the time, civil servants make the decision, based on cost, & not quality or efficiency, as to what they get.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by SMG

I agree we should equip our forces with the best we can afford, the trouble is, a lot of the time, civil servants make the decision, based on cost, & not quality or efficiency, as to what they get.

A mate of mine who's currently serving says Whitehall bases cost on theoretical safety levels (ie perfect weather conditions etc) whereas what the forces really need is the equipment tested to actual safety levels.

Originally Posted by Derek S

Funny that. I know a couple of boys out there and 0 per cent of them are satisfied with the equipment. Either that or satisfied means still useless but a little less useless than before.

I suppose it could have been the coffee machine at the airport he was referring to.

Or it could have been the slop jockeys in the cookhouse he was asking.

[Osem]

More weasel words from Darling on the subject of equipment/resources and HMG's committment to our troops...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8146082.stm

"We've got to make sure our troops are properly equipped."

But I thought these people had been claiming for the past few years that our troops have eveything they needed....

As long as we have politicians that have never served a day in their life we will have a lack of complete understanding of exactly what is needed. What you can always gaurantee is that no politician will ever go out of their way to find out the reality of any given situation.

[Arthurgray50@blu]

For a SAS skipper to do this, there has to be something terribly wrong with our forces, in fact a very good friend of mine, has just joined the RAF, and he has been told to buy, his OWN uniform, BOOTS, and other essentials, which to me is disgusting.

This government is a damn disgrace, if they cannot buy what the forces need to fight for our freedom, he has been sent to a base in Norfolk, and he enjoys the life, the wages are crap, but he wants to do his bit, Gordon Brown and his pen pushers want to pull there fingers out of there arse, and give the troops the right equipment to do there job, otherwise get out there yourself and see for yourself, what they have to put up with.

[SMG]

Apparently, Sky news has announced that some of the troop carriers currently in use by UK forces, are U.S. rejects. Which, if true, doesn't surprise me one bit.