Month: June 2014

Armed Forces Day Kids with guns controversy at family celebration for British troops

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THERE are hook the duck stalls, fairground rides and countless ice-cream vans. But these are not the most popular attractions with the thousands of small children who descended on Stirling yesterday for Armed Forces Day. They seemed to prefer handling the high-velocity sniper rifle, getting to grips with an 81mm mortar or staring down the sights of a Starstreak II missile launcher, with its operator on hand to boast of its “multi-target capability” and 7km range.

THERE are hook the duck stalls, fairground rides and countless ice-cream vans.

But these are not the most popular attractions with the thousands of small children who descended on Stirling yesterday for Armed Forces Day.

They seemed to prefer handling the high-velocity sniper rifle, getting to grips with an 81mm mortar or staring down the sights of a Starstreak II missile launcher, with its operator on hand to boast of its “multi-target capability” and 7km range.

Private Martin Bruce had a busy day. The 22-year-old, who serves in the 5 Scots infantry battalion and has completed two tours of Afghanistan, has been manning the javelin anti-tank missile and launcher. “It’s been really popular,” he says. “The kids love it, especially switching to the nightsight.”

Asked how he feels about allowing children, some of whom are too young to go to school, to play with this deadly weapon, he responds: “It’s not going to do any harm.

… Read more

Quaker report opposes increasing militarisation

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“The stirring music, smart uniforms and synchronised marching that characterise Armed Forces Day are a glossy front behind which sits a deliberate strategy to manipulate the public,” says Quaker Sam Walton as a new report on the growing militarisation in Britain today is launched.

In the revealing report The new tide of militarisation produced by Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), Armed Forces Day is described as one strand in a government strategy to reverse falling recruitment and declining public support for military interventions.

The report highlights how in the light of a waning appetite for public spending on war, the government target the public at their most susceptible. Through emphasising the risks that military personnel take, and their bravery, the need to support military personnel is confused with the need to support war.

Quakers believe in proper care and support for Armed Forces personnel, and all victims of war. Indeed, in 1947 Quakers were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their relief work. However this deliberate conflation of the need to support the personnel, with the need to support war, stifles democratic debate about the use of our armed forces in increasingly messy and controversial interventions abroad.

The report shows how initiatives such as Armed Forces day, the increasing presence of the military at other emotive national events, and efforts to increase the role of the military in education, such as the Troops to Teachers programme, and expansion of the Cadet Forces, are all part of a deliberate government strategy to increase militarisation in our society.… Read more

£1m for school cadets

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Bursary scheme will allocate money paid in fines by British banks caught up in the Libor rate-fixing scandal to state schools to help them offer thousands more children the chance to join military cadet forces.

State schools are to receive funding to help them offer thousands more children the chance to join military cadet forces, the Prime Minister will announce this week.

A £1 million bursary scheme will allocate money paid in fines by British banks caught up in the Libor rate-fixing scandal.

The scheme is designed to help state schools meet the costs of running combined cadet forces. The Government has already pledged almost £11 million to set up 100 units in schools by 2015. The extra money will help pay for running and staff costs, allowing schools to hire trained instructors. Pupils will also take part in expeditions and leadership training.

“Being a cadet is a fantastic opportunity that gives young people the skills they need to get on in life,” David Cameron said. “I want many more people to gain this type of experience no matter what their background.”

The £1 million will be matched by private sector contributions, with £300,000 already committed.

… Read more

Army training scheme for long-term unemployed may be extended

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Scheme piloted in Telford and Stoke can raise awareness of army reserve and make people more employable, says officer.

A pilot scheme in which long-term unemployed people take part in a month-long training programme run by the army could be rolled out nationally after it caught the attention of ministers, according to the army’s website.

The pilot project, which is “aimed at building self-esteem and skills”, has been completed by 31 people in two towns in the West Midlands, producing “excellent results”, according to the army.

Of 18 volunteers in Telford, 10 have subsequently applied to join the army reserve, and of 13 participants in Stoke-on-Trent, three have applied to join the regular army, four to join the army reserve and one to become a reserve officer.

Other areas identified for similar projects are Wolverhampton, Coventry and Walsall in the West Midlands.

The military has been stepping up other efforts to encourage jobless people to enlist. At the start of the year it launched a campaign called More than Meets the Eye with a series of recruitment clinics at jobcentres.

Thousands of regular soldiers are being made redundant under cost-cutting plans by the Ministry of Defence, which envisages the army of the future being much more reliant on reserves.… Read more

Young people criticise military activities in schools as government announces more funding for cadets

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A week after the government pledged a further £1 million for more cadet forces in state secondary schools, a new film is launched which shows that many young people are critical of the promotion of military activities in their schools.

The film, ‘Engage: the military and young people’, which will be launched on Thursday 26 June, explores the opinions of British teenagers on the military’s ‘youth engagement’ activities – particularly the cadets – and the governments ‘Military Ethos in Schools’ policy.

On 18 June the Department for Education announced that it will give £1 million (with additional match funding) from the Libor banking fines towards the expansion of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) in state schools, as part of the Department for Education’s ‘Military Ethos in Schools’ programme (2, 3). This is on top of the almost £11 million already allocated to establish 100 new CCF units by 2015 (4) and nearly £5 million for military-led activities for ‘disengaged pupils’ (5).

ForcesWatch, who commissioned the film, are concerned that the expansion of cadet units, and other military-led activities, in schools serves as a soft recruitment tool and training programme for the armed forces and question whether the promotion of military activities within education is appropriate (6).… Read more

The British Army frontline: women and children first

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Child Soldiers International: We now face the prospect of 16 year old girls joining the army in combat roles.

Shortly after announcing it would be reviewing the ban on women in combat roles, the Ministry of Defence last week published annual recruitment figures which revealed that 1,140 women joined the armed forces in the year to April 2014, accounting for 9.6 per cent of total intake.  This marks a small increase on the previous year’s figures, when just 8.4 per cent of new recruits were female.  Nevertheless, it is clear that the armed forces – and the Army in particular – remain overwhelmingly a young man’s game: last year, 17-year-old boys enlisting outnumbered women and girls of all ages combined.

Regardless of the numbers involved, it is right for the MoD continuously to review its personnel policies to ensure they are in line with anti-discrimination legislation and reflective of modern social norms.  If combat roles are opened up to women, it will be one of the biggest developments in British armed forces personnel policy since 1999, when a European Court of Human Rights judgement forced the MoD to end its ban on gay servicemen and women.

Prior to the court’s ruling, the MoD had argued vehemently that allowing openly gay people to serve in the armed forces would have catastrophic effects on unit cohesion and operational effectiveness. … Read more