The suffering of veterans
Owen Everett, ForcesWatch
A play about and starring injured veterans, and recent government data and policies, highlights their suffering.
We shall reach them in the classrooms: promoting a ‘military ethos’ in schools
ForcesWatch comment
Earlier this month the Department for Education published a statement on their website outlining their ambition to promote a military ethos in schools across the country. Through developing projects such as Troops to Teachers and expanding schemes such as the cadets and other alternative military provision in schools (such as Challenger Troop), the government is now actively encouraging schools, especially newer Academies and Free Schools, which tend to exist in more disadvantaged areas, to foster a military ethos. This article was originally published on Bright Green
Militarising Education
This article was originally published on openDemocracy
The incursion of the military into the British education system will mean that alternatives to war and peaceful ways of resolving conflict will be more difficult for young people to explore. In the long term we will all pay a heavy price.
“It’s not a game”
Owen Everett, ForcesWatch
Each of the episodes from both series of Our War focuses on a different platoon or company, with varying missions during their tours in Helmand Province (which dated from between 2006 and 2012). Common themes to each of them include the youth of those involved, and the gravity of what is being asked of them.
Critical portrayals of life in the armed forces in two West End plays
Owen Everett, ForcesWatch
There are two plays on in London's West End currently that depict life in the UK military, and they do so critically. Our Boys', by Jonathan Lewis, at the Duchess Theatre is a revival, having first been performed in 1993. Sandi Toksvig's Bully Boy is at the St James Theatre. There is considerable similarity in the themes of the two plays: why young men join the armed forces, how they are often neglected when injured, and the horror of contemporary war in general.
Recently….on the Olympics, strike-breaking and the armed forces
ForcesWatch comment
In an article called 'Olympic Medals for the Military', Professor Michael Clarke, director-general of the Royal United Services Institute argues that the involvement of the military in the Olympics will bring in "a new relationship between the Armed Forces and the general public", in which the former appear "a normal and average part of a relaxed and self-confident British society.” Is normalisation of the military within everyday life a good thing? Is it the mark of a "self-confident British society" or would a better indicator of that be a far less visible presence of the military?
Recently… on militainment
ForcesWatch comment
A recent article called The Morning After: Unfriendly Fire by James Poniewozik in Time Magazine critiques a new reality TV show from the US TV channel NBC. Stars Earn Stripes, "in which celebrities are paired with soldiers to carry out special-forces-type maneuvers, was denounced by nine Nobel laureates, including South African bishop Desmond Tutu, for glamourising war and its violence by making them into entertainment."
Sexual assault and bullying in the armed forces
ForcesWatch comment
A parliamentary question reveals that during 2011 there were 228 allegations of bullying or harassment reported to the Service Complaints Commissioner. Another parliamentary question has identified that 'Over the past two and a half years, there have been 53 reported rapes and 86 reported sexual assaults in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force (one per week). Labour MP Madeleine Moon said she was concerned there was a 'culture of silence', with hundreds of victims never reporting attacks.
Service Schools and more cadet forces – an exercise in recruitment
ForcesWatch comment
Over the past month, amid announcements of major cuts to the armed forces, came some unexpected news on public spending: £10.85million to expand cadet forces into state schools, a £1million grant to promote a military ethos in schools and senior Labour politicians calling for a series of 'Service Schools', staffed entirely by former members of the armed forces, to be established. Unexpected, that is, to anyone who hasn't previously been aware of the importance that military policy makers place on access to young people within education.
Armed Forces Day, Camo Day and promoting military ethos
ForcesWatch comment
Today is 'Camo Day', established by SSAFA Forces Help to encourage school children across the country to 'dress up like our troops' as a fundraiser. 'Cam your face, wear green or come to school as a soldier, sailor or airman.' Camo Day is a non-uniform day to fit these increasingly militaristic times when supporting the armed forces is a badge of honour for celebrities and military involvement in the education system is commonplace and uncontroversial. Camo Day promotes the value of helping ex-service men and women but also reinforces military activities as fun, normal and desirable. Questions about why so many young men and women are killed or maimed or in need of welfare are unlikely to be explored.