story-type: ForcesWatch comment

“It’s not a game”

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.

The second series of the compelling Our War, on British Army officers’ and soldiers’ experiences of the war in Afghanistan, first shown on BBC Three between August and September, was repeated on BBC One last month. Like the Bafta-winning Series 1, first broadcast in June 2011, the three episodes consist of footage taken by troops of their patrols and time at their compounds, interspersed with interviews back in the UK with some of them and their relatives.

These soldiers and officers are almost all very young men, the youngest eighteen and twenty-three respectively. One of the platoons is nicknamed ‘Kindergarten’; another has an average age of twenty-one. Most of the soldiers in the first episode of series 1 (1.1) were still at school in 2001 when the Twin Towers were hit and the war started. Among the Welsh Guards in 2.3, one joined because he loved guns, and one joined because where he was from you either worked “in a chicken factory or go on the dole”.… Read more

Critical portrayals of life in the armed forces in two West End plays

There are two plays on in London’s West End currently that depict life in the UK military, and they do so critically. 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.

Our Boys‘, by Jonathan Lewis, at the Duchess Theatre is a revival, having first been performed in 1993. The scene throughout is a ward in Woolwich Military Hospital in 1984. There are six characters, five privates and a potential officer, all in their early-to-mid twenties. Much of the play is light-hearted, the young men joking with and teasing each other to ease their frustrating situation, but there are some poignant moments, and a particularly-powerful ending.

Sandi Toksvig’s Bully Boy is at the St James Theatre. The title comes from the nickname of a unit serving in Iraq which Private Eddie Clark belongs to. He is being investigated by wheelchair-bound Military Police Officer Major Hadley over the alleged murder of an unarmed eight-year-old Iraqi boy during an attack on his unit. In stark contrast to Our Boys it is intense throughout – its funnier moments and scenes only offer partial respite.… Read more

Recently….on the Olympics, strike-breaking and the armed forces

Will the Olympics normalise the military ‘on the streets’?

Clarke notes that “The Chiefs should bottle that spirit for the difficult years to come” and that such “goodwill” will be useful in post-Afghanistan roles, which could include greater involvement in “home security”.

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?

The army being seen as having saved the day after the G4S failure is only one way in which the Olympics will have escalated the scale of expected military involvement in civilian events. Such involvement will become the expected norm for the next big public event, here and elsewhere. Indeed, the Home Affairs Select Committee stated in a report on the G4S debacle, that, “in the planning of future major events, the military might more appropriately be considered first choice rather than a back-up.”

The armed forces as strike-breakers?

With a note of caution, Clarke does suggest that a greater presence “on the street” would be unpopular among Chiefs, politicians and the (Metropolitan) police, so “should be seen as a one-off military operation” rather than paving the way for more general involvement in civilian situations such as public sector strikes.… Read more

Recently… on militainment

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.”

Poniewozik agrees that “it makes war into entertainment”, and asserts that it is “cynical” in “giving people the excitement of battle minus its blood and consequences—by wrapping it in idealism: competing for charity, claiming to exist simply to remind us how dangerous the job of soldiers…is.”

But he argues’ “But when it comes to propagandizing war—or anything else—reality shows are more harmful when they take actual combat and package it in entertainment form.” 

Thats something that Poniewozik wrote about in 2002 in an article called Mediawatch: That’s Militainment! “There’s a new alliance in Hollywood: the military-entertainment complex. The networks need a new twist on reality TV, the genre that has cooled since 9/11–or perhaps, in part, because of it. The Pentagon has a p.r. issue: How do you maintain public interest in a war that could stay on simmer–an air strike here, a wiretap there–for years?… Read more

Sexual assault and bullying in the armed forces

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.

Figures from the US estimate that only 13.5% of victims of sexual assault in the armed forces ever report the attack. If this figure is true for the UK, that would mean one attack a day.The articles states that of these cases, ‘only nine rape cases and 45 sexual assault complaints have ended in conviction.’

Sadly, an article from April this year (Why did she die? Sister of hanged military policewoman demands Armed Forces watchdog inquiry into her death) links these 2 issues – with the suicide of a military policewoman after being raped and then bullied for making a complaint.… Read more

Service Schools and more cadet forces – an exercise in recruitment

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.

The money, which comes in addition to the £155m of public money already spent each year on the cadets (Youth Engagement Review, MoD, 2011), is to promote cadet forces in state schools (where less than a quarter of existing units are based) – either by partnering with existing units, or creating new ones. The rationale behind doing so is not as clear cut as politicians such as Stephen Twigg and Jim Murphy would have us believe.

‘Rescuing the Young’….

The idea of ‘Service Schools’, founded on the ‘ethos and values of the Services’, has its background in a recent ResPublica report on establishing Military Academies and promoting a greater armed forces presence in the education sector.… Read more

Armed Forces Day, Camo Day and promoting military ethos

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.

Tomorrow is Armed Forces Day – a day “to raise public awareness of the contribution made to our country by those who serve and …an opportunity to Show Your Support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces.”

The Armed Forces Day website states that that “UK Armed Forces defend the UK and its interests. They are busy working around the world, promoting peace, delivering aid, tackling drug smugglers and providing security and fighting terrorism.”  This is something of a rebranding of the unpopular wars that the UK has been involved in for 10 years.… Read more

Challenging the military’s involvement in education in the United Kingdom

This article was first published in The Broken Rifle, May 2012

The UK armed forces visit thousands of schools each year. They offer school presentation teams, ‘careers advisors’, lessons plans, away days and more. While they claim that this is not recruiting, the Ministry of Defence itself states that the activities enable them to “provide positive information to influence future opinion formers, and to enable recruiters to access the school environments.” Their youth policy, including school-based cadet forces, aims to create “the conditions whereby recruiting can flourish.” This is a long-term approach to recruiting young people both as supporters of the armed forces and, for some, softening them up for actual enlistment.

An injection of ideology

The Government has recently indicated that there will be an expansion of cadet forces within state schools to encourage the ‘spirit of service’ and they have established a number of schemes such as ex-services mentoring and ‘troops to teachers’.

Another recent development is the Pheonix Free School, to be run entirely by ex-military. With a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to discipline, the proposed head teacher of the school states that it “will discard moral relativism and child-centred educational theory. ‘Self-esteem’ training is out…. Competition…is in.” (1) Proposed by the right-wing policy think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies, there is clearly an ideological political agenda at work which pays no attention to professional concerns that military values may not be appropriate within the educational system.… Read more

Why does the UK have the highest proportion of young infantry deaths in Afghanistan

The deaths of 6 soldiers recently in one incident was particularly tragic because of how young some of them were. Four of the six who died were under 21 years old; one was only 19.

Looking at the statistics of UK fatalities in Afghanistan, 67 under 21’s have been killed since 2001. That is 17% of the 404 total UK fatalities. Of countries which have lost more than 50 service personnel, the UK has by far the highest proportion of young people receiving fatal injuries. Under 21s make up 13% of US deaths, 9% of French deaths and only 3% of Canadian deaths while Germany had no deaths in the 18-20 age group.

In fact, the UK accounts for 20% of all 18-20 year old fatalities, despite making up only about 7% of all troops in Afghanistan. Of the 20 fatalities of 18 year olds, 11 have been from the UK and 9 from the US.

This is perhaps unsurprising. Soldiers from the UK start younger than almost all other coalition countries, recruiting youngsters only 16 year old. Canada, which contributed 3000 troops to Afghanistan but have now withdrawn from combat duties, also recruits 16 year olds but the vast majority go into the reserves.… Read more

War poems

Poetry about war is perhaps the most immediate way of understanding what it is to be involved, or caught up in, conflict.

The War Poetry website is a great resource, listing famous poets from the first world war alongisde little known contemporary poets with much to say about modern warfare. Most of the poems on the site are written by people who have expereienced conflict, many from Iraq, Afghanistan and the Falklands war.

Below is a favourite by Danny Martin.

Poetry about war is perhaps the most immediate way of understanding what it is to be involved, or caught up in, conflict.

The War Poetry website is a great resource, listing famous poets from the first world war alongside little known contemporary poets with much to say about modern warfare. Most of the poems on the site are written by people who have experienced conflict, many from Iraq, Afghanistan and the Falklands war.

Below is a favourite by Danny Martin. See here for more or Danny’s poems.


Acknowledgements

My thanks to Hollywood
When you showed me John Rambo
Stitching up his arm with no anaesthetic
And giving them “a war they won’t believe”
I knew then my calling, the job for me

Thanks also to the recruitment adverts
For showing me soldiers whizzing around on skis
And for sending sergeants to our school
To tell us of the laughs, the great food, the pay
The camaraderie

I am, dear taxpayer, forever in your debt
You paid for my all-inclusive pilgrimage
One year basking in the Garden of Eden
(I haven’t quite left yet)

Thanks to Mum and thanks to Dad
Fuck it,
Thanks to every parent
Flushing with pride for their brave young lads
Buying young siblings toy guns and toy tanks
Waiting at the airport
Waving their flags

Danny Martin

Visit the War Poetry website: www.warpoetry.co.uk… Read more