Thin Pinstriped Line

The media are today reporting that thousands of forces personnel will be kicked out of their homes, doubtless by evil bailiffs who will cackle manically whilst they throw poor Tom Atkins onto the street, where he and his family will slowly starve to death in a quasi-Victorian manner,   while the MOD gets rid of military housing. As always, reality is far more complex, and seemingly far less worthy of being reported on in any depth.   The situation at present appears to be as follows. The MOD is conducting a root and branch review of the whole of the employment model for the armed forces, which includes how people are managed, the support provided and the way that careers develop. This is designed to inform a lot of the groundwork going into the Force 2020 construct, which is the SDSR aspiration –namely that if the changes laid down in SDSR are seen through, then in 2020 the UK will have a globally deployable armed forces, which are based overwhelmingly in the UK, which offer ...

As a continuation from the earlier piece regarding the DT's article on the reduction in 2* plus officers from only 137 - 130, the next piece of analysis tries to examine what it is that senior officers are meant to do (in theory) and why, despite much complaining to the contrary, there is certainly not a glut of them. The initial complaint of the Telegraph appears to be that it is unacceptable that there are still 130 2* officers in service, despite the downsizing that is occurring to the rest of HM Forces. A search back of the excellent DASA website (www.dasa.mod.uk) helps review the broad strength of senior officer’s numbers since 1996. A quick search shows two things - firstly, it is hard to get an accurate figure as the statistics round to the nearest 10 - not handy when you realise you are talking about a tiny number of people, and almost certainly misleading. Secondly, the figures show that there has been a general fluctuation between around 110-150 senior officers over thi...

Humphrey was absolutely delighted today to read that the long awaited order for 4 new replenishment tankers has been given to Daewoo. This project has had a long gestation, and gone through multiple revisions, changes, reductions and even recently it was looking as though less than 4 vessels were to be ordered. The MARS project has long confirmed to this author that to many, logistics are not sexy, cool, nor a useful source of allocating scarce planning round funding. The project has repeatedly been delayed, and has put the UKs maritime strategy at risk through the possibility of life expiry of existing tankers. The news that the four new tankers have been ordered is genuinely a very good news day for the RN.   On initial examination, it appears that the RN has secured an absolute bargain – Four large (37,000 tonne) tankers for barely £400 million is a genuine result. These ships will be vastly more capable than their predecessors, and mark a shift away from the previous ‘three...

The Telegraph is running a story claiming that a civil service member of the Defence board is currently receiving an annual bonus of £85,000. Apparently the default implication of this is that all civil servants are money grabbing bankers, and that we are all claiming every last penny owed to us (as noted by the way the article referenced claims in the Daily Mail that the Civil service can apparently claim for worn clothing). To put this in context, let’s take a look at what may or may not be going on here. The Defence Board is the most senior organisational grouping in the MOD, comprising Ministers, CDS, VCDS, PUS, 2 nd PUS, CDM and non-executive directors. This group is designed under the revised Levene Review to monitor the financial performance of Defence, and function as the Departments management board, structured in the same way as other government departments are being organised. There are three possible Civil Servants who could have received this bonus. The PUS, Ursula Bre...

There has been a raft of coverage recently about the range of budget proposals to significantly reduce the United States nuclear weapon holdings, one option of which may see a reduction to around 400 warheads. This in itself is a newsworthy item, in that it demonstrates how significantly the nuclear stockpile has been drawn down since the 1990s, that a 400 warhead limit can now seriously be considered as a feasible target. Whilst this author strongly suspects that the actual intended target is more likely higher than this, and that the 400 figure has been drawn up in order to make the higher figure appear a compromise which actually delivers the preferred option, it is worth considering for a moment the implications for this. The first point to note is that these figures demonstrate the sheer scale of cuts that the US is looking to impose on its armed forces in the post Iraq, last days of Afghanistan era. Humphrey strongly believes that many people have yet to grasp the sheer size and...

The recent bloodshed in Syria, caused by a revolution against the long standing Assad regime have thrown into sharp contrast the willingness of the West to intervene in Libya, compared with a seemingly deep reluctance to consider the employment of military force as means of conflict resolution. This has caused discomfort in the West, with many observers being deeply dismayed at the apparent reluctance of the West to consider intervening in support of what is commonly being seen as a massacre, of security forces willingly slaughtering thousands of civilians in direct contravention of international law, and the norms of civilised behaviour. This stands against the willingness of the West to participate in operations in Libya in an effort to overthrow the deeply unpopular Qhadaffi regime, despite wider opposition to such a move. Today, the author wishes to provide his own strictly personal perspective, based on his own academic, and not professional background, as to why this reluctance...

The news has been full recently of the fact that the Argentineans intend to make a formal complaint to the UN about the so called 'militarisation' of the Falklands - which appears to come down to the fact that a Type 45 may, or may not, be sailing in that general direction, and that the Heir to the throne is serving there. What though does Argentina, or rather President Kirchner and her advisors, intend to gain from this course of action? The UN is not in a position to solve the dispute - ultimately the problem boils down to the UK saying it will only hold talks if the inhabitants wish them to do so, and Argentina insisting on talks. Given the intense mistrust with which Argentina is viewed in the islands, it is highly unlikely that the Islanders would willingly support sovereignty talks. So, what will be gained from going to the UN, particularly given that the inevitable calls to negotiate will be met by a response from the UK noting that the islanders do not wish the Governm...

The Telegraph had a wonderful story about its favourite bête noirs today - the decline of UK military power, the waning special relationship, and the fact that France appeared to get one over on us. The story of course, is the supposed revelation that the UK had to 'beg' to participate in the international flotilla that transited the Straits of Hormuz recently, and which only occurred due to Sarkozy interfering. Without wishing to comment on the merits of the report, this author would suggest the following - that the story appears to have all the hallmarks of a massive exaggeration by what is now rapidly becoming a tabloid newspaper in order to sell print. The fact that it portrays the French as being responsible, and some internet sources have appeared to indicate that this story appeared in Russian press first, indicates to his mind at least, the potential for mischief making. Looking at the international stage, there is a clear desire by elements within France to try to push...