Thin Pinstriped Line

  There are a few easy ways to cause an outburst of “OUTRAGE” from service personnel and veterans on social media. Any announcement celebrating the appointment of someone who isn’t a white male into a senior role can upset people worried about ‘standards’. Suggest that the Army should have beards is another (apparently its about ‘standards’ and the risk of imminent NBC attack for a good gas mask seal – thank god all our troops carry their gas masks on them at all times to avoid this risk). The last one is to suggest that perhaps Civil Servants in different grades are the equivalent level of a member of the armed forces in their own rank structure. At this point its usually full-on pitchfork wielding mobs out in force to hunt down the heretics who’d suggest such a thing. UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023 The most recent people to benefit from the power of the mob was British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), who committed the serious ‘crime’ of producing a chart that showed not only...

  The Royal Navy is facing an exceptionally serious personnel crisis. Figures released through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests show that there has been a significant decline in recruits joining the RN since April this year, while voluntary outflow (e.g. people leaving earlier than planned) continues to increase. Simply put the RN is losing sailors faster than it can recruit them and unless something drastic is done to arrest this decline, then it is hard to see how the RN can function without early decommissioning of ships. What on earth has happened and is there a way to fix it? In the last six years the RN has recruited between 2500 – 3500 (approximately) new Rating entrants into the Service (not Officers), comprising both Royal Navy and Royal Marine entrants – an average of 3000 people per year. This year, between April and July only 372 individuals joined the Royal Navy (as in turned up and began training). This is a significant decrease from previous years, and shows...

  The bugler has played the Last Post. The wreaths have been laid and the dwindling band of veterans has marched past the Cenotaph to the stirring sounds of massed military bands. The parade has fallen out and Remembrance is done for another year. This routine, which feels ancient and timeless but in fact only dates back to the end of the First World War has been a solemn part of the UK (and many Commonwealth nations) calendars since 1919 and its rituals have become part of the national DNA. The act of Remembrance in the UK is marked in several ways and has evolved over the years. Historically after the end of the First World War a national two-minute silence and service was observed at 11am on the 11 th of November. During the 2 nd World War, to minimise disruption to the war effort, this occurred on the Sunday closest to the 11 th of November and after WW2 Remembrance Sunday (usually the 2 nd Sunday in November) became the main formal national day of religious services. The...

  “Send a Gunboat” is a traditional cry heard whenever a crisis erupts around the world. As violence increases and citizens need help, governments often respond by deploying warships to monitor a situation and stand ready to assist if required. This has been amply demonstrated over the last few weeks as the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas terrorists continues. A number of nations, including the UK, US, France and others have dispatched naval forces into the Eastern Med, with at least two US Navy carrier battle groups currently operating in the region. As part of these deployments several ‘PHOTEX’ evolutions have been held to take images of ships working in partnership to send a message to audiences. But is this something that really works? MOD Image - Crown Copyright 2023  Historically images of warships at sea can be very powerful in building a public narrative – look at shots of the Grand Fleet sailing en masse with battleships ready for action, or the Falklands Task Fo...