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Posted on 04/23/2006 2:39:38 AM PDT by MadIvan
Prince Harry has threatened to quit the Army if commanders refuse to send him to the front line.
He told senior officers before recently passing out of Sandhurst as a Second Lieutenant: ‘If I am not allowed to join my unit in a war zone, I will hand in my uniform.’
Harry, 21, and third in line to the throne, has previously talked of his desire to see action with his comrades and the prospect of him walking out on the Army if he is not allowed on to the front line has turned a theoretical problem into a nightmare for the Palace and Ministry of Defence.
The embarrassment for the Army caused by him quitting would be matched by uproar at the notion that while ordinary citizens are allowed to that their main problem is not whether Harry can take the pressure of coming under fire in action – but whether the lives of the men fighting alongside him will be more at risk because he is regarded as a ‘trophy target’ by insurgents.
One experienced commander said: ‘Second Lt Wales will, as far as is possible, be treated like any other officer but there has to be a line drawn as to whether the men he leads might experience extra danger due to his presence. Decisions will be taken by commanding officers based on an accurate risk assessment at the time.’
In talks between the MoD and Clarence House, it has been suggested that if Harry is deployed to the front line he should be given a safe role, acting as a liaison officer at a military HQ well away from the action.
But sources close to Harry said last night: ‘He will go bananas if he is given special treatment. He doesn’t want to let the rest of the lads and lasses down by opting out. He was always the first to volunteer on exercises.’
In the final weeks of his Sandhurst training, Harry took part in an exercise in which he acted as commanding officer and sources say that his performance was ‘outstanding’.
The mobility of the Blues and Royals’ light Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles will be a great value in Afghanistan and senior commanders say the Cavalry unit could be sent to Helmand province to support Paras in what is regarded as one of the most dangerous parts of the world.
Harry would command a troop of 11 men who would drive into the front line in their Scimitars.
He would lead his men in searching possibly booby-trapped buildings, hunting down insurgents and providing escorts and combat support to infantry operations.
Harry would be required to command his Scimitar team and remain on the ground, although all troop commanders are expected to do their stint in the operations room, which involves logging events, co-ordinating patrols and directing support where needed.
The Household Cavalry – made up of the Blues and Royals and the Life Guards – is one of the most active units in the British Army and its most senior and oldest regiment.
It has troops attached to the Paras and the Marines, took part in the invasion of Iraq and has since deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Next month, a squadron of the Household Cavalry will go to Afghanistan in support of 16 Air Assault Brigade. A second squadron is on standby to deploy to Iraq this year and another is preparing to back 3 Commando Brigade when it departs to Afghanistan later this year.
D Squadron of the Household Cavalry Regiment (HCR) supported 16 Air Assault Brigade during the initial battles in the Iraq conflict. HCR also deployed two squadrons to Iraq in 2004.
A high percentage of its officers serve in the SAS and its squadrons support both the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment. The Household Cavalry’s Scimitars spearheaded the advance across the Falklands in 1982, led the way in Bosnia and were first into Saudi Arabia in 1991 before the first Gulf War and again in Iraq in 2003.
Elements of the Blues and Royals and the Life Guards have regularly deployed to Iraq and three Cavalrymen have been killed. They were Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, Lance Corporal Karl Shearer and Lieutenant Alexander Tweedie, all from the Blues and Royals.
Three years ago during the battle for Basra, Trooper Chris Finney of the Blues and Royals, who was just 19, won a rare George Cross for gallantry for saving his comrades after their Scimitar came under attack, by mistake, from American bombers.
Young men of Harry’s rank have regularly lost their lives in Iraq. Only a week ago, Lt Richard Palmer, of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, died after his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb near Ad Day, north-west of Basra. In July 2005, Second Lt Richard Shearer, 26, from Nuneaton, of the 1st Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment, died with Privates Leon Spicer and Phillip Hewett in a roadside bomb blast north of Basra.
Harry will be only the second Royal since the Second World War to be posted to a battle zone.
The other was Prince Andrew, who flew Sea King helicopters in the Falklands War. A Clarence House die for their country, members of the Royal Family are considered too important to risk. It would also reopen the debate about Britain’s role in engagements such as Iraq which are widely unpopular and considered by many to be illegal.
The Mail on Sunday revealed last year that the Palace and MoD were holding crisis talks about how to handle Harry’s future military role.
However, his ultimatum has now raised the stakes. It will also increase the urgency of deciding how to treat Prince William who is due to leave Sandhurst in December, presenting Royal and defence officials with the same dilemma about how near the front line he should be allowed.
Harry’s unit, the Blues and Royals, will deploy to Afghanistan this year and he is likely to join them there next year. Senior Army sources say
The military (US or UK) is perfect for people like Harry -- bored with life, unconcerned with the consequences of his actions. It disciplines the mind.
And war certainly changes your perspectives and priorities.
War really is hell, just like I'd heard all my life.
But it's necessary sometimes.
I hope it's not a false bravado. If he has the competence and will, I say "good on him".
O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!
However, the Western (i.e., anti-Western) media would make every effort to let the enemy know where Prince Harry was to be found, I should think. [posted by Tax-chick]
BINGO!
He should be able to serve without the media trumpeting his every move ... but I'm sure they would never be able to put principle above their own need to make headlines.
You're right
Good for Harry. He isn't content with being a "figurehead" and wants to get down in the trenches. More power to him.
Didsdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,
Which smoked of bloody execution
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which never shook hands, nor bade farewell to him
Till he unseemed him from the nave to the chop
Ivan, I would think that if he was in uniform just like the others, enemies wouldn't necessarily know who he is!
I mean, the guy is not going to wear his crown on the battlefield.
Kudos to the Prince for rejecting special treatment. An honorable position to take.
GG
IIRC, American officers have to pay back their academy or ROTC cost if they resign before they've served out their first hitch, but if that rule applies to Sandhurst and Harry I think his family could come up with the money.
IIRC, American officers have to pay back their academy or ROTC cost if they resign before they've served out their first hitch, but if that rule applies to Sandhurst and Harry I think his family could come up with the money.
Do you think he's likely to go career? It would be interesting to see a General in line for the throne.
I remember reading somewhere that the reason Tom Clancy made Charles a character in "Patriot Games" was because he had talked to some people who had served with the Prince and the unanimous verdict was that he was a tough customer.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate Australia as an ally and how sorry I am for the losses you all have endured. May I ask what you did in the military?
I served with an Aussie captain, an exchange officer with the 380th Wing at Plattsburgh, New York. He had been a navigator (in your 707s, IIRC) and was serving as a nav on one of our KC-135 crews. He said that this exchange service was the first time he'd been in the U.S., and I asked "How have you found America so far?"
"Well," he replied, "I go to Hawaii and then I turn right."
I think I'd bet on him as at least as good as other Academy grads. It's not like we're talking about Lt. Paris Hilton here.
Bravo, Harry!
I love that line "considered by many to be illegal". So what's a legal war? Serbia? Chechnya?? Whatever African country France wants to send troops to this month???
Let's just consider some questions in one area of political responsibility:
How many GOP Senators have leaked classified information (like Pat Leahy and Dick Durbin) and how many have done it twice (like Pat Leahy)?
How many GOP reps have been welcomed by Saddam and then sided with him on international TV, like Jim McDermott?
How many GOP senators have compared our troops to the guys who ran Auschwitz, the gulag archipelago and the killing fields, like Dick Durbin?
How many GOP Senators have met with, sympathized with, apologized for and aided an aggressive Soviet client state in direct defiance of U.S. policy and law, like John Kerry and Tom Harkin?
Some GOPers are scum and some Dems are decent people, but the baseline for each party is that the GOP defends America and the Dems don't, and in case you didn't notice we're at war. The question you ask in your tagline is like saying that high school football players are just as good as NFL players.
May I thieve your tagline?
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