Posted on 04/23/2006 2:39:38 AM PDT by MadIvan
so, if he had served on a destroyer instead of a dreadnought, he would have been Prince Albert in a can?
Sorry, I couldn't resist. :-)
I'm not one of Charles' fans, but he's no coward. He sure didn't have to volunteer for flight duty in '68 or stay in the service until '76. He's sort of a Wesley Clark figure; Clark volunteered for combat duty in Vietnam and asked to be sent to a rifle company that would see action. A sniper hit him 4 times during an ambush, and Clark still organized a counterattack. Yet he's a total dip who has no clue about that the WOT involves. Charles is the same; he doesn't see the Londonistan threat and he has some moral problems, but that doesn't make him cowardly.
Thanks for serving, Major.
A prime example of a legitimate resignation was Jimmy Carter. Resigned from the Navy when his Dad died and he had to go work the farm. Probably a good thing for the Navy.
I think it's a reasonable concern, but I also think it will mean very little in the real tactical environment.
Believe it or not, his brother is going to Sandhurst, too. Two Army officers out of two princes...not bad.
Well done Harry, there is nothing worse than seeing your regiment go of on a tour leaving you behind, happened to me once.
I was assigned stay behind party, it was my job at the time, didn't make me feel any better, almost felt like handing in my PVR (Purchase voluntary release) and I was glad after four weeks when I was posted over to join my mates.
Oh sure they could.
Prince would be the one with the purple camo.
And why'd you name yourself after the abbot of the Hellfire Club?
When did you last visit?
Then give him an order to dye his hair to the typical medium brown color that most British people have. Order him to where sunglasses at all times during daylight hours and give him several different pairs of sunglasses for different lighting conditions. He does need to be disguised so the enemy can't identify him as Prince Harry.
From what I understand you can buy your commission back
You go Harry! I wonder if his brother William would do anything like this? If he has I wouldn't know since I don't have a royal family.
Thanks for the ping!
Could you clarify? What I think you mean is that if you resign you can later pay the government to give you your commission. Am I right?
Definitely.
I first encountered the Prince of Wales when I was still at school - he was sent out from England to spend a term at my school in Australia. I didn't have much direct contact with him - I was one of the youngest boys in the school, and he was one of the oldest and he also spent most of his time in the mountains where we had a bush campus, I suppose you would call it (which was the main reason he was sent here) but I did see him around. Timbertop (the name of the bush setting) was a place designed to basically make you tough - the school is extremely expensive, and attracts a lot of students from privileged backgrounds - sticking them out in the middle of nowhere for a year with no modern conveniences, where if they want a hot shower, they have to cut their own wood, where they learn to shoot so they can eat (not all the time - but it's a skill we learned) where you go on thirty mile hikes over mountains unaccompanied by adults - well, it's a real experience. He was sent there for a term. He asked to stay for a second term because he so loved that environment. He was no wimp even then.
A story I've heard several times - I can't vouch for it personally but I've heard it from a number of sources. In the mid 1980s, he and the Princess of Wales participated in an exercise designed to train elite troops (probably SAS but I don't know that) to perform a rescue of kidnapped royals. It was also intended to make sure the Princess knew what to do in such a situation. During the course of the rescue, the referees for the exercise 'killed' a helicopter crew to see how the troops would react to the loss of transport. To their surprise, the helicopter took off anyway.
When they investigated they found the Prince of Wales at the controls, and they complained that he'd disrupted the exercise. He was reportedly very unimpressed at their attitude and pointed out to them that he had been trained to fly helicopters and so he had done in the exercise exactly what he would have done in a real situation - he really resented the implication he should have sat back and done nothing.
I also have to say he impressed a lot of Australians back in 1994, when he was in Australia for Australia Day ceremonies. When he got up to speak at Darling Harbour in Sydney, shots were suddenly heard from the crowd as a young man rushed the stage. Fortunately he only had a starting pistol - but the Prince had no way of knowing that. But he stood his ground, and showed no fear.
He's a brave man who has spent his life serving his country in various roles. Yes, some of his views are a bit odd and his private life may not have been all that it should have been. But he's done his duty.
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?
A range of things. I was a Naval officer for just over twenty years and I had a fairly mixed career. I made the choice early in my career of trying to spend my career (in as much as you get a choice) serving on Australia's aircraft carrier and then we suddenly no longer had an aircraft carrier. I had quite of bit of service at sea as a seaman officer, including service on HMAS Brisbane in the first Gulf War, but also spent quite a lot of time in training, education, and administration.
I don't know about the other buildings (I haven't been in London that often) but Clarence House is simply the official residence of the Prince of Wales, his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, and both his sons, Princes William and Harry. It's been in the family since it was built by William IV, who at the time was Duke of Clarence.
It is common practice to refer to the Prince of Wales' private office as 'Clarence House' in the sense of saying for example: 'Clarence House issued a statement' - similar to how American media use the term 'the White House' to refer to the administration of a President.
Hey Bro, you can have, borrow anything I have or can contribute that would help you and The Kingdom.
God's best to you and yours.
How would Prince Harry be singled out as a trophy catch unless he is wearing a big sign on his back, Hi there, I'm Prince Harry?
Sounds as tho Prince Harry finally has his head on straight after some pretty juvenile behavior. I'll bet his grandmother is proud of him for standing his ground, as are many Brits! Go Harry!
He's brave, and he's fighting the stereotype that the ruling class let the working class die in battle.
It is only in Britain. The game is a tad bit different for continental Europe.
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