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British Army will have to rely on civilian drivers, reserves and foreign armies
The Telegraph ^ | May 19, 2012 | Thomas Harding

Posted on 05/22/2012 9:33:49 PM PDT by JerseyanExile

In the most significant reforms the Army in half-a-century, The Daily Telegraph has learnt that as few as five infantry battalions totalling 2,500 soldiers will be cut but a further 17,500 jobs will go mainly from logistics troops, engineers and artillery.

Military commanders have condemned the move as creating an “unbalanced Army” that will be reliant on a “Tesco’s just in time” supply tactic for campaigns.

The reforms have been forced on the Army after it was forced to reduce from 102,000 to 82,000 under defence cuts.

For the last three decades the Army has put an increasing emphasis on support troops who provide the front line with a constant stream of ammunition, food and technical equipment and are regarded a the key battle winners.

But under the reforms set out in the Future Force 2020 the Army has decided to get rid of large swathes of troops from the Royal Logistic Corps, Royal Engineers and Royal Artillery, defence sources have disclosed.

They have instead decided to retain a strong infantry fighting force and take the risk of relying on private firms, Territorial Army reservists and foreign armies to deliver stores.

Logistics officers have condemned the move as “bonkers” and motivated by David Cameron’s attempt to avoid the political fall-out of axing “cap badges” of famous regiments.

“The idea to make the Army top heavy in infantry is bonkers. You need lots of logis (RLC) and sappers to make the whole thing work.

“This is clearly linked to the political imperative to save cap badges.”

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: britisharmy; futureforce2020; jointforce2020; ministryofdefense; mod; royalarmy
I can see no way this could possibly go horribly wrong....
1 posted on 05/22/2012 9:34:00 PM PDT by JerseyanExile
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To: JerseyanExile

Between the influx and influence of Islam and the decline of their military ... England as we knew her is gone. US to follow soon for many of the same reasons.


2 posted on 05/22/2012 9:46:53 PM PDT by doc1019 (Romney will never get my vote!)
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To: JerseyanExile

Who needs logistics, right ? </SARC


3 posted on 05/22/2012 9:49:24 PM PDT by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves.)
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To: JerseyanExile

The U.S, is instep only calling this dismantling by a different name. Joint Force 2020- Joint with whom/

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=116362

A pig by any other name is still a pig.


4 posted on 05/22/2012 10:07:29 PM PDT by Wisconsinlady (Let's not count our chickens until they hatch-June 5th outcome is crucial for WI)
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To: JerseyanExile
But under the reforms set out in the Future Force 2020 the Army has decided to get rid of large swathes of troops from the Royal Logistic Corps, Royal Engineers and Royal Artillery, defence sources have disclosed.

“This is clearly linked to the political imperative to save cap badges.”

Maybe it is the badges but I would say the root cause is money.

You can’t have guns and butter. The bigger the social services budget grows the smaller the rest of the budget must shrink.

GB’s social services has grown far larger than it can afford will maintaining a world grade military. So politics in the 21 Century being what they are the; national defenses must take a big hit.

Argentina will soon occupy the Falkland Islands because GB can no longer afford to defend territory so far from home.

5 posted on 05/22/2012 10:23:49 PM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: Wisconsinlady

It is troubling—as is the unconstitutional indoctrination and conditioning in the military to think “sodomy is good” which throws out Christian Ethics and forces our men (and women) to admire evil and Satanic/pagan/wiccan values.

“It remains characteristic of the Germans, that they, outwardly the most brutally masculine of all European peoples, are the most homosexual nation on earth.”

H.R. Knickerbocker, Is Tomorrow Hitler’s?, 1941:34


6 posted on 05/22/2012 10:48:55 PM PDT by savagesusie (Right Reason According to Nature = Just Law)
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To: JerseyanExile

That’s the same ignorance behind Rumsfeld’s program called “Expeditionary Logistics for the 21st Century (eLog21)” at http://www.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-060831-041.pdf .

“reliant on a ‘Tesco’s just in time’ supply tactic for campaigns” and that military logistics is synonymous with UPS truck delivery is ludicrous.


7 posted on 05/22/2012 11:58:54 PM PDT by jody2
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To: Pontiac

“Argentina will soon occupy the Falkland Islands because GB can no longer afford to defend territory so far from home.”

Absolute nonsense. We are far better able to defend The Falklands than at any time previously. We now have the FI defence force, Typhoons based permanently there, the world’s most adavnced air defence destroyer on permanent patrol, the latest Astute class nuclear sub armed with Tomahawks and two of the largest Aircraft carriers in the world being built. If Lockheed Martin finally pull their fingers out, we may even have some F35’s to put on the carriers. . . . .

When the Argentines originally invaded, we had 50 marines.

By comparison Argentina has pretty much exactly what it had in 1982 plus a loud-mouthed woman at the helm. If you want to put some money on Argentina, I’ll take that bet! :)


8 posted on 05/23/2012 3:02:24 AM PDT by Caulkhead
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To: JerseyanExile

Politicians seem to like what they consider a lean head to tail ratio. What they forget is that without beans and bullets the infantry is helpless.
“Just in time” logistics? It works well in the civilian sector but in a war? Will the enemy be nice enough to give up to date detailed war plans? Do the Brits have a working crystal ball? The last I heard American divisions carry a three day basic load of supplies. I imagine the Brits are similar. That isn’t much.


9 posted on 05/23/2012 3:26:13 AM PDT by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink)
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To: Caulkhead

“.... If Lockheed Martin finally pull their fingers out, we may even have some F35’s to put on the carriers. . . . .”

Carriers? What Carriers? What Fleet?

Everything you mentioned is today - tomorrow England’s military is going to be a lot smaller - maybe even the new carriers. England might even sell them to raise some cash.


10 posted on 05/23/2012 4:27:06 AM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
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To: PeteB570

“Everything you mentioned is today - tomorrow England’s military is going to be a lot smaller - maybe even the new carriers. England might even sell them to raise some cash.”

You’re way behind the times my friend. Both carriers are going into service now the F35B has been decided on. We’ve got three Type 45’s at sea with another three being finished as we speak, the first Astute class missile sub is in service with another six being built. The fact that we still have and will continue to have the fifth most powerful armed forces in the world despite being a fifth of the size of the US and just being in recovery from 13 years of Obama style socialism is quite an achievement. It will be interesting to see what’s left of the US forces if the Dims stay in power for 13 years (God forbid). . . . . .

As for raising some cash, as our credit rating hasn’t been downgraded like yours, you might be first with the garage sale.


11 posted on 05/23/2012 7:28:31 AM PDT by Caulkhead
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To: Caulkhead

England

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RN_warships.png

USA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_ships_of_the_United_States_Navy

OK, what ever you say.

How many RN ships were involved in the Falklands campaign and how many do you have now?


12 posted on 05/23/2012 8:27:44 AM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
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To: PeteB570

In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re not competing with the US, we’re allies.

The relevant question is what do the Argentinians have compared to the us?


13 posted on 05/24/2012 2:55:18 AM PDT by Caulkhead
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To: Caulkhead

“......How many RN ships were involved in the Falklands campaign and how many do you have now?.............”


14 posted on 05/24/2012 3:20:38 AM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
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