armed services

Wave Knight, too small?
Back in August we posted - 'The UK armed services, what next'? see HERE. At the time the MSM was reporting, in a general way, on a number of military issues and in particular dealing with procurement. What we noticed was -

The UK broadsheets have in recent weeks carried a number of letters from retired military men letting the enemy have a broadside in the form of their opinion. So who was the enemy? Well often it was the other two services! This may have come as a bit of a shock to some but fear not, this is perfectly normal! Anyone who has taken an interest in the military will have spotted this, the equipment procurement process reinforces the prejudices. Even so there have been a few people trying to debate the way to go, starting with the deliberately provocative question “Do we need an RAF?”

This 'debate' died away and peace resumed. The death toll from Afghanistan continued though, it was this tragedy that put the armed services back in the news.

Puma helicopter
Newspapers are carrying the story behind the verdict of the RAF helicopter crash during a training flight in August 2007 near Catterick. It makes very solemn reading as it suggests that the RAF were responsible for a gross failure of discipline. Not so many years ago the public perception of the police was an organisation that tried to give good service to the public. Over time that has declined to a point where many members of the public see the police as inept, corrupt and self serving.