Comments on: ‘Nineteen. Twenty in a few months.’ http://danhardie.wordpress.com/2007/06/28/nineteen-twenty-in-a-few-months/ When you've shouted 'Rule Britannia', when you've sung 'God Save the Queen'... Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:09:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU By: Surreptitious Evil http://danhardie.wordpress.com/2007/06/28/nineteen-twenty-in-a-few-months/#comment-46 Surreptitious Evil Sun, 01 Jul 2007 09:21:09 +0000 http://danhardie.wordpress.com/2007/06/28/nineteen-twenty-in-a-few-months/#comment-46 It's interesting. isn't it. Less than 2 years since he has been deployable and off to his second war. They were less common in my day - I was 21 before I got to my second war zone. Remember that these are 6 month deployments, plus the work-up (4 months, ish, including time in <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Suffield,+Canada&sll=56.017513,-3.907567&sspn=0.007304,0.023518&ie=UTF8&ll=50.30513,-111.039505&spn=0.133541,0.376282&t=h&z=12&om=1" rel="nofollow">BATUS</a>, officially the "middle of nowhere" - although Richardson's Ground Squirrels are a lot less dangerous than jihadi insurgents or the Taleban), so that is a lot of time away from home or base. I would be surprised that his relationship wasn't behind some of the desire to get out. Well done on discouraging the civvy CP stuff - for people who really know what they are doing (and not the job for a prospective new father.) p0neill. Yes. There are a few people from "top universities" in the British Army, but it isn't that common. Most officers will now have a degree (all officers in the technical corps, except Late Entry) and there are an increasing number of sabbatical placements for senior officers to take higher degrees (as well as MSc's, M or D Defence Admin etc from Shrivenham). It is far less common than the US Army to find soldiers with university qualifications (except in the TA), although not unknown - there are an increasing number of senior Sgts and WOs with OU degrees and a few people who have gone in as ORs after uni (especially the Int Corps). Also, there is increasing interest, on the retention and resettlement side, on having civvy validation of military qualifications and experience - both in terms of HNC/HND for technical training and CMI recognition of management experience. S-E It’s interesting. isn’t it. Less than 2 years since he has been deployable and off to his second war. They were less common in my day - I was 21 before I got to my second war zone. Remember that these are 6 month deployments, plus the work-up (4 months, ish, including time in BATUS, officially the “middle of nowhere” - although Richardson’s Ground Squirrels are a lot less dangerous than jihadi insurgents or the Taleban), so that is a lot of time away from home or base. I would be surprised that his relationship wasn’t behind some of the desire to get out.

Well done on discouraging the civvy CP stuff - for people who really know what they are doing (and not the job for a prospective new father.)

p0neill. Yes. There are a few people from “top universities” in the British Army, but it isn’t that common. Most officers will now have a degree (all officers in the technical corps, except Late Entry) and there are an increasing number of sabbatical placements for senior officers to take higher degrees (as well as MSc’s, M or D Defence Admin etc from Shrivenham). It is far less common than the US Army to find soldiers with university qualifications (except in the TA), although not unknown - there are an increasing number of senior Sgts and WOs with OU degrees and a few people who have gone in as ORs after uni (especially the Int Corps). Also, there is increasing interest, on the retention and resettlement side, on having civvy validation of military qualifications and experience - both in terms of HNC/HND for technical training and CMI recognition of management experience.

S-E

]]> By: p0neill http://danhardie.wordpress.com/2007/06/28/nineteen-twenty-in-a-few-months/#comment-45 p0neill Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:30:28 +0000 http://danhardie.wordpress.com/2007/06/28/nineteen-twenty-in-a-few-months/#comment-45 The BBC did a report on one of the Afghan outposts recently. It was depressing. The soldiers are in these forward positions with no electricity, no running water, no sanitation; it's boredom a lot of the time but then every so often someone takes a potshot at them. They shoot back, not entirely sure who they're firing at, and call in air support if the firing doesn't stop, and they're not sure who the planes ended up bombing. And of course now in the blazing hot months. I don't know how they do it. The subject of your post has fought 2 wars while others in his age cohort worked on their application to college. It also raises an issue that's considered too hot to handle in the US context -- which income class is doing the fighting. One gets the sense that the American media want to believe that it's an Army like David Petraeus: everyone went to Princeton before heading out to fight for freedom. That's not the sense from the TV interviews with actual troops that I see. The BBC did a report on one of the Afghan outposts recently. It was depressing. The soldiers are in these forward positions with no electricity, no running water, no sanitation; it’s boredom a lot of the time but then every so often someone takes a potshot at them. They shoot back, not entirely sure who they’re firing at, and call in air support if the firing doesn’t stop, and they’re not sure who the planes ended up bombing. And of course now in the blazing hot months. I don’t know how they do it. The subject of your post has fought 2 wars while others in his age cohort worked on their application to college. It also raises an issue that’s considered too hot to handle in the US context — which income class is doing the fighting. One gets the sense that the American media want to believe that it’s an Army like David Petraeus: everyone went to Princeton before heading out to fight for freedom. That’s not the sense from the TV interviews with actual troops that I see.

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