Having a military ID card apparently isn't sufficient to get you through the security checks at the doors of pubs run by the JD Wetherspoon chain.

Proof that you are prepared to lay down your life for your country is one thing, but that still doesn't make you eligible to buy a pint in a Wetherspoon pub.

Royal Marines Dan Buchanan and Kelvin Billings, recently serving with 42 and 45 Commando in Afghanistan, were refused admission to Wetherspoon's pub in Portsmouth because the doorman said that company policy would not allow him to accept their military ID cards as proof of age.
I suppose it is a bit unusual for a Royal Marine to be visiting a pub in Portsmouth and two commandos just back from the frontline could look underage.

The Mail: Pub refuses to serve two Marines who fought on Afghanistan frontline... because they only had their military ID
Portsmouth News: Why is military ID not good enough for pub doormen?

Our European allies, Germany and France, have decided that, rather than deploy their troops to support NATO operations in Afghanistan, they will instead station them in the volatile Alsace-Lorraine region of France.

Alsace-Lorraine is on the frontline when it comes to fighting international terrorism. Many Al Qeada training camps are concealed in its meadows and woodlands, there are daily

accounts of roadside bombs on Autoroutes A35 and A4 and suicide bomb attacks in Strasbourg are a frequent occurrence.
You can understand French and German reluctance to heed President Obama's call for more European contingents to be sent to fight alongside fellow NATO troops in Afghanistan when their forces are needed so desperately to combat Alsation terrorists at home.

It should also not be forgotten that one of the main roles of the 5,000 strong Eurowehr, the name given to the binational force, is to defend the many EU institutions located in the Alsace-Lorraine region. With the growing unrest across Europe resulting from the recession, the architects of New Europe fear for their own safety.

The Guardian: German troops to be sent to France for first time in 65 years

A pint, why that's nearly an armful!

As we eat our biccies and sip our tea after donating blood at the local NHS blood depository, we can imagine that it may be our blood that will be chosen to be sent out to Afghanistan and used to help treat a wounded soldier, perhaps even save his life.

How the blood and blood products make their way from our local church hall to the field hospital in Camp Bastion is described today in an article on the MoD's website. Central in the process is the work of the Royal Army Medical Corps' Blood Supply Team. They are all too aware when there's been a major operation in Helmand; they have to arrange the blood flow.

MoD: Blood team keeps UK Ops flowing worldwide

Another good reason to be a blood donor.

In the interests of political correctness the Church of England Creed has now been banned from services at Sandhurst.
The Academy's Reverend Jonathon Gough, or "Jonny" as he prefers to be called, has decided that, rather than upset the many Muslim, Jewish and Hindu cadets who attend his Anglican church services, the Creed, that most Christian of prayers, will henceforth be dropped - it's no longer fashionable, it's too absolute, too exclusive. In future Anglican services at Sandhurst are to be more.....multi-cultural, more...... nuLabour.

Army Chaplains are apparently to provide only pastoral care from now on; no more of that spiritual stuff, thank you very much.

A three day operation last week in Sangin Province (Operation Ghartse Palang or 'Lion') carried out by 120 Royal Marines of 45 Commando resulted in the destruction of a Taliban command centre and IED bomb factory and the capture of 70 weapons and ammunition.

Although the commandos took the Taliban completely by

surprise, the operation was fraught with danger and was a baptism of fire for some of the younger lads.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jim Morris, Commanding Officer, 45 Commando Group, said his men had “performed superbly”. “They displayed all the trade mark qualities of the Royal Marines executing this dangerous operation with cunning, determination and bravery. Sangin is more stable as a result.”

45 Commando - job done!

The Times: British commandos capture Taliban post
The Sun: Lions maul Taliban

watch the video at
MoD: Royal Marine Commandos catch Taliban off guard

Some of the words quoted in a report from the frontline in today's Sunday Herald sound more as if they should have been spoken by a nuLabour spin-doctor rather than by a senior commando in the middle of a warzone.

But whatever the words used, this report from the Sunday Herald's correspondent at FOB Inkerman (or FOB Incoming as it's more affectionally known) gives a stark account of what daily life is like for the guys at the spearhead of the war on terror.

At 24, L/Cpl Rory Ottway says he is "quite old compared to most of the lads"...... "During one operation our section swept round and came up on the Taliban by an irrigation ditch, and one of them stuck his head out from behind a wall to take a burst," remembers Ottway. "Some of our snipers managed to get him though," he added, almost as an afterthought.
........
"What impresses me most about the lads is that one minute they are out there searching for weapons, the next they are talking politely to local people, and then again within an instant they can be in a firefight or combat situation."
.......
A simple wooden cross stands at the top of a pile of stones. On one side in a small concrete alcove, a few brass plates are inscribed with the names of the fallen. Men from the Royal Anglian and Parachute Regiments, the Grenadier Guards and the Royal Marines. All were young men whose lives were lost a long way from home in a bleak, unremitting land, against an uncompromising foe.
........
One can only guess at the extent to which those of us who are fortunate enough never to have been in places like Forward Operating Base Inkerman, can truly gauge the nature of their sacrifice.

Sunday Herald: Target - The Taliban

That the Territorial Army is now part of mainstream Army operations has been further reinforced by the current six-month deployment of 32 Signals Regiment as part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus. This is the first time that the TA has been deployed independently on a UN operation.
234 troops from 28 different TA units have been brought together into 32 Signals Regiment Group and will be guarding and patrolling the Green Line which separates the Greek- and Turkish-controlled areas of the island.

Lieutenant Colonel Jenkins, CO 32 Signals Regiment Group, said: "This TA deployment is a first. The reservist soldiers themselves have actually proven to bring a lot more to the mission; they are mature and have approached things in a slightly different light than their regular counterparts."
Sergeant Mark Pool sais: "For the TA to get this tour in Cyprus, it has been marvellous. It's a way of us proving that we can come together as a coherent unit and achieve exactly the same as a regular unit."

MoD: Cyprus operation is TA's first ever UN mission

MoD figures show that almost 4,000 troops are currently considered to be too unfit to be deployed on military operations. Although that's only 5% of the number of troops available to be deployed, it is still almost the equivalent of the total number of troops currently serving in Iraq and getting

near to half the UK forces in Afghanistan.

The Army currently collates quarterly figures only for its deployable elements, rather than for its total trained strength. This provides snapshot figures of Personnel Unable to Deploy (PUD), though many of these will be able to undertake non-deployed duties.

The following table provides the figures for 2008 of the number of personnel recorded as unable to deploy for medical reasons.

The MoD is in the process of introducing a new and more accurate data-capture system, which will enable it to report validated, comparable data on a tri-service basis.

In the US at least 20,000 soldiers are unable to serve in the war zones because they are recuperating from long-term or minor injuries, including an increasing number suffering from stress fractures and other ailments caused by carrying too much weight in combat, according to Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the US Army's vice chief of staff.

They Work For You: Armed Forces Manpower
ArmyFit.MOD
MoD: Get fit with the Army's new fitness guide
Baltimore Sun: Number of 'non-deployable' injured soldiers is increasing

Russia's Defence Ministry has recently confirmed that its armed forces lost 471 service personnel to non-combat deaths in 2008, 30 more than in 2007.
By far the largest single cause was suicide which accounted for 231 deaths. Although still very high the official figure for the number of suicides is down by just under a third compared to 2007 when 341 Russian soldiers were reported to

have taken their own lives. The Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia however continue to be convinced that the real number of deaths was several times higher than the official figures.
The picture of life within the Russian armed forces remains grim: bullying, especially the infamous dedovshchina system, is still rife among Russian troops and is the most common reason for suicide. Most Russian soldiers are conscripts and the dangers and hardship of life in the armed forces even in peacetime make many young men keen to avoid service.

AquilaVictrix: Dedovshchina and high suicide rates in Russia's armed forces

Like the UK, the US is struggling to raise the manpower needed to fight its foreign wars. In a bid to improve recruiting levels, the US Army has started to entice young Americans with video games, Google maps and simulated attacks on enemy positions from an Apache helicopter.
Departing from the recruiting environment of metal tables and uniformed soldiers in a drab military building, the US Army has invested

$12 million in a facility that looks like a cross between a hotel lobby and a video arcade. The "Experience Center" at the Franklin Mills shopping mall in northeast Philadelphia has 60 personal computers loaded with military video games, 19 Xbox 360 video game controllers and a series of interactive screens describing military bases and career options in great detail. Potential recruits can hang out on couches and listen to rock music that fills the space.

Although the number of new recruits resulting from this 21st century approach is the same as from the more traitional methods, it gives young people somewhere to go and, hey, it sure sounds fun!

Reuters: U.S. Army recruiting at the mall with video games

John Reid, one of the series of disastrous Labour Defence Secretaries, has just landed himself a cushy £50,000-a-year part-time consultancy job with G4S Security Services, the largest private security contractor in the world.
After Reid quit as Defence Secretary, G4S won a lucrative MoD contract to provide training to British Army units heading for Iraq and Afghanistan.

G4S also provides armed security for the British Embassy in Kabul as well as protection for all UK Government personnel.
MP Angus Robertson, describing Reid’s appointment as "totally inappropriate", said: "Entering the war in Iraq was the worst UK foreign policy decision in living memory. Our brave troops have had to pay the price of an illegal conflict and now it appears former Defence Secretaries are reaping personal financial rewards".

I'm sure the guys on the frontline will want to wish John the best of luck in his new job!

The Mail: John 'without a shot being fired' Reid's £50,000 Iraq security job