Revealed: Number of British soldiers suffering 'life-changing' injuries in Afghanista

teaboy5 said:
Sorry but links or a source. Do you know much night vision goggles would cost?
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/15/afghanistan.military

MoD Coroner said:
Had his unit been given more essential equipment - notably night vision goggles and light machine guns - "it is less likely that Captain Philippson would have been killed", the document says.
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The Guardian said:
The delay in supplying adequate equipment to the troops at the beginning of their deployment in Helmand echoes shortages of the vital supplies troops were deprived of after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Sergeant Steve Roberts, one of the first British casualties there, was shot dead in March 2003, having lent his body armour to another soldier because there was not enough to go round.
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Even if they cost a penny, for a country with the second biggest defence budget in the world, they should be standard issue - as should the plates used in body armour.
 
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As mentioned in a few previous posts, it's not so much that this hs happened to him, because as said, it's a reality of war. What can be very unacceptable is the aftercare the soldiers receive when they do receive such injuries.

I should be starting basic soon, with the full intention to end up in the Royal Signals Para regiment. Being an assaulting force, I'll be subjected to a significant amount of danger, and I've already come to terms with the fact I may be injured, or even killed, in the line of duty. All I would want to ask if that if I do suffer life changing injuries is that I'm looked after correctly, both in rehabilitation, and helping find work etc. This is part of the contract that I sign that I receive this stuff, just hope if the worst does happen, that the government keeps its side of the contract.
 
Plenty of verbal diarrhoea going on in here.....

Personally I'm ashamed of some of the posts on here...some of you should give your heads a shake, grow a pair and give respect where its due.

I once served in the Army, left and now in training to go back because of the crap life civvy street has to offer compared to that in the forces.

Let the biting begin...
 
richb_83 said:
Plenty of verbal diarrhoea going on in here.....

Personally I'm ashamed of some of the posts on here...some of you should give your heads a shake, grow a pair and give respect where its due.

I once served in the Army, left and now in training to go back because of the crap life civvy street has to offer compared to that in the forces.

Let the biting begin...
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It's OK mate OCUK forum has been on a slippery slope for some time.
 
richb_83 said:
Plenty of verbal diarrhoea going on in here.....

Personally I'm ashamed of some of the posts on here...some of you should give your heads a shake, grow a pair and give respect where its due.

I once served in the Army, left and now in training to go back because of the crap life civvy street has to offer compared to that in the forces.

Let the biting begin...
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You choose to be a soldier good for you, however,British soldiers have always historically been poorly paid, poorly fed, bullied, poorly equipped, had shockingly bad medical treatment and after care and get dumped without a second thought when the Government is finished with them.
That is the nature of it, that is what it is, I never cease to be amazed that people are suprised to find that being a front line soldier is not a great job its always been done by those with nowhere else to go, and with no other options on the table, and of course, by the few noble types who believe they are serving queen and country.

As for paying you respect, you choose to do one of the worst jobs in the world, because by your own admission in your post, you fail at civilian life.
Which I'm not surprised, I've known a lot of ex squaddies and whether they have seen action or not, they all end up either going back or going down the pan.
 
As an Ex Infantry man who's former regiment is currently in theatre in Afghan, I have to agree with Richb_83. There does seem to be far too many spineless morons on this forum that just don't have any clue as to what they are talking about.

Rob
 
atpbx said:
As for paying you respect, you choose to do one of the worst jobs in the world, because by your own admission in your post, you fail at civilian life.
Which I'm not surprised, I've known a lot of ex squaddies and whether they have seen action or not, they all end up either going back or going down the pan.
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I see the other side of it. I see more people joining because the army can offer a very good life in general, not because they have no options left. I'm going in soon, and I can't wait. But my life is far from down the pan. I live in London, I manage a successful pub in the middle of Hoxton. I've got a great girlfriend, great mates, and I pretty much want for nothing, but I till want to go in, because it's the job I WANT to do. Most guys who I've known who have gone in, or are going in, feel the same. It's not a 'last resort' it's a quality life.
 
Moley said:
Whilst I feel for these guys who have been injured or killed, the numbers are tiny when compared with older wars. Literally the numbers killed are in the 100's whereas in the first and second world wars the number of soldiers killed was in the hundreds of thousands.

It always raises an eyebrow when I turn on the news of an evening and see the lead story "another British soldier killed in Helmand Province today" - one soldier? in a day?

In the World Wars we lost hundreds - if not thousands - a day.
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Not only were there far more soldiers fighting then, their medicine was very limited when compared to ours. Your analogy doesn't work.
 
atpbx said:
You choose to be a soldier good for you, however,British soldiers have always historically been poorly paid, poorly fed, bullied, poorly equipped, had shockingly bad medical treatment and after care and get dumped without a second thought when the Government is finished with them.
That is the nature of it, that is what it is, I never cease to be amazed that people are suprised to find that being a front line soldier is not a great job its always been done by those with nowhere else to go, and with no other options on the table, and of course, by the few noble types who believe they are serving queen and country.

As for paying you respect, you choose to do one of the worst jobs in the world, because by your own admission in your post, you fail at civilian life.
Which I'm not surprised, I've known a lot of ex squaddies and whether they have seen action or not, they all end up either going back or going down the pan.
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+1 bite...

As for making it personal, well thanks, nice to know atpbx holds the position and has the certs and expertise to give me a 'F' at acme Civilian Life qualification. :rolleyes:
 
Ghosteh said:
I see the other side of it. I see more people joining because the army can offer a very good life in general, not because they have no options left. I'm going in soon, and I can't wait. But my life is far from down the pan. I live in London, I manage a successful pub in the middle of Hoxton. I've got a great girlfriend, great mates, and I pretty much want for nothing, but I till want to go in, because it's the job I WANT to do. Most guys who I've known who have gone in, or are going in, feel the same. It's not a 'last resort' it's a quality life.
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couldnt agree more.
atpbx consider this, much like Ghosteh, i already have a perfectly secure decent paying job with future prospects if i so wish to have it, also have a nice enjoyable life with good friends and family.
i'm going, not becuase its my only option, and to be frank its got bugger all to do with queen and country, i'm going for this because its the job and lifestyle that has appealed to me for years.

the days of the army being a last resort have long since gone, its a very ignorant, old fashioned and rather uneducated view you have.
 
Rob7865 said:
As an Ex Infantry man who's former regiment is currently in theatre in Afghan, I have to agree with Richb_83. There does seem to be far too many spineless morons on this forum that just don't have any clue as to what they are talking about.

Rob
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mind me asking, what opinions are you refering to exactly, and what about the opinions makes someone spineless?
 
steve45 said:
couldnt agree more.
atpbx consider this, much like Ghosteh, i already have a perfectly secure decent paying job with future prospects if i so wish to have it, also have a nice enjoyable life with good friends and family.
i'm going, not becuase its my only option, and to be frank its got bugger all to do with queen and country, i'm going for this because its the job and lifestyle that has appealed to me for years.

the days of the army being a last resort have long since gone, its a very ignorant, old fashioned and rather uneducated view you have.
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What exactly appeals to you about being a soldier, what about the lifestyle appeals to you?

lets be honest, as a soldier you'll be involved in killing people, directly or supporting those who do. YOu'll probably get moved about, have little freedom little choice, clearly at a massively higher danger of dying in the job. Cleaning out toilets in the middle of a desert so your country can secure rights to oil fields and make money and you won't see a share of the profits and the people who employ you couldn't give a monkeys if you die, at all. Personally, I'm failing to see what draw's people to the lifestyle and job.
 
drunkenmaster said:
What exactly appeals to you about being a soldier, what about the lifestyle appeals to you?

lets be honest, as a soldier you'll be involved in killing people, directly or supporting those who do. YOu'll probably get moved about, have little freedom little choice, clearly at a massively higher danger of dying in the job. Cleaning out toilets in the middle of a desert so your country can secure rights to oil fields and make money and you won't see a share of the profits and the people who employ you couldn't give a monkeys if you die, at all. Personally, I'm failing to see what draw's people to the lifestyle and job.
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Can't really reply to that, because simply, if you can't understand what would appeal about the army, you'll never understand no matter how much I or who ever explains to you why we do what we do.

But a few brief points from me:
Yes, we go out killing/support people killing. But we're not going out to directly kill innocent people. We are fighting people in Afghanistan who are an oppressive force against the Afghan people. Not going to get into the details of the entire war because there is simply too much to go into.

The pay, although not that great, is good, because you don't have a huge ammount of out goings. Once I start in the army, I'll be taking quite a large pay cut, but the amount of money I have left at the end of the month will be hugely increased.

Yeah we travel a lot. And quite frankly, it's one of the best things I find. Get to travel all over the world, to do many many things(not just warfare/peace keeping) and I not only don't have to pay to go, I actually get paid to go.

I'll get mates who I'll be able to trust my life with. In my current job, I've got mates, but I wouldn't particularly trust them(not that I distrust them).

I'll get trained up to a high level in my chosen trade, in my case a Communication Systems Engineer, using top of the line technology. Eventually if all goes well I could be sent to university after several years of service. I won't have to pay a penny for this.


Dunno what else to go into really. Like I said in the opening of my post, I probably won't be able to convince you, but I thought I'd list some of the points that have attracted me. There are more, but I won't try and justify my choice to you any more than I already have.
 
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