Post by aghart on Feb 13, 2013 20:40:40 GMT
I saw this article in the Times, today, 13th February 2013. I have typed it word for word from the newspaper.
QUOTE..
Scores of soldiers face being ordered to leave their regiments and move to new units only to be sacked, a top commander has warned. Lieutenant-General Chris Deverell voiced concerns in an e-mail to other senior officers about the impact on morale of a decision to amalgamate the 1st & 2nd Royal Tank Regiments as part of a major restructuring of the army.
He revealed that there was a possibility of soldiers being forced to move only to be then selected for redundancy, which he described as "the so called double whammy". In the e-mail, sent last month, he wrote;"I find this objectionable. My memory is that this happened in 1992 and led to some very bitter and angry people.
General Deverell, Colonel Commandant of the Royal Tank Regiment and the senior army officer in charge of equipment, asked about exempting soldiers from redundancy if they volunteered to move elswhere, or of allowing them to stay in their posts until the fourth round of job cuts was announced. He said that those volunteering to move to at least one regiment in the Royal Armoured Corps were already expected to be protected.
The decision to amalgamate the tank regiments which employ about 1000 troops, means that soldiers will be asked to volunteer for transfer. Jim Murphy, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said that the uncertainty would cause worry. "Being forced to move units only to be sacked would be crass incompetence", he said.
"Government promises about protecting those who serve in Afghanistan have been broken already. The public will want assurances over the protection for those fighting the Taliban". General Deverell said that he looked forward to hearing what the Adjutant-General had to say about how to encourage people to switch jobs of their own volition. "The sting would be taken out of the whole issue if we were able to say that everbody who went to another regiment did so voluntarily.
His e-mail also indicated that there was a risk that soldiers heading off to Helmand from April could learn that they were being moved out of their regiments while on the front line. "If left to me the issue would not even arise because I would not be boarding people for transfer until they got back from operations" he wrote.
Finally, he said that there were dozens of soldiers of soldiers in the two tank regiments who would find themselves in limbo following the amalgamation. "I'd be grateful to know what our plan is for these people."
An army spokesman said: "we do not comment on leaked documents.
QUOTE....
I think any Shadow (Labour) politician who tries to slag off the coalition government over defence after the Gordon Brown years is having a laugh!
Now then, more importantly, which is the RAC regiment that is so under strength that those transferring are already likely to be protected?
I would put money on the Scots DG, full of Fiji born soldiers.
QUOTE..
Scores of soldiers face being ordered to leave their regiments and move to new units only to be sacked, a top commander has warned. Lieutenant-General Chris Deverell voiced concerns in an e-mail to other senior officers about the impact on morale of a decision to amalgamate the 1st & 2nd Royal Tank Regiments as part of a major restructuring of the army.
He revealed that there was a possibility of soldiers being forced to move only to be then selected for redundancy, which he described as "the so called double whammy". In the e-mail, sent last month, he wrote;"I find this objectionable. My memory is that this happened in 1992 and led to some very bitter and angry people.
General Deverell, Colonel Commandant of the Royal Tank Regiment and the senior army officer in charge of equipment, asked about exempting soldiers from redundancy if they volunteered to move elswhere, or of allowing them to stay in their posts until the fourth round of job cuts was announced. He said that those volunteering to move to at least one regiment in the Royal Armoured Corps were already expected to be protected.
The decision to amalgamate the tank regiments which employ about 1000 troops, means that soldiers will be asked to volunteer for transfer. Jim Murphy, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said that the uncertainty would cause worry. "Being forced to move units only to be sacked would be crass incompetence", he said.
"Government promises about protecting those who serve in Afghanistan have been broken already. The public will want assurances over the protection for those fighting the Taliban". General Deverell said that he looked forward to hearing what the Adjutant-General had to say about how to encourage people to switch jobs of their own volition. "The sting would be taken out of the whole issue if we were able to say that everbody who went to another regiment did so voluntarily.
His e-mail also indicated that there was a risk that soldiers heading off to Helmand from April could learn that they were being moved out of their regiments while on the front line. "If left to me the issue would not even arise because I would not be boarding people for transfer until they got back from operations" he wrote.
Finally, he said that there were dozens of soldiers of soldiers in the two tank regiments who would find themselves in limbo following the amalgamation. "I'd be grateful to know what our plan is for these people."
An army spokesman said: "we do not comment on leaked documents.
QUOTE....
I think any Shadow (Labour) politician who tries to slag off the coalition government over defence after the Gordon Brown years is having a laugh!
Now then, more importantly, which is the RAC regiment that is so under strength that those transferring are already likely to be protected?
I would put money on the Scots DG, full of Fiji born soldiers.