Breaking News: British Troops threaten to strike over cuts announced today. The Government have said that Fuel Tanker drivers and Fire Fighters will be trained to replace soldiers on the front line......

Carlsberg don't do rumours but if they did!!!

Just to be clear about the above, it could never take place as it is illegal, and definitely against the military's moral code, to strike. Were any of them to do so, they would be court martialled for mutiny and imprisoned and have, in the past, been executed for it.

No matter the harshness of the conditions they are required to work/fight/die under, no matter how aggrieved they may feel at the injustice of how they're being treated, no matter what the personal sacrifice they or their families are being required to make, they must, AND DO, carry out their duties to the best of their professional ability and training at all times.

It's odd how often civilians fail to grasp the enormity of the task asked of, and the responsibilities imposed on, our soldiers, sailors and airmen 24 hours of every day of the year for the whole of their service lives. Not too many people realise that, in the service, leave, even time off duty, is not a right, it is a privilege and can be withdrawn at a moment's notice. As can all kinds of other things everybody else takes for granted. Once you sign on the dotted line, almost all your rights fly out the window. And every individual considers that fact, accepts it for themselves and signs anyway. Every single serviceman and woman is a volunteer.

Think about that, next time you feel disgruntled while doing what many would probably consider a cushy job. And, if you don't think of it like that, just remember:

No-one's shooting at you or laying bombs in your path ....
No-one's going to want to prove how tough they are in front of their mates while you're having a quiet drink or a meal ....
No-one's going to spit at you or scream abuse at you in the street because of the job you do ....
It's extremely unlikely you're going to complete your term of service, if you make it that far, with fewer limbs, organs or brain cells than you started out with ....
You're never going to think it a luxury if you get the chance to use a cement mixer as a washing machine ......
And there are a million and one other benefits of being a civilian.

Oh! Just one last thing. Also, no-one's going to insist you account for every last second of your conduct in a given situation 40 years after it occurred and accuse you of lying because your account doesn't match their pre-conceived ideas .... And then be threatened with life imprisonment for having done the job you've been painstakingly trained for.

See? Not a bad old life you've got, is it?

Oh, and to quote Winston Churchill, someone who, I think, every right thinking Briton holds in the highest esteem:

"We may sleep safely in our beds because rough men [and now women] stand ready to visit violence upon those who would do us harm."

Have a nice day :-)

Well said.

while I broadly agree with your sentiments don't forget that we don't have conscription, these people volunteer to join the Forces!

What a load of tosh!

Probably copy & pasted off Facebook or Similar. Utter rubbish. The cuts to the armed forces are no different to the thousands of jobs in the public sector that have been lost, don't harp on about what the armed forces do, we all know and it's their choice to sign up.

It reads like one of those emails we all seem to get, from time to time.
Anyway, my sentiments lie with Davefabo, the army is a voluntary career and nobody would have been blindfolded.

What does baffle me is, why so many have called for the fighting forces to be brought home from Afghanistan and other places but now some of their jobs are threatened, they are not very happy. So what do they, or the people who so readily speak on their behalf, want? Would it be an army that stays at home to police the terrorist threats in this country?

Granted, they voluntarily signed up to be in the services - but, given the state of the country over the decades, who can blame them for wanting to have a trade and career. True, they become involved in political situations where the British government put political gains before evaluating why we need to go to war at all.
I don't always understand some of the government's actions and non-actions. The service people need a decent pension, especially if they are injured and cannot work into old age. They also retire early so its justifed here also. Unfortunately, they cannot go on strike and join thousands of us in having our pensions reduced. The government have made thier minds up - they have been incompetent to boost our economy over the years and we all will suffer as a consequence of less money in the pot, or at least the proletariat does.
The Queen can become involved as its her Army - wonder what would happen then? !!!

For whatever reasons lots of blokes/girls join up and when they get to their training camps they are given the chance of signing off if it is not what they expect. Those who carry on find that they receive a good trade training, in whatever sphere they end up in, and a good crowd of co-workers. They learn how to stand on their own two feet, partake of team work with knobs on and learn most of all to obey orders without question, sometimes even when it places them in mortal danger. They get regular pay rises which are alway abated i.e. reduced, to take account of their pensions. They pay for their food and lodgings, which are not always up to standard, they sometimes work very long hours but accept it all as being life in a blue/khaki/bell bottomed suit. What they don't expect is to be shat on from a great height by politicians who've never done an honest days graft in their lives, which is what this lot looks like. Rudyard Kipling puts it better "It's Tommy this, and Tommy that......." I feel sorry for blokes who are out East at the moment, under shot, shell and booby trap and don't know what the immediate future holds for them if they come out unscathed. Some of the ingratitude on here doesn't sit well either. Then again, I only did 34 years so what would I know?

Bandy, you are obviously very proud to have achieved 34 years in the services and so you should be. The poor chaps out in Afghanistan, are probably in the minds of many and nobody should under estimate what terrible conditions,traumas,loss of life and horrendous injuries, that they must be living with on a daily basis. We can't possibly begin to pretend to know.
In the original post about them threatening to strike, what would they be striking about, it's not very clear? If it is about the possible job losses to them as individuals, then they must be reasonably happy with their career and conditions.
If the people back here in civi street are complaining on the Forces behalf about the job losses, we have to ask why. Do they prefer that the jobs are retained and so the same poor chaps are sent off to another mud saoked Falklands war, or a repeat battle in Iraq, another Libya, or a war in Syria?
No one should deny that they earn every penny and more and if this is about pay and pension then it is a different area.
Personally, I don't undersand why anybody should wish for them to keep their jobs in a very unsettled war ridden world of today, resulting in a lot more loss of life and severe injuries. If the members of the Forces wish to keep their jobs, then I don't think we should really be making comment on something we don't fully understand.

https://www.wikiwirral.co.uk/forums...forces_are_going_on_stri.html#Post707362

beat u too it fella, though no one frigging responds to me :-(

wouldnt worry about it, only people opinions you should worry about is fellow oppo's who bothered to VOLUNTEER, take the shit to make some form of contribution to making a difference, i take comfort that years from now looking abck at my life i can take some comfort that i actually bothered my arse to be a fooking volunteer

suppose its the volunteer in people thats sets them aside from the rest of you, like the lads who loose limbs but ride 3000 mile with 7 legs between 8 of them, to raise money, no of you fuckers would do that

thats what they do, no matter how bad things get they're there for each other, that is something you wont understand, no civvi will,

wouldnt wear out the print on your keyboard fella

The original article was someone having a gripe I think, and just wrote a sarcastic missive. Sometimes it does you good to get things off your chest, especially when you're really peed off. Not everyone thinks the same anyway, which is just as well or nobody would ever join up. That's true about looking back and hoping you've made a difference, somewhere, somehow. Cheers Dave.

ne probs mate