- Reaction score
- 905
- Points
- 1,060
Perhaps our own MND might take note of this approach to explaining the activities of his own department.
From The Scotsman, Thu 28 Oct 2004. online edition: http://news.scotsman.com/columnists.cfm?id=1246432004.
Even the Greatest Regiments Cannot Fight Change
Geoff Hoon
AS MOST Scotsman readers will know, the Black Watch began moving yesterday to support coalition forces in the west of Iraq.
The regiment continues to perform outstandingly on operations in Iraq, and I join with Scotsman readers in wishing them all a safe return home.
I regularly meet soldiers from the Black Watch and other famous Scottish regiments. I fully recognise the strength of feeling which exists in Scotland about their future. I respect the strong views expressed by former soldiers and the wider public, which show just how important the battalions of the Scottish Division remain to the Scottish people.
I am grateful to The Scotsman for this opportunity to explain the reality of the changes ahead. I fully understand why people have become so concerned, and that is why I would like to explain the facts which lie behind the emotive and, it has to be said, occasionally wild reports I have read and watched of late.
The central point is that as part of a move to a new army structure, we plan to reduce infantry battalions in Scotland from six to five as part of a wider drive to balance our army strength. This will not mean a reduction in the size of the army because we will use the positions to support units such as logistics and intelligence, where we presently have a shortfall.
This is absolutely not an exercise in cuts, or a search for financial savings. The manpower saved from the reduced infantry (about 2,500 posts) will be re-used in those areas where it is most needed, including filling gaps in the remaining infantry battalions to make them still more effective.
Infantry battalions from England and Wales will reduce by three, so it is wrong to suggest that Scottish regiments are being singled out. And all 19 of the army's remaining single battalion regiments will assume new identities within a larger regimental structure.
All three armed services are undergoing major changes as they evolve to face the new threats we face as a nation. This is not new. In fact, the military has always been excellent at changing to embrace new technology and meet new demands.
The changes being made to the army, though, are not just about making it a more effective fighting force. We want to provide better stability for soldiers and their families, links to local recruiting areas and an end to the out-of-date system of moving regiments around the country every two years or so.
The movement of troops, known as "arms plotting", was devised during the Cold War. It means that at any given time up to six of the army's total of 40 infantry battalions can be unavailable for operations because they are either moving, or preparing to move location. That simply makes no sense today, and has a terrible effect on serving soldiers and their families as they have to move homes, jobs and schools.
Troops serving currently in regiments therefore struggle to put down roots. The Black Watch is currently based not in Scotland but in Warminster, in Wiltshire - about as far away from "home" as they could be in the UK.
In future, the army wants to see battalions brought together under larger regimental "umbrellas", retaining the strength of the regimental system but allowing individuals to move between battalions for career experience.
From a strategic point of view this will mean that more of the army is available for operations more of the time. One consequence of that is that it should take the pressure off the more stretched units, and allow for longer intervals between tours.
It also means that regiments will again be able to maintain a presence in their local areas.
Of course, the army will retain the ability to move individuals and units about when it needs to, or where people want to change for career development.
General Sir Michael Walker, the Chief of the Defence Staff, and General Sir Mike Jackson, the Chief of the General Staff, have both made clear these are changes the army wants to make, and they are army-driven.
There have been reports that I have "bullied" the chiefs into this process. Anyone who knows either man will understand how ridiculous that is. Neither would ever agree to something they thought would damage their service.
The army's traditions are a vital part of its history, but they are more than that, too; they help to forge and maintain the incredible fighting spirit our soldiers demonstrate year after year.
It is for this reason that I want the army to retain as far as possible regimental traditions and local identities within the new, larger organisations. This will allow us to keep the best of the regimental system: continuity, regional identity, esprit de corps and tradition, whilst losing the worst: instability, inflexibility and under- manning.
This is not revolution but evolution. The regiments of the Scottish Division have not remained unchanged and untouched over the hundreds of years they have existed, suddenly to be shaken up today.
They have changed to fulfil their roles as those roles have changed over the decades, in terms of size, organisation, equipment and uniform.
The changes currently taking place were identified some time ago by the army as part of its need to evolve to face 21st-century threats, and improve its support to soldiers by caring better for them and their families at home.
The army has never stood still. Failing to make the changes we know will benefit our serving soldiers would be deeply wrong.
The identity, traditions and magnificent history of the Scottish infantry regiments are a source of pride not only to the people of Scotland, but to the people of the entire British Isles.
The passion for these regiments is rooted in the actions and achievements of the men who make them up. It is the magnificent fighting record of the Scottish infantry which makes people so passionate about them.
I don't want that to change. The Scottish regiments must not be confined to parade squares and the pages of history books.
Their future must be one in which they continue to win the respect and gratitude of the British people for their achievements, and to do that they need to be part of a modernised, better organised and better equipped army. That is what these changes are helping to build.
___________________________________________
Cheers ..
From The Scotsman, Thu 28 Oct 2004. online edition: http://news.scotsman.com/columnists.cfm?id=1246432004.
Even the Greatest Regiments Cannot Fight Change
Geoff Hoon
AS MOST Scotsman readers will know, the Black Watch began moving yesterday to support coalition forces in the west of Iraq.
The regiment continues to perform outstandingly on operations in Iraq, and I join with Scotsman readers in wishing them all a safe return home.
I regularly meet soldiers from the Black Watch and other famous Scottish regiments. I fully recognise the strength of feeling which exists in Scotland about their future. I respect the strong views expressed by former soldiers and the wider public, which show just how important the battalions of the Scottish Division remain to the Scottish people.
I am grateful to The Scotsman for this opportunity to explain the reality of the changes ahead. I fully understand why people have become so concerned, and that is why I would like to explain the facts which lie behind the emotive and, it has to be said, occasionally wild reports I have read and watched of late.
The central point is that as part of a move to a new army structure, we plan to reduce infantry battalions in Scotland from six to five as part of a wider drive to balance our army strength. This will not mean a reduction in the size of the army because we will use the positions to support units such as logistics and intelligence, where we presently have a shortfall.
This is absolutely not an exercise in cuts, or a search for financial savings. The manpower saved from the reduced infantry (about 2,500 posts) will be re-used in those areas where it is most needed, including filling gaps in the remaining infantry battalions to make them still more effective.
Infantry battalions from England and Wales will reduce by three, so it is wrong to suggest that Scottish regiments are being singled out. And all 19 of the army's remaining single battalion regiments will assume new identities within a larger regimental structure.
All three armed services are undergoing major changes as they evolve to face the new threats we face as a nation. This is not new. In fact, the military has always been excellent at changing to embrace new technology and meet new demands.
The changes being made to the army, though, are not just about making it a more effective fighting force. We want to provide better stability for soldiers and their families, links to local recruiting areas and an end to the out-of-date system of moving regiments around the country every two years or so.
The movement of troops, known as "arms plotting", was devised during the Cold War. It means that at any given time up to six of the army's total of 40 infantry battalions can be unavailable for operations because they are either moving, or preparing to move location. That simply makes no sense today, and has a terrible effect on serving soldiers and their families as they have to move homes, jobs and schools.
Troops serving currently in regiments therefore struggle to put down roots. The Black Watch is currently based not in Scotland but in Warminster, in Wiltshire - about as far away from "home" as they could be in the UK.
In future, the army wants to see battalions brought together under larger regimental "umbrellas", retaining the strength of the regimental system but allowing individuals to move between battalions for career experience.
From a strategic point of view this will mean that more of the army is available for operations more of the time. One consequence of that is that it should take the pressure off the more stretched units, and allow for longer intervals between tours.
It also means that regiments will again be able to maintain a presence in their local areas.
Of course, the army will retain the ability to move individuals and units about when it needs to, or where people want to change for career development.
General Sir Michael Walker, the Chief of the Defence Staff, and General Sir Mike Jackson, the Chief of the General Staff, have both made clear these are changes the army wants to make, and they are army-driven.
There have been reports that I have "bullied" the chiefs into this process. Anyone who knows either man will understand how ridiculous that is. Neither would ever agree to something they thought would damage their service.
The army's traditions are a vital part of its history, but they are more than that, too; they help to forge and maintain the incredible fighting spirit our soldiers demonstrate year after year.
It is for this reason that I want the army to retain as far as possible regimental traditions and local identities within the new, larger organisations. This will allow us to keep the best of the regimental system: continuity, regional identity, esprit de corps and tradition, whilst losing the worst: instability, inflexibility and under- manning.
This is not revolution but evolution. The regiments of the Scottish Division have not remained unchanged and untouched over the hundreds of years they have existed, suddenly to be shaken up today.
They have changed to fulfil their roles as those roles have changed over the decades, in terms of size, organisation, equipment and uniform.
The changes currently taking place were identified some time ago by the army as part of its need to evolve to face 21st-century threats, and improve its support to soldiers by caring better for them and their families at home.
The army has never stood still. Failing to make the changes we know will benefit our serving soldiers would be deeply wrong.
The identity, traditions and magnificent history of the Scottish infantry regiments are a source of pride not only to the people of Scotland, but to the people of the entire British Isles.
The passion for these regiments is rooted in the actions and achievements of the men who make them up. It is the magnificent fighting record of the Scottish infantry which makes people so passionate about them.
I don't want that to change. The Scottish regiments must not be confined to parade squares and the pages of history books.
Their future must be one in which they continue to win the respect and gratitude of the British people for their achievements, and to do that they need to be part of a modernised, better organised and better equipped army. That is what these changes are helping to build.
___________________________________________
Cheers ..
