Is the UK now on a "war footing"?

“There is no finer training. Even front line troops usually have a second string to their bow.”

Career service personally often have problems fitting in with civilian life, for their whole adult life has be spent under orders. Everything else takes second place, including family, they expect to obey orders and everyone beneath them to do likewise, everything is provided they do not have to consider the cost of whatever they are using.

I have 2 brothers in law one a pilot has thrived and is still flying, the other was army and has always struggled to settle, those at the “fighting” end of the army probably have most problems.

Thank you Greyduster for that "view from the inside".
The choices around who gets in a one year "gap" scheme will have to be made very carefully, but one of its purposes is to get young people into regular hours and discipline - and to have a pool of possible candidates to move into the army and sort out the "suitable" - and can the Territorial Army be useful here.

Allira

^My erstwhile brother sorta voluntarily went into the Armed Forces at one point - but it was "sorta" voluntary - because he became a driver in one of them and being a driver was about all he was capable of doing (ie down to having a very low IQ).^

I'm not sure that people with very low IQs would get into the Forces.

Your views of the Armed Forces are rather different to those of most service personnel, I would imagine.

I grinned at one point - at reading that is true for the American armed forces. Apparently they do have a minimum IQ level and won't take anyone below that. They also have a maximum IQ level and won't take anyone above that one. The British armed forces don't have a restriction at either end....

My brother is 2 points below minimum level as I recall - and so he wouldnt have got in there (ie the Americans want people to be able to understand instructions). I can't remember what the American maximum is - other than my father would have been kicked straight out at the outset and I'd also not have gotten in (because - at the other end - we'd understand instructions alright - and be questioning them LOL). Errr....yep....my father told the tale of how a high-up came along to give a talk on the procedure to get promotion and up went my fathers hand at the end of the talk with "Please sah....I've done what you said sah and followed that procedure 3 times now - and I've still not got my promotion". Funnily enough he got given it at that point....

The UK is a joke, where our warmongering PM says we must prepare for war.
It's yet another distraction tactic to make us less concerned about the total failure of this Marxist government to look after the people of this country, which is their PRIMARY DUTY.
The US deep state and NATO have planned, maneuvered, and put in place the means of these attacks on behalf of Zelensky many months ago during the previous administration.
Seems Zalensky knew about these plans, and that's why he refused to entertain a peace.
And what a waste of carefully constructed destructive plans if they were not executed, especially when Trump is trying to negotiate a peace.
What better way to try and make DJT look bad?
There are evil individuals still in the US Security who are hell bent on keeping the armaments industry financed from the American taxpayer dollars. They will be dealt with.
Trump was kept in the dark about these plans, which were intended to take us ALL nearer to WW3.
Putin WILL retaliate. Let's just hope that he can be persuaded by Trump, not to retaliate against the US and the UK, despite 2T Qweer getting all excited and slavvering over the vision of Brits getting annihillated.

There was an entrance exam even when DH and I enlisted in the early sixties and education and training were ongoing throughout ones service, for the purposes of promotion and enhancing one’s trade skills, and also for personal growth. These days education and training is much enhanced. The services need people to be committed to the ethos and the technical requirements of a modern armed forces. Many of the trades like catering accountancy and general procurement have been handed over to civilian organisations but there is still plenty of scope to make a good career in technical trades and gain professional qualifications that are recognised in civilian life. There is no finer training. Even front line troops usually have a second string to their bow. I’m not entirely sure how many young people a gap year would attract, but I suppose it’s worth a try IF they have sufficient regular personnel to organise the training. The reasons the services are so fussy about recruitment from the get-go is that it costs money and manpower to train recruits and you have to be sure there will be a reasonable return for that investment. Perhaps, as someone suggested, it is something the Territorial services could take on.

woodenspoon

Let’s not forget Biden in all this. Are we seriously more in danger with Trump at the helm than Biden? Who cares more about the UK? Certainly not the Democrats in the US.

What evidence do you have underlying that "opinion"?

Oreo

Allira

My erstwhile brother sorta voluntarily went into the Armed Forces at one point - but it was "sorta" voluntary - because he became a driver in one of them and being a driver was about all he was capable of doing (ie down to having a very low IQ).

I'm not sure that people with very low IQs would get into the Forces.

Your views of the Armed Forces are rather different to those of most service personnel, I would imagine.

I was thinking along the same lines, you don’t need to be an academic to get into the forces but they do have drawn lines where IQ levels are concerned I would hope.
I was also wondering what an erstwhile brother is.🤔

There's an entrance examination.

erstwhile - at some point in the past.
Your brother is still your brother even if he has, sadly, died.

karmalady

Yes the UK is on a war footing

One dgs is about to go for his sandhurst interview, sil was a captain in the signals and dd a major in the medic corps. Another dd is involved in front line defence.

It isn`t so much about cannon fodder these days, more about good brains, quick thinking, patriotism, leadership, engineering design and so on

You are right *karmalady". The modern army is far from being all about "cannon fodder". It provides education, the ability to havd self-discipline and wide experience at all levels - but it always has.

Marching groups towards cannons has always been a last resort, usually when countries are unprepared.

We also make a lot if scientific progress during conflict or preparation for conflict. The Ukrainians have certainly done that. Gnetters might find this interesting www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYY0Edzu2iU

The US want us all to pay 5% defence spending and I can see countries agreeing to 4% .Taxes will need to go up and they needed to go up last year anyway to pay for our public services it was stupid of the government to commit to no tax hikes when they were so needed.

Allira

^My erstwhile brother sorta voluntarily went into the Armed Forces at one point - but it was "sorta" voluntary - because he became a driver in one of them and being a driver was about all he was capable of doing (ie down to having a very low IQ).^

I'm not sure that people with very low IQs would get into the Forces.

Your views of the Armed Forces are rather different to those of most service personnel, I would imagine.

I was thinking along the same lines, you don’t need to be an academic to get into the forces but they do have drawn lines where IQ levels are concerned I would hope.
I was also wondering what an erstwhile brother is.🤔

I very much doubt that anyone thinks anything other than that war is 'awful'. Who in their right mind would want to see sons, grandsons, husbands or anyone be sent to fight, or our homes blasted into oblivion as we see in Ukraine and Gaza every night on the News?

Are we at risk? I doubt any of us knows that, regardless of what family members may say. Those high up enough to really know won't be dropping hints to grandparents who might do a 'taps nose' thing online 😂.

I do, however, think that it's probably right that we all pay into a strategic defence plan, as global insecurity doesn't feel reassuring just now. That shouldn't mean that young people should shoulder the cost, as they have more to lose than we oldies, but that all citizens should be expected to sacrifice something to pay for others to defend us should the need arise.

I have family in the Baltic region. I hope Putin keeps his sights away from war in any region of Europe. The Baltic states seem to be more aware and prepared than we are.
On a holiday visit near the Russian border in Norway, we were told that they have a bigger police station than Oslo as they have Reindeer police, there was then a pause and then the guide added “We also have Russians”

My erstwhile brother sorta voluntarily went into the Armed Forces at one point - but it was "sorta" voluntary - because he became a driver in one of them and being a driver was about all he was capable of doing (ie down to having a very low IQ).

I'm not sure that people with very low IQs would get into the Forces.

Your views of the Armed Forces are rather different to those of most service personnel, I would imagine.

Dictators like Putin and Xi Jinping wage war to keep their populations under control and leave a legacy of conquest. They do not have the welfare of the individual at heart nor the understanding of a functioning democratic state. Rather they despise democracies because as they see the short tie thinking 4 or 5 years at a tie. Whereas they can plan for a lifetime!! Sadly we are getting to a tipping point when the two dictators can take us to war and we have to show strength to stop it.

We do look out for ourselves sandelf. The reason we get involved is because it is in our own interest. We don't always make the best decisions but that's because we are human. There are no gods walking this earth.

There isn't always an instant quid pro quo but we build allies. The dearth of knowledge and understanding in America is stunning. If you read some of the comments Americans make on the internet you can see that those who chose not to educate themselves have no real knowledge of the world outside the US or, in some cases, their State. It's as if, when they threw out their King, (an understandable reaction), they threw out world history too. This is mimicked, although thankfully not on the same scale, in the UK.

sandelf

We have been too nice and too complacent for years now. A bit like the USA seeming to not realise that the world is not their friend. So no, we are not 'on a war footing' exactly, but we have to learn to look out for ourselves.

Yes, and very much alongside European allies ie mutual help if needed, so not standing alone (which isnt viable as a small country) but clearly not the USA.

We have been too nice and too complacent for years now. A bit like the USA seeming to not realise that the world is not their friend. So no, we are not 'on a war footing' exactly, but we have to learn to look out for ourselves.

We will agree to disagree.

Sorry ... reply to Woodenspoon's post. (Must stop trying to do two things at the same time!)

So you see a blissful world with no wars if Trump remains in power?

While diplomatic relationships can include disagreements or differences in policy, Biden's approach was characterised by an emphasis on partnership and mutual interests with the UK. With a far-right government here and Democrats in the Whitehouse can you really expect them to agree on everything?

No I’m not saying that Politics Nerd. What I am saying, or said, is that the Democrats, led by Biden, were no friends of the UK nor of avoiding wars. On the contrary, wars went on all the time and the Americans were, as always, gung ho as usual. People dislike Trump. I’m not for or against him myself. But let’s not kid ourselves things were perfect before him. They were far from that. American domestic policy is not my concern. Their foreign policy is if it is against our own interests.

Biden was far from perfect but he acted with some thought as to consequences and believed in engaging with the world.

Trump is destabilising it. Deliberate? Or the act of someone who makes policy day by day as a businessman might to make short term gain?

My post in answer to Woodenspoon.

Are you suggesting that, in an imperfect world, which will always be what we have, Trump has done something, anything, to improve it?

Perhaps the world order wasn’t working satisfactorily in the first place.