Expenses for our soldiers second home.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/camp aigns/our_boys/2618057/What-a-bloody-shower-Ou r-Boys-are-treated-badly.html

Shouldn't a some of our politician's expenses that they receive for furnishing their second homes, now be spent on our soldier's second home?

[youngmafbog]

All we need to do is equip our soldiers with the correct equipment and ensure they dont live in squalor at home. In addition it is a bit paying taxes when on active duty. However labout especially under Brown seem incabable of grsping this rather rudimentary requirement

[jake-the-peg]

No any extra money should go into the education system or law enforcement.

Then perhaps there'd be fewer kids forced to join the forces for lack of two GCSEs to rub together.

And law enforcement to deal with troublesome squaddies when they get home.

[sp1814]

jake-the-peg

Wow...I predict an unholy sh*tstorm is going to rain down on you any moment now.

However, you've raised a point that no-one ever likes to say...that a life in the armed forces for many people is a 'last resort' option which they wouldn't even consider if they'd had the exam results to go to university.

Hey...looks like the storm is gonna rain down on me too!

[Gromit]

It is estimated that 25% of people living rough on our streets are ex-services.

I expect conditions not to be luxurious in the theatre of battle, but it is sobering to think that their next abode could be in a cardboard box under the railway arches.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfas t/2419405.stm

[buildersmate]

The pictures show a Forward Operating Base. These are positioned close to the front line with the Taliban and are intended such that withdrawl can occur at short notice. If they get over-run, nothing much in the way of UK assets is lost.
These are unrepresentative of the facilities at Camp Bastion or at the other major camps (Lashkar Gar and Gereshk are similar). Here, personnel are housed in buildings akin to Portacabins, the shower-blocks are similar - being knock-down/re-erect special purpose buildings. Full catering, providing a range of six options including veggie options, are provided by an outside contractor, to the same standards as provided in the UK. Raw food supplies are sourced using the global food supply contract, flown into either Kabul or Kandahar, then trucked/flown down to Bastion from there.
Service personnel operating out of FOBs would be using ration packs, provided for the length of their operation, either carried on their backs, and/or resupplied out of CB. Either way the kitchen facilities at FOB are not representative of what the personnel at the main camps receive - they are merely intended for self-cooking on the hoof.

Do you wish to continue with your question?

[sp1814]

AOG

Why is The Sun trying to say that these are the conditions under which all our soldiers are operating?

And would it not be better to dig a little deeper rather than believing a single source?

I'm not criticising...just alerting you to the dangers of dodgy reporting.

[flip_flop]

sp - come now, it is now possible to obtain a university place with a 25 metre swimming certificate.

[Lonnie]

just to follow up on what Gromit says, and your right, the problem is, that after a period in the Armed forces, there's not enough done to help them readjust to civilian life. I speak from experience on this one.

Quite often the ex Forces feel lost and bewildered and need <b/>help, but are too proud to ask for it.

[Gromit]

Good morning Laurel,

How's it hangin'?

[anotheoldgit]

buildersmate

Yes I do wish to continue with my question, not just because you have given me your permission to make further contributions, but because if you had read the report fully you would have noticed these comments from persons who are much more qualified to answer, than someone from 'Homes and Gardens'.

The squaddie, serving with 4 Rifles, revealed: "We had American soldiers based here and they just laughed that we had to live in these conditions.
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Lib Dem defence spokesman Nick Harvey slammed the "shameful facilities".

He said: "Surely the least our boys deserve is a decent wash after being out in the heat of battle for hours."
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SAS hero Andy McNab raged: "When you live in these s*** conditions morale goes down."
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Former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Guthrie said: "Soldiers who have been in battle need to wash and rest.
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General Sir Jack Deverell, ex-Nato Commander Allied Forces North, demanded: "Money should be provided for adequate equipment."
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[Gromit]

Don't think links are postable at the moment Laurel

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question804334.html

[Gromit]

Or maybe they are.

[anotheoldgit]

sp1814

option which they wouldn't even consider if they'd had the exam results to go to university.

It would seem under Labours obsession to fix the unemployment figures, by channelling school leavers on to further education, and then on to university to study for degrees, (many that are not worth the paper they are written on) as regards helping the recipients to obtain a lucrative job. Having gained degrees, many similar qualified youngsters find it hard if, not impossible to gain employment.

Is it not then unreasonable to see why many youngsters, in today's job situation, choose to make a career in the armed forces. A career that offers better pay than stacking shelves in a supermarket or working in a fast food outlet, and then at the end of their service, a fairly substantial pension while they are still young enough to gain other employment, if they so wish.

What future can be forecast for the thousands who have chosen to take the further education root, yes thousands of similar qualified persons each chasing the very small number of jobs that become available.

[buildersmate]

It really isn't necessary to make personal remarks about me - I'm only trying to help.
The purpose in me asking whether you wished to continue with the question was pretty clear I thought.
However, since it appears it wasn't, it was because you seemingly had only the limited understanding of the true facts of the camp conditions of the majority of UK service personnel in Afghanistan. That is probably because you read The Sun, whose readers don't really mind who runs the country provided she has .............
Having established more facts, I thought (wrongly as it turns out) that you might wish the reconsider the relevance of your (now somewhat erronous) assertion that more money should be spent on soldiers second homes.