Summary
On Saturday, BBC Radio 4 reported on the help that's available to soldiers who believe they are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The feature looked at the use of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing as treatment for the condition. | Various papers reported that a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan has saved four lives after his organs were donated following his death. Kingsman David Shaw was shot in Afghanistan and died two days later in hospital. | Various papers speculated that the Red Arrows and Trooping the Colour could be axed in further rounds of Defence Budget cuts. | Various papers reported that a former RAF station, Neatishead, has been listed for sale on eBay by owners Stylespace for £2.5m. | The Mail on Sunday reported that a senior Afghan commander who has advised the Prime Minister has warned that withdrawing British troops from Afghanistan will spark a 'global jihad'. | The Sunday Times reported that David Cameron is hosting talks with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts at Chequers on the future of Afghanistan. | The Mail on Sunday reported that Gurkha troops based at Britain's bloodiest outpost in Helmand have handed security control to the Afghan Police. | The Sunday Times reported that troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan are being called in by senior officers and asked to consider taking voluntary redundancy. | The Sunday Telegraph reported that the support network for Britain's Special Forces is facing major cutbacks, with around 600 posts earmarked to be lost in a reorganisation to coincide with the military pull-out from Afghanistan. | The Sunday Mirror reported that the Prime Minister stands accused of breaking a promise to help thousands of Army veterans whose health was destroyed by Britain's nuclear bomb tests. | The Sun on Sunday published pictures of Tom Cruise filming his new movie outside MOD Main Building on Saturday. | The Sunday Telegraph published an opinion editorial by the Defence Secretary on the case for maintaining a nuclear deterrent, saying Trident remains the best option for Britain. | Today, various media continue to report on the trilateral talks between the Prime Minister David Cameron, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on the Afghan peace process. | The Telegraph reports that President Karzai has questioned whether Western troops have been 'fighting in the wrong place' during the past ten years in Afghanistan. | The Daily Mirror reports that British troops operating in Afghanistan are being equipped with a variety of hi-tech equipment including the latest rifle, the SA80 A2, and state-of-the-art sunglasses to protect them from bomb blasts. | The Times reports that the resupply routes for troops in Mali are very dangerous and will bear the brunt of the violence if a guerrilla war ensues.
Recruitment adverts
A story in today's Sun newspaper reports that recruitment adverts for the Royal Navy and the RAF were shown on television on 22 January 2013, the same day the Ministry of Defence announced the third tranche of Armed Forces redundancy fields. The story claims that advertising alongside announcing redundancies is 'crass and insensitive'.
This story is misleading because there were no Royal Navy or RAF redundancies in the recent announcement. Tranche 3 applies only to Army personnel and the announcement made on 22 January set out the fields that are eligible for redundancy. No job losses were announced on this day.
It is also important to point out that the Armed Forces must continue to recruit to ensure we have enough quality junior ranks and young officers to promote up through the organisation in future. The Armed Forces Redundancy Programme has been designed to safeguard those skill sets needed in the future Armed Forces, while ensuring that rank structure remains.
Whilst reduced recruiting and fewer extensions of service will account for some of the reductions, a redundancy programme is needed to ensure the right balance of skills for the future is maintained across the rank structures and ensure the Armed Forces are structured to best meet current and emerging threats. Lessons have been learned from previous experience and maintaining the inflow is critical to preserving future operational capability.
Active recruiting for the Royal Navy, Army and RAF continues despite the redundancy announcements and the adverts were part of a pre-paid package booked many months previously to run around the best TV programmes watched by potential recruits.
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