SAS CO Resigns

[daftandbarmy]

First time I've ever heard of an officer being forced out because he was too close to the meat grinder....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=468946&in_page_id=1770

 

[tomahawk6]

He does seem to have a job with a PMC lined up and I am sure is eligible for retirement pay.A LTC has no business going on missions unless he is leading a battalion sized operation. If I were an NCO leading a patrol I wouldnt want the Old Man along for the ride.

 

[HItorMiss]

T6,

I semi disagree with you. If said CO was simply going along as patrol member ( I myself have taken much higher ranked members on patrol while I was Patrol Comdr) And really did just fill the role as another set of eyes and a gun. Which it seems he did by the tone of the article;

"According to sources he has repeatedly joined his men on frontline missions during visits to SAS detachments in Afghanistan and Iraq, insisting that he would not send his troops where he was not prepared to go himself.

The habit made him a popular figure among his men"

I think perhaps the Higher were more worried about losing the CO of "THE REGIMENT" and the media frenzy it would create ( And I connot blame them)  then with what he was doing an what s men thought of his actions.

 

[Kirkhill]

While the CO was out on the front-lines who was handling recruitment, retention, training, readjustment of roles, planning for next year's operational readiness, determining the look of the SAS in 5 years time?  Once he had demonstrated he had a grip of the "on the ground" realities who was rectifying deficiencies in training, equipment and command for the following rotations?

It is all very well to lead from the front but......

 

[3rd Herd]

Kirkhill,
correct if I am wrong but did not the CANLOAN program originate as a result of this British tradition.

 

[daftandbarmy]

While the CO was out on the front-lines who was handling recruitment, retention, training, readjustment of roles, planning for next year's operational readiness, determining the look of the SAS in 5 years time?   Once he had demonstrated he had a grip of the "on the ground" realities who was rectifying deficiencies in training, equipment and command for the following rotations?

It is all very well to lead from the front but......

In the past that's always been a good excuse for senior leaders who are, shall we say, more keen on paperwork than bayonet work to stay out of the fight they've sent their troops into. Good leaders can do it all.

 

[HItorMiss]

Kirkhill what CO do you know of in a Regular Army unit has anything to do with recruitment, retention, readjustment of roles? That is all handled by other offices in the Military.

That's a flawed argument. Though operational readiness sure is. And the look of the SAS will likely be the same 5yrs from now as it was 5 years ago, ad new kit and some SOP changes that would be sent to Ops and Training who would then foeward it to the CO.

Again I think he ha the right idea. The Article never said he deployed for a full term with his teams just that on visits he went out with them. The rest of the time he was likely back at home station doing the mundane matters of being a CO.

 

[3rd Herd]

Some interesting comments from the comment link attached to the article:

"Emmm, an SAS officer leading from the front, tut tut. This does not make the other officers who lead from the back look good at all, so he must go. I wonder how his men feel about this. "Who Dares Loses" in Blair’s army."

- Alan, Spain

"The MoD are a bunch of office bound buffoons who have no idea of the ethos of military life. While short of personnel they interfere with military life that they no nothing about and forcing people to leave in droves. Get rid of these idiots and let the military run the military."

- Ken, Trowbridge

He was clearly embarrassing the superiors hiding behind their desks.

- Karen, England

He should stand for parliament - we could do with some real men in the big house.

- Steve Cocker, UK

 

[Kirkhill]

Fair comments HitorMiss but I had the sense, perhaps mistaken, that the SAS was not a Regular Army unit and that it operated on a different, more direct, report line.

 

[HItorMiss]

Kirk

I would think direct line is more of an operational thing and less of Garrison thing. CSA pretty much spells it all out in how I think it would work even in that unit. But in the end it's speculation on our parts as to how anything works with that unit.

 

[Teddy Ruxpin]

I'm entirely with T6 on this one.  The SAS is a specialist unit where squadrons operate more or less independently.  Their role is dramatically different than merely going out on patrol or engaging in conventional combat operations.  CO SAS has a wide array of responsibilities and is in command of a unit that can have sub-units (or less) engaged on operations separately around the globe.

This context is very different than placing callsign 9er alongside a combat team on the advance.  Indeed, a good tanker CO will usually command a battle group from his vehicle.  Instead, we're talking about small sub-sub-units engaged in very specialized tasks.  I cannot imagine a circumstance where CO SAS is required to kick in doors, "supervise" an OP or to directly participate in what are likely troop-level operations.  Were I an OC, it would drive me nuts to be so closely supervised, for many of the same reasons quoted by CSA 105.  

Such gung-ho-ness is what gets COs killed for no good reason.

 

[geo]

I have known COs who have been of the field variety and I have known COs who have been of the deskbound variety.
So long as field type has someone at home looking after the paperwork - it'll work..... else..... they lose the paper war.

Nothing wrong with the CO going along for the ops as "one of the boys!" but, he has to know & keep his place.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Update from the UK grapevine.

Apparently he was made an offer 'he couldn't refuse' by a private security company.