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Posted by Patrick Cain <patrickcain@snappingturtle.net> on Mon, 03 Jan 2000 18:18:00 -0500
Press Association
Monday January 3, 4:31 PM
Probe Call Over ‘Unreliable‘ Kosovo Guns
The Government is facingcalls for an urgent inquiry into the Army‘s battle
readiness after leaked
documents suggested that British soldiers were handicapped by serious
equipment failings during the
Nato advance into Kosovo.
The documents, drawn up by senior Army officers, showed how British troops
who formed part of
the Nato force K-For which ushered Serb forces out of Kosovo last summer
were issued with
"unreliable" guns.
They also told how up to a third of personal radios were broken at any one
time that there was a
shortage of night vision equipment and that command lines were "confused
and fractured".
One of the documents suggested British forces would have been in severe
difficulties had the Serbs
mounted any kind of organised resistance to their advance.
"It is the view of this headquarters that had the situation on 12th June
the day of Nato‘s advance been anything less than benign, there would
have been command, control and communication difficulties which could not
have been resolved by K-For headquarters," one of the documents warned.
Shadow defence secretary Iain Duncan Smith called for a wide-ranging
inquiry into the problems set out in the documents.
"I think there‘s a necessity now for a full inquiry, because without such
an inquiry, we will not be able to say to the Government, and the
Government will not be able to admit, that in fact what they are trying to
get now is defence on the cheap, and they will not be able to rectify these
problems," said Mr Duncan Smith.
The leaked reports were written by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Gibson,
commanding officer of the Parachute Regiment‘s 1st Battalion, and Brigadier
Adrian Freer, commander of the 5 Airborne Brigade.
The documents, obtained by BBC Radio 4‘s Today programme, suggested that
many troops had to purchase their own camp beds and shower bags.
In addition, "the majority of commanders and many soldiers" in the 1st
Battalion Parachute Regiment battle group BG bought their own Global
Positioning Satellite receivers so they could work more efficiently at
night or in bad weather.
Patrick Cain
voice: 416 539-0939
fax: 416 515-3698
--------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: To remove yourself from this list, send a message
to majordomo@cipherlogic.on.ca from the account you wish
to remove, with the line "unsubscribe army" in the
message body.
Press Association
Monday January 3, 4:31 PM
Probe Call Over ‘Unreliable‘ Kosovo Guns
The Government is facingcalls for an urgent inquiry into the Army‘s battle
readiness after leaked
documents suggested that British soldiers were handicapped by serious
equipment failings during the
Nato advance into Kosovo.
The documents, drawn up by senior Army officers, showed how British troops
who formed part of
the Nato force K-For which ushered Serb forces out of Kosovo last summer
were issued with
"unreliable" guns.
They also told how up to a third of personal radios were broken at any one
time that there was a
shortage of night vision equipment and that command lines were "confused
and fractured".
One of the documents suggested British forces would have been in severe
difficulties had the Serbs
mounted any kind of organised resistance to their advance.
"It is the view of this headquarters that had the situation on 12th June
the day of Nato‘s advance been anything less than benign, there would
have been command, control and communication difficulties which could not
have been resolved by K-For headquarters," one of the documents warned.
Shadow defence secretary Iain Duncan Smith called for a wide-ranging
inquiry into the problems set out in the documents.
"I think there‘s a necessity now for a full inquiry, because without such
an inquiry, we will not be able to say to the Government, and the
Government will not be able to admit, that in fact what they are trying to
get now is defence on the cheap, and they will not be able to rectify these
problems," said Mr Duncan Smith.
The leaked reports were written by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Gibson,
commanding officer of the Parachute Regiment‘s 1st Battalion, and Brigadier
Adrian Freer, commander of the 5 Airborne Brigade.
The documents, obtained by BBC Radio 4‘s Today programme, suggested that
many troops had to purchase their own camp beds and shower bags.
In addition, "the majority of commanders and many soldiers" in the 1st
Battalion Parachute Regiment battle group BG bought their own Global
Positioning Satellite receivers so they could work more efficiently at
night or in bad weather.
Patrick Cain
voice: 416 539-0939
fax: 416 515-3698
--------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: To remove yourself from this list, send a message
to majordomo@cipherlogic.on.ca from the account you wish
to remove, with the line "unsubscribe army" in the
message body.
