I know things have to improve over the years, but compared to the 1940s/50s accomadation, ie Living in the open in Tents, or Nissen huts, or even the wooden huts which were a luxury in those days, was no where near the central heated accomdation of todays Army.

A good soldier makes the best of a bad job, and gets on with what he is.

A Soldier of the Queen. ferret.

I cant wait for the incoming. lol



Soldiers living in inadequate accommodation Thursday January 4, 07:41 AM

LONDON (Reuters) - Too much accommodation for soldiers is inadequate and the army must fight to secure a better deal, a senior military officer told BBC News.

The comments from Lieutenant General Freddie Viggers, who is in charge of housing, came as the BBC broadcast photographs on Wednesday night it said were from soldiers showing their dingy living quarters in Britain.

"The issue we have is that there is still too much accommodation which is of a poor standard and is old, and is not modern in terms of the way it is fitted for families," Viggers, the arm's personnel chief, said in an interview.
"It's one of the key issues for me in what we call the military covenant -- giving our soldiers and their families what they deserve in return for what they do for us.

"So our duty now is to fight our corner in defence to get for our families what they deserve."

Viggers is not the only senior officer to voice concern.

Major-General Richard Shirreff, commander of British forces in southern Iraq, said last month troops had suffered a generation of under-funding and neglect, while former top soldier General Sir Mike Jackson has accused the government of failing to provide the right resources and support.

Derek Twigg, a defence minister, told the BBC that the government had a sustained programme of investment.

"We've spent 700 million pounds last year in improving service accommodation. We recognise there is a challenge, we recognise that the accommodation is not perfect and we need to improve it," he said.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said 1 billion pounds was being put into making improvements over the next decade.

"Our accommodation is not perfect, but we are working to get it right," he said on Thursday.

Liam Fox, defence spokesman for the opposition Conservative Party, however, warned that soldiers would leave the armed forces if Britain failed to provide them with comfortable living quarters while they not away on dangerous operations.

"There is an unspoken understanding that when we send people out to fight and potentially die in our name, that our part of the bargain is to make sure that they and their families are properly looked after," he told the BBC.

Ferret,
I understand what yoou are saying but it is a very different world and not all for the better. Youngsters are spoiled stupid nowadays with all the luxuries, mod cons and uni degrees for passing the old eleven plus. We have an all-volunteer army and these youngsters are not going to live in Nissen huts and work for beer money.

As I said before, I believe that a restricted form of national service can be usefull in taking some of the oderous duties off the professional soldier and getting youngsters interested in a career in the army. That said, it is a career soldier we want as it costs too much to train a modern soldier to have him leaving after three years.

I have also stated that I believe we need a larger army. Assuming the army was to get the gear they require (a VERY big assumption) I would also go on to say that more training time should be spent WITHOUT that gear since the modern soldier is likely to become over-dependant on technology. Many patrolling skills appear to be in steep decline and how do MFCs direct the fire of mortars if an EMP burst has disabled their hand-held computer?

Meanwhile as the RN mothballs ships and the government considers cancelling the two aircraft carriers (did they ever intend to build them?), two of the promised destroyers have been cancelled. What happened to the policy of "Force Projection"?

The sooner the half-witted British people awaken and boot this crowd out, the better. It may already be too late.