From The Sunday Times

June 8, 2008, Michael Smith

SAS chief resigns over lack of kit


The former commander of the British Task Force in southern Afghanistan Brigadier Edward Butler at Buckingham Palace

A FORMER head of the SAS has quit the army after criticising the government for risking soldiers’ lives by failing to fund troops and equipment.

Brigadier Ed Butler, one of Britain’s most experienced and decorated special forces soldiers, is the most senior of three key commanders to have resigned in the past year amid widespread anger over lack of funding.

News of his resignation comes in the same week that General Sir Richard Dannatt, head of the army, called for better treatment for the forces and more money to be spent on defence.

In a statement issued through the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Butler said he was leaving for “a number of factors and reasons” and singled out difficulties faced by service personnel.

He praised the “extraordinarily brave men and women” who repeatedly did their job well in the face of “constraints and restraints”. He said the country owed them “a huge debt of gratitude”.

The MoD said it was “not a protest vote”. But close friends said Butler was disappointed that the government put soldiers’ lives at risk by failing to pay for sufficient troops and equipment.

“He was very frustrated at the cuts going on in the army at present,” one close associate said. “Sadly, many of the concerns held by senior officers have not been resolved and, across the armed forces, there are a lot of officers and soldiers who are not happy.”

Butler, 48, was widely expected to become the next director of special forces, friends said.

He led the first British deployment to southern Afghanistan in 2006 and said in his statement that his decision to quit came “after a great deal of discussion and deliberation over the last six months”.

Six months ago the board of inquiry into the death of Captain Jim Philippson, the first British soldier to die in action in Helmand province, cited Butler’s criticism of the failure to provide troops and kit and blamed “political machinations” for his death.

Butler was highly critical of John Reid, then defence secretary, for keeping troop numbers low and of the failure of the Treasury under Gordon Brown to fund equipment.

Lieutenant Colonel Rick Williams MC, another commanding officer of the SAS, resigned last July after being criticised by senior officers for spending too much time on the front line with his men.

He was followed in November by Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Tootal, commanding officer of third battalion, the Parachute Regiment.

Butler’s special forces career during the 1991 Gulf war, in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan had him marked down for great things.

He is the grandson of Richard “Rab” Butler, the former Tory foreign secretary and chancellor.

He was mentioned in dispatches in Northern Ireland, awarded the Distinguished Service Order twice, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his time in Helmand.

He is currently the commander of Joint Task Force Headquarters which is based in the UK and contains a strong special forces element.

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"Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat its mistakes..."

What a Loss.

Its a pity that more Senior Officers of similar calibre aren't prepared to make a stand.

The British government has to be made to realise that the Forces can't keep up their excellent performances time after time without total commitment and support from the government and general public alike.

I still hold Mike Jackson responsible, he failed miserably in my eyes to support the troops under his command when he was top soldier. The result of which is that "Gen Dannat" is facing a massive uphill battle.

Its time for Browne and Co to go.



Faugh-a-ballagh

Wow I Didn't know 'Rick' had the MC- well done him!
I was chatting with General Sir Mike the other day (Jackson this time not Rose)-both nice guys, although Jackson is definately just a soldier where as Rose is more the international anything he wants to be.
Earlier that evening in public discussion Mike bemoaned the fact that the MOD has such encumberanced methods of operating. It's all about PROCESS it seems and this is the main problem.
The head of the army had his arms tied behind his back because he can't just spot a problem and
say 'Right, I personally will see to it that that gets sorted' It doesn't work like that.
There are endless civvies who have never served, who don't give a shit, and PROCESS in the way.
The whole system needs overhauling urgently.

I do wish these good top men would stop resigning!

Foxy said. I do wish these good top men would stop resigning!

Could be a good thing if they become politions and shout even louder for immediate backup for the lads on and off active duty.

It will be an impossible uphill struggle for the next new goverment, with all the Labour party debt. to pay off again, only this time unlike Maggie they will have no industries to sell off.

We are finding Billions of £s. to found the incomers many of them from the Arab freternity, but nothing for the lads, who deserve it. regards ferret.

Clement Attley. Harold Wilson. Blair & Brown.

They are all achievers in creating debt. Mountains.

Brig. Butler was late of my (now amalgamated) regimrnt, the Royal Green Jackets. He's very well thought of amongst Rifllemen, especially those that were lucky enough to serve under him in Afghanistan though I never had the pleasure myself. A real loss, but inevitably every thing must change and I wish him the best in his future civilian life.

Jack

UK NEWSPRIDE OF BRITAIN: OUR BRAVE TROOPS



McNab is full of praise for our troops

Sunday June 8,2008
By David Stephenson Have your say(12)
BRITISH soldiers are better equipped and in better shape than at any time in the history of modern warfare, according to SAS hero Andy McNab.

While doom merchants claim our troops’ morale has been sapped by the amount of British blood spilled in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bravo Two Zero legend says the truth is that our infantrymen are chomping at the bit to fight for their country.

He also launches a withering attack on the likes of Defence Secretary Des Browne, who infuriated troops by claiming some lacked the qualifications to be paid even as much as traffic wardens.

McNab, the Army’s most highly decorated serving soldier when he left the SAS, reveals that teenage infantrymen are now leading operations which 10 years ago would only have been the preserve of special forces soldiers such as himself.

“The infantry now is without doubt the best it has ever been in its history,” said McNab, 48, who became a national hero after surviving capture and six weeks’ torture in Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.

“These are facts. If you look at a 20-year-old rifleman running around in Basra or Kandahar, they are seeing more contacts than their grandads did in the Second World War.”

Two years ago McNab, whose bravery in a 17-year career saw him awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal, criticised the Army for being “overstretched and undervalued”.

But after seeing our troops in action for a new TV series, he has changed his opinion. McNab discovered the US Marines are so impressed with the machine guns and radios being used by our forces that they are buying them from the Ministry of Defence.

"McNab discovered the US Marines are so impressed with the machine guns and radios being used by our forces that they are buying them from the Ministry of Defence. "
What MGs are these? The Yanks have had the Minimi for a while now and they sure won't be impressed by the LSW.

Acorn,

I believe that the USMC has been phasing out the old M60 for a while and adopting (in a varity of configurations) the FN MAG (GPMG). Doubt that they're getting them from us though as we barely have enough for ourselves. Most TA units have had their GPMGs almost entirely commandeered and deployed to theatre.

Jack

Hi Jack,
Yes, I was wondering about his remark because I know the Yanks have been using the FN for a while now (and, like the Minimi, is hardly British).

Regarding the Gimpy, a lovely weapon, the Parachute Regiment has been urging the Dept. Inf. to restart GPMG training. As it is para recruits must do GPMG training in what is free time for the other infantry recruits who do not train on the weapon. This causes a problem in Afghanistan as infantry recruits using WMIK vehicles are confronted with a weapon on which they have not trained. Farcical!

I think McNab was going a little overboard regarding "teenage infantrymen leading operations..." but his heart was in the right place.

Acorn,

Back in the day 'The General' was taught as a platoon weapon, but since the introduction of the L85 & L86 and concurrent reconfiguring of the Rifle Section into two equally equipped fire teams, the GPMG has been relegated to a support pln/Sustained Fire role and only those in SF/Heavy Weapons Pln got to use it.

Except .... every time we seem to get into a heavy shooting match (or even just when we expected on like in Kosovo) the General gets dragged out of the armoury and handed out at Pln level again, because everyone starts to figure that, 'actually fuck the extra weight, we could do with the fire power.'

The way that most of today's Infantrymen know their way around it is simply because of its similarity to the L110A2 LMG (FN Minimi or M249 depending on your nationality). To its credit, the Minimi is a really good bit of kit that has more than proved itself in both current theatres.

Ref McNab, yeah he's probably exaggerating the point to make the point, but you'd be surprised at the quality of some of the young Toms out there. This nation really doesn't appreciate the kind of people it happily crosses the road to avoid.

Jack

I think that the actions and courage of our army proves that soldiering can turn yobs around (as some of them have been) and bring the best out of them. turning them into REAL men.