The signing of the rare earth minerals deal between the US and Ukraine seems to be a significant watershed in the conflict. There now appears to be at least some likelihood that we will see a ceasefire, as America now has skin in the game and there is little doubt that the US could cripple Russia economically or militarily if it wished to.
This has huge implications for the British Army, with Sir Keir Starmer pledging with the French to produce “boots on the ground” powerful enough to deter Russian aggression or defeat any incursions and send the enemy packing.
Though the Carrier Strike Group heading out of Portsmouth this week for the South China Seas looks mightily impressive, it has little relevance in deterring our number one enemy: Russia. Let us hope that the Strategic Defence Review, just about to drop, delivers military capability that deters our most likely aggressor, rather than projecting British power on the other side of the planet. This is a task which passed to others decades ago, or at least should have done.
There are other reasons for me to discuss the state of the Army just now. Two huge events occur in the British military calendar this weekend: the Army-Navy rugby match at Twickenham on Saturday and the new intake at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on Monday. The whole of the British Army today could sit down at Twickenham with enough seats left for most of the Royal Navy. This is the smallest force since Waterloo.
Like most with naval or military service, I’ll be following the match on Saturday keenly. But I have to admit I will be even more emotionally invested on Sunday.
The latest batch of young men and women coming to learn how to “serve to lead” at Sandhurst will include my son as the fourth consecutive generation of de Bretton Gordons to climb those hallowed steps.
I buried my father last week, a 40-year veteran. Counting time in the reserves on top of my 23 years as a regular, I am at 37 years and counting. My grandfather served 35 years including the whole of WW2. It is with immense pride and just a hint of jealousy that I deliver the new generation to the place where I and so many others have learnt the business of soldiering. I can tell you from extensive personal knowledge that the men and women joining the Army today, be it at Sandhurst or the soldier training establishments around the country, are the finest we’ve ever had – in stark contradiction to those armchair experts who suggest the nation’s youth are too woke to fight.
Soon after I left Sandhurst I was fighting in a tank regiment in the First Gulf War, when we sent an armoured division with close on 200 tanks to smash the Iraqi Republican Guard. We had trained for 12 months in combined arms manoeuvre and formed a first-class outfit along with our US and French comrades – I’d say it may be time to get the old gang back together. The British Army was, however, twice the size it is today, and you’d have needed both Twickenham and Wembley to sit us all down.
However, though we can only put a beefed-up brigade into the field today rather than a heavy division, that brigade is probably as powerful as our whole division was 35 years ago and it is ready to fight – do not believe the doom laden academics who have never engaged in combat but claim to know everything about it. We are ready to be part of a 26,000 strong “coalition of the willing” force to deter Russian aggression.
Do not, also, be hoodwinked by headlines in the Times yesterday saying that Europe cannot produce this force – it can. The Finns and Poles with their massive armies, right next to Russia, know that if Putin prevails in Ukraine he will attack them next, and hence their soldiers are staying put to oppose him. But with Germany now back in the military game and a little help from some of the other Europeans, 26,000 is viable, and viable over a long enough period to get the job done.
Yes, the British Army is ready to fight, and Putin should remember it. The finest men and women are still keen to join in spite of the ridiculously clunky recruitment system, and politicians are beginning to realise you can’t just wish away tyrants like Putin – sometimes you need heavy metal and enough of it, and well trained to ensure we can protect these Isles from the enemy at the door rather than some chimera way over the horizon.
It won’t be just on Saturday that I’ll be cheering “come on the Army!”
The signing of the rare earth minerals deal between the US and Ukraine seems to be a significant watershed in the conflict. There now appears to be at least some likelihood that we will see a ceasefire, as America now has skin in the game and there is little doubt that the US could cripple Russia economically or militarily if it wished to.
This has huge implications for the British Army, with Sir Keir Starmer pledging with the French to produce “boots on the ground” powerful enough to deter Russian aggression or defeat any incursions and send the enemy packing.
Though the Carrier Strike Group heading out of Portsmouth this week for the South China Seas looks mightily impressive, it has little relevance in deterring our number one enemy: Russia. Let us hope that the Strategic Defence Review, just about to drop, delivers military capability that deters our most likely aggressor, rather than projecting British power on the other side of the planet. This is a task which passed to others decades ago, or at least should have done.
There are other reasons for me to discuss the state of the Army just now. Two huge events occur in the British military calendar this weekend: the Army-Navy rugby match at Twickenham on Saturday and the new intake at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on Monday. The whole of the British Army today could sit down at Twickenham with enough seats left for most of the Royal Navy. This is the smallest force since Waterloo.
Like most with naval or military service, I’ll be following the match on Saturday keenly. But I have to admit I will be even more emotionally invested on Sunday.
The latest batch of young men and women coming to learn how to “serve to lead” at Sandhurst will include my son as the fourth consecutive generation of de Bretton Gordons to climb those hallowed steps.
I buried my father last week, a 40-year veteran. Counting time in the reserves on top of my 23 years as a regular, I am at 37 years and counting. My grandfather served 35 years including the whole of WW2. It is with immense pride and just a hint of jealousy that I deliver the new generation to the place where I and so many others have learnt the business of soldiering. I can tell you from extensive personal knowledge that the men and women joining the Army today, be it at Sandhurst or the soldier training establishments around the country, are the finest we’ve ever had – in stark contradiction to those armchair experts who suggest the nation’s youth are too woke to fight.
Soon after I left Sandhurst I was fighting in a tank regiment in the First Gulf War, when we sent an armoured division with close on 200 tanks to smash the Iraqi Republican Guard. We had trained for 12 months in combined arms manoeuvre and formed a first-class outfit along with our US and French comrades – I’d say it may be time to get the old gang back together. The British Army was, however, twice the size it is today, and you’d have needed both Twickenham and Wembley to sit us all down.
However, though we can only put a beefed-up brigade into the field today rather than a heavy division, that brigade is probably as powerful as our whole division was 35 years ago and it is ready to fight – do not believe the doom laden academics who have never engaged in combat but claim to know everything about it. We are ready to be part of a 26,000 strong “coalition of the willing” force to deter Russian aggression.
Do not, also, be hoodwinked by headlines in the Times yesterday saying that Europe cannot produce this force – it can. The Finns and Poles with their massive armies, right next to Russia, know that if Putin prevails in Ukraine he will attack them next, and hence their soldiers are staying put to oppose him. But with Germany now back in the military game and a little help from some of the other Europeans, 26,000 is viable, and viable over a long enough period to get the job done.
Yes, the British Army is ready to fight, and Putin should remember it. The finest men and women are still keen to join in spite of the ridiculously clunky recruitment system, and politicians are beginning to realise you can’t just wish away tyrants like Putin – sometimes you need heavy metal and enough of it, and well trained to ensure we can protect these Isles from the enemy at the door rather than some chimera way over the horizon.
It won’t be just on Saturday that I’ll be cheering “come on the Army!”