WEB EXCLUSIVE: The Spectator defence debate

TrevorsDen

I think the answer is yes... but the US Marine Corps does not have nuclear weapons (perhaps as well).

But the bulk of our forces should be united under one command.

There may be other (smaller) 'commands', like 'Strategic' for long range bombers and Trident.
and
'Coastal' for immediate air defence and coastguard.

Also the one great thing we can aspire to is Special Forces so a
''Strike' Command' to cover SAS etc and a Parachute, Commando and say a Ranger (or 'Rifle') regiments to back them up. I do not meant to include 'airborne' or 'marine' in this they would be part of the combined force.

But we should have a pathway towards our elite units and once there we should find a way of getting as many as possible back into our regular forces in senior positions rather than lose the talent.

Chuck Unsworth

If amalgamation happens the distinct Esprit de Corps of arms and units would be destroyed. There have been many occasions when our people have had their backs to the wall where such spirit, sense of history and comradeship has been the only thing between victory and disaster. Cast that away at your peril.

Edward McLaughlin

Or perhaps "a not so massive British Marine Corps"?

TrevorsDen

Where is your logic in that Chuck. regiments and ships and squadrons would survive.

The British regimental system has been squashed by Gen Jackson - we now have units like 3rd battalion the rifles where before we had say the Royal Green Jackets. Traditional regiments are long gone except fore say guards units the paras and commandos.

Autonomous Mind

Was there any particular reason why Dr Richard North is missing from your list of guests above?

Fatbloke on tour

Trevor

Where is the guy from "BWoS Systems"?
Surely no discussion about the future of the armed forces should be without a representative of that esteemed organisation so that the folk doing the fighting can get a heads up on the equipment they will be needing sometime in the future.

I am sure that if invited the man from "BWoS Systems" will have great news to tell, that the long awaited Trechubet 1400 has just entered service outside the walls of Berwick.

Rhoda Klapp

Yes, why invite North, have him speak and not only miss his name out but continue not to put eureferendum.com, his blog, on your blogroll? Is he PNG?

In2minds

@Rhoda Klapp on North why - "have him speak and not only miss his name out but continue not to put eureferendum.com, his blog, on your blogroll? Is he PNG?

Yes I think he is, but why?

Bloody Bill Brock

@RHODA KLAPP
I don't know the answer to your question Rhoda, but I was critical of this learned gentlemens comments on the joint command methods of the Wehrmacht and got chopped for my trouble.

Rhoda Klapp

Well, North may have represented the old German way as better than it really was by cherry-picking examples. By the end both the Army and the Luftwaffe were fielding Flak, for example. They had no less inter-service rivalry than we did. Imperial Japan is where we must look for the best examples though. The army even had its own submarines, not trusting the navy to do its bidding. The navy had torpedo-armed tanks for anti-shipping use. Both army and navy had its own air arm, which had no shared facilities or practices. At least our air arms have always had common serial numbers, squadron numbering, maintenance documentation, logistics, third-line services and much more.