Today’s Defence News includes supportive messages to our Service personnel, many of whom will be serving abroad this Christmas, Northern Ireland and the F-35B.
CHRISTMAS POSTED ABROAD
The Scotsman and Daily Mirror report on the number of service personnel that are serving abroad over the Christmas period. With over 4,500 personnel will be abroad during this period and the different ways serving personnel will be celebrating Christmas this year.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:
For our Armed Forces duty never stops and we pay tribute to their unerring determination and professionalism in dealing with the threats Britain faces. This Christmas, like any other day, our brave servicemen and women are securing our skies, patrolling the seas and hitting Daesh terrorists hard.
At Christmas, it’s particularly important to take a moment to think of those deployed on our behalf across the globe and to let them know how grateful we are for everything that they do to keep Britain safe.
Thousands of Armed Forces personnel are working across the globe this Christmas to help keep Britain safe at home and abroad. They are deployed in a variety of environments and on numerous operations of different natures and scale.
Currently around 1,000 people are working to fight Daesh and train the Iraqi security forces from locations in Iraq and the wider Middle East as well as from RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. In the Gulf, HMS Ocean and other Royal Navy warships are also deployed over the festive period.
Since 1969 the UK has had a submarine on patrol for every minute of every day, providing the UK’s nuclear deterrent and this Christmas is no different.
In the South Atlantic, around 1,200 personnel are stationed in the Falkland Islands. In Afghanistan, troops from the Army and other Services are training Afghan National Security Forces.
In total 18 ships and submarines are at sea and 4,500 sailors, marines, soldiers, airmen and airwomen are serving on operations across the globe in locations ranging from Somalia and Nigeria to Kuwait and Ukraine.
CHRISTMAS MESSAGES
Many of today’s papers and broadcasters have reported on the Christmas messages from Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister thanked Service personnel for all they do and the Government would look to do more for them; you can listen to the full message here.
The Defence Secretary, Chief of the Defence Staff and the MOD’s Permanent Secretary have also written to all personnel this Christmas; you can read more here.
NORTHERN IRELAND
There is continued reporting in the Daily Express, The Sun and The Daily Mail about two soldiers facing a murder charge over the death of an IRA gunman 44 years ago.
An MOD spokesperson said:
The overwhelming majority of those who served in Northern Ireland did so with great bravery and distinction. Any member of the military affected by this process will rightly be supported throughout and will receive free MOD legal representation.
THE F-35B
The Sun looks at the F-35 programme following comments made by President Elect Trump.
An MOD spokesperson said:
We remain committed to the F-35 programme and believe it offers the best capability for our Armed Forces.
You can find out more about the F-35B Lightning II here and here.
CHRISTMAS READING
If you have not decided on your Christmas reading list yet, The Times has suggestions from the Service Chiefs.
- The Chief of the General Staff’s book is ‘Too Important for the ‘Generals: Losing and Winning the First World War by Allan Mallinson’.
- The Chief of the Air Staff’s book is ‘Burma ’44’ by James Holland.
- The First Sea Lord’s book is ‘Fighting with Allies: America and Britain in Peace and War’ by Robin Renwick.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Having fought their way through their final training exercise for 2016 on a bitterly cold Salisbury Plain seizing their objective of capturing the village of Copehill Down - a purpose built military training complex that tests troops at fighting in an urban setting - the 200 Army Reserve soldiers from 3rd Battalion Princess of Waless Royal Regiment on hearing the eagerly awaited call of End Ex laid down their machine guns, grenades and bullets to be treated to a full Christmas dinner served in the field.
In time honoured British Army tradition a soldiers Christmas dinner is the one time in the year they can relax and put their feet up as their officers serve them their meal. So it was that on a Sunday afternoon on the first weekend in December that 200 sweaty, mud-caked soldiers swapped their helmets for Santa hats and tinsel to enjoy a thoroughly deserved festive treat.
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