An inquest into the deaths of Cpl Sarah Bryant, Cpl Sean Reeve, L/Cpl Richard Larkin, and Trooper Paul Stout, after the Snatch Land Rover they were travelling in was hit by a roadside bomb in Helmand Province in June 2008, heard evidence that they were forced into a Snatch Land Rover because of vehicle shortages and that they had insufficient training in the use of metal detectors.
The inquest heard that the commander of the four soldiers had requested a replacement for their Snatch Land Rover but was refused due to equipment shortages.
Soldiers also had to “acquire surreptitiously” mine detectors because they had not been issued enough. Some did not get correct bomb detection training until four months into their deployment, the inquest in Trowbridge, Wilts, heard.
SAS soldiers 'would be alive' if they had the right equipment, The Daily Telegraph, 10 March 2010
"At any point, commanders were able to ask for equipment that they needed and I know of no occasion when they were turned down."
Gordon Brown, Iraq Inquiry, 5 March 2010
I've said this before and I'll say it again, the British Army, traditonally have been underfunded and ill equipped by governments but for Brown to claim that there is no issue of funding for the military is disingenous to say the least.
And I repeat my demand from an earlier post, it doesn't matter what the politics are - If a Government is to send troops in then, for once, I want the soldiers to be fully equipped and manned.
Give them the tools and they will do the job, without those tools it is amazing that they are still working.
No comments:
Post a Comment