The World's Armed Forces Thread

Silhouette Man

This is the thread to discuss the British Armed Forces past and present and the issues that face servicemen and women in theatres of war or at home. The British Armed Forces includes the British Army, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy, the Special Forces like the Special Air Service (SAS) and the Special Boat Service (SBS), the Royal Marines, Military Intelligence, Naval Intelligence, the Sappers, the Gurkhas, the Parachute Regiment, Defence Intelligence and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) and any other general or specific British military topic such as the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their legal and political and indeed human aftermath.

May 2016 Thread EDIT: I've now expanded the thread to include Armed Forces from around the world more generally as well.

I feel we need a thread like this here as of course the new James Bond of the reboot has a more Special Forces background than he perhaps had in the original Ian Fleming spy novel series (although he was involved in the fight against the German High Command's Ardennes Offensive of 1944-45, see Dr. No)*. James Bond can of course come into this discussion too - perhaps a discussion on James Bond and heavy artillery weapons is in order for example?

So please feel free to discuss any aspects of the world's Armed Forces past or present in this thread.


* And see here for more on James Bond and World War II:

http://thebondologistblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/james-bond-in-contemporary-world-war-ii.html

This is my opening shot as it were.

Asp9mm

You missed Defence Intelligence and SRR out.

Silhouette Man

Asp9mm wrote:

You missed Defence Intelligence and SRR out.

Yes, sorry, I thought I had probably missed something! I will amend the OP accordingly - thanks for pointing it out Aspy. -{

BRIXMIS

we;; if we are listing things that were missed out, how about the Parachute Regiment

Silhouette Man

BRIXMIS wrote:

we;; if we are listing things that were missed out, how about the Parachute Regiment

Thanks, fixed! -{

BRIXMIS

Silhouette Man wrote:

BRIXMIS wrote:

we;; if we are listing things that were missed out, how about the Parachute Regiment

Thanks, fixed! -{

-{

Asp9mm

Cool, twas a sad day when 14 Company ceased to be and SRR arose from their ashes Still, a nice limited edition Explorer came with it....

Lady Rose

Very,very nice Asp9mm B-)

Well earned I'm sure

Silhouette Man

Lady Rose wrote:

Very,very nice Asp9mm B-)

Well earned I'm sure

Indeed, very nice timepiece there, Aspy. -{

Silhouette Man

Just a little note to say that I've changed the title of the thread, to make it more inclusive of the experiences of armed forces around the world.

When I created the thread back in 2014 I intended it more as a general thread not specifically for those who had served in one of the forces but for anyone with an interest in British military affairs. My interest stems from my love of history (I have a degree in the subject) and also because for my 20,000 word dissertation in 2009 for my Law Masters degree I wrote about the royal prerogative power to commit the UK Armed Forces abroad (in the wake of the 2003 Iraq War). So, the interest in the British Armed Forces and the welfare of its personnel has pretty much always been there. Their scarifies, bravery and general public service is something I greatly respect them all for. That's where I'm coming from with this thread.

Number24

Norway is sending 60 soldiers to Jordan to train resistance fighters to fight ISIS in Syria. The soldiers are mostly special forces and will enter Syria and fight alongside the resistance when needed.

Norwegian FSK (army special forces) has eariler been training the Kabul police Crisis Response Unit TF 24 in Afghanistan. The name of the Afghan unit is a tribute to the WWII Special Operations Executive agent Gunnar "Number 24" Sønsteby:






Some say CRU TF 24 is the best trained Aghan fighting unit:

0073

Asp9mm wrote:

Cool, twas a sad day when 14 Company ceased to be and SRR arose from their ashes Still, a nice limited edition Explorer came with it....

So.... 139 members in the SRR.....hmmm..... :v

The Domino Effect

Number24 wrote:

Norway is sending 60 soldiers to Jordan to train resistance fighters to fight ISIS in Syria. The soldiers are mostly special forces and will enter Syria and fight alongside the resistance when needed.

Norwegian FSK (army special forces) has eariler been training the Kabul police Crisis Response Unit TF 24 in Afghanistan. The name of the Afghan unit is a tribute to the WWII Special Operations Executive agent Gunnar "Number 24" Sønsteby:

It's strange how so many Special Forces members from all over the world have squidgy faces, as though they had very bad acne as children.

always shaken

Sitting in the grounds of Chateau AS today ,I heard the familiar bop bop bop sound of approaching helios ,for some reason we live under a military flight path from London to Kent ,Normal Army taxi stuff ,Chinooks Lynxs ect ,but this was different ,I looked up and it was almost as if id stepped onto the set of Terminator.These two aircraft a sort of a cross between a helio and an aeroplane ,came thudding across the Kent sky,i nearly spilt my beer .Amazing to look at the two propellers where facing skyward ,like a regular helicopter,but it had wings ,I would imagine the props turned forward at some stage ,but very futuristic ,any of you Army chappies ,know what I saw .

Thunderpussy

If we hear nothing more from you, we'll understand !
State secrets and all that.

always shaken

That's the one , thank you Stag, that's what I like about AJB ,some one somewhere always has an answer , but question still stands
what are they ??

always shaken

Theve been over twice today ,there and back , nice thought to think the SAS are looking down at my pile )


" oh look some bloke has those Skyfall deer on is lawn " (said in a Scottish accent of course )

Number24

The Norwegian Navy has cruice missiles capable of hitting targets on land (a verion of the NSM) Not many navies have this capability I believe.

NSM - here shown hitting a sea target:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXLij2ABebs