The World's Armed Forces Thread
Silhouette Man
The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
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.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Comments
Yes, sorry, I thought I had probably missed something! I will amend the OP accordingly - thanks for pointing it out Aspy.
Thanks, fixed!
Well earned I'm sure
Indeed, very nice timepiece there, Aspy.
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.
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:
So.... 139 members in the SRR.....hmmm..... :v
-Mr Arlington Beech
State secrets and all that.
what are they ??
" oh look some bloke has those Skyfall deer on is lawn " (said in a Scottish accent of course )
NSM - here shown hitting a sea target:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXLij2ABebs