Pongo I agree. Its a fckn joke that we will have a Parachute Regiment that dont Parachute - Only our goverment could come up with that one!!
Re your comments on Royal, it was already planned. Prior to the Falklands War, HMG was planning major cutbacks for the Royal Marines - it was only after the lads done the business on the islands that they had a re-think.
The main problem for the Paras will be Recruiting. Why would anyone want to suffer the pain of Pre-Parachute Selection (P Comany) if they dont get Airborne at the end of it? This will have a knock on effect to UKSF too, as the Paras supply more than 60% of Soldiers to the SAS.
When young lads pass P Coy and are posted to there Battalions, they will be Penguins (birds that dont fly) and will never have the full respect of the serving Paras who have earned their wings.
Does anyone else think disbandment/re-naming will be a possibilty? Maybe something along the lines of the Air Assault Regiment (operating purely from Helis)?
I mean if they are cutting costs by stopping all parachuting for 4 years, do you really think they will go to all the expense of re-training EVERYBODY in the Battalions at the end of that period? That would cost a fortune - they will look at it and say "well you havent jumped in 4 years and its had no effect on your operational capability, so why pay to re-train you?"
This is only going to get worse too. The Royal Navy has been fckd over severely - how many ships/subs etc do we have no in comparison to '82 when we sailed for the Falklands?
The Army cutbacks and Regiment amalgamations (particularly Scotland) and now the Parachute Regiment are being targeted too. Even Crab Air are losing Aircraft left, right and centre.
Its a disgrace that given our current operational tempo and how much our Forces are over-stretched, we are still being fckd over with cutbacks and ever de-creasing budgets.
Blair and HMG your all greedy, fat, spinless barstewards. We truly are Lions led by Donkeys.
Can you tell Ive been on the piss - Im fckn ragin' :evil: :evil: :evil: