IF USA Had a REAL LEADER, he would address our enemies like CHURCHILL spoke to Hitler

Good Show 007 - Daniel Craig visits the troops at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan

Glad to see 007 was able to make a stop out to visit the troops over at Camp Bastion.  I was stationed there ( at next door Camp Leatherneck) and getting there is half the fun.  Working side by side with the UK Troops/Aussies/ Kiwis (New Zealanders) was always a great experience.

Bravo Zulu to Daniel Craig for bringing the new movie " Skyfall " out to the troops in Afghanistan.

Good Show 007.

James Bond Star Daniel Craig In Afghanistan

Hundreds of UK soldiers, airmen and sailors get a surprise treat as they are waiting to see the latest 007 film Skyfall

Troops at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan were taken by surprise when 007 star Daniel Craig dropped in on their base.

 The actor met 800 soldiers, airmen and sailors just before they watched the new Bond film, Skyfall.

 During his tour of the camp, Craig witnessed some of the training given to troops before they are sent to forward operating bases.

 He also got the chance to fire some of the machine guns they use and took the wheel of the Foxhound vehicle in which he was shown around.

 Warrant Officer Rob Ingham said: "We get quite a lot of visitors here, but having James Bond was special. He seemed to be pretty comfortable in the driving seat!"

 Craig later visited the world-class Bastion Role 3 Hospital, which is acknowledged to be a centre of excellence for trauma medicine.

Private Scott Craggs, 23, from Newcastle, a combat medical technician serving with 3 Medical Regiment, said: "It was really good morale for everyone - it's a decent thing for him to take time to come out and visit everyone here."

 The star's final stop was a practical demonstration of counter improvised explosive device searching techniques where he was given a chance to use detectors to search for buried training devices.

 Warrant Officer Paul Ward, a Squadron Sergeant Major, said: "It was good to see Daniel Craig here in Bastion. Our training is critical to keeping Afghans and our own soldiers safe."

 RAF Sergeant Dave Hammond, who was one of those lucky to get a ticket for the film, said: "It was like a return to the old James Bonds. There was a bit of humour and some spectacular effects.

 "It was great to be able to see the film here - and to have James Bond himself to introduce it was brilliant!"

 Private Shane Awbery, 23, from Doncaster, a communications specialist, said: "It was great for morale and the atmosphere in the tent when we were watching the film was buzzing.

 "The film was really good, too - and I liked it that he answered our questions."

Sir Winston Churchill is celebrated at the Morgan Library in NYC

A quiet week and it leads into another here at the new workplace overseas.....

A good write up in the NYT about a presentation on the writings of Sir Winston Churchill, one of the key people who kept Democracy alive when it was most threatened in World War 2...I feel that without men like him, our world would have succumbed to horrors unimaginable in the mid-20th century.

I salute our greatest allies, the British and one of their greatest statesmen, Sir Winston Churchill.

Successes in Rhetoric: Language in the Life of Churchill
‘Churchill: The Power of Words,’ at the Morgan Library
By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN - NY TIMES

Published: June 8, 2012

The orotund proclamations will be unavoidable at the new exhibition “Churchill: The Power of Words,” at the Morgan Library & Museum, because at the center of the gallery is a semi-enclosed theater. And from it, however muted, will emerge recordings of Winston Churchill’s voice, speaking to Parliament, to British radio listeners and to American audiences, breaking on the ear like waves, rising and falling with every breath, sometimes suspended unexpectedly in midair, other times rushing forward with renewed vigor.

If you enter that small theater to hear excerpts from eight of his landmark speeches more clearly, you will also see the words on screen, laid out in poetic scansion (“The whole fury and might of the enemy/must very soon be turned on us”), just as Churchill wrote them, to match the rhythms of his voice.

But ignore the sound, if you can, and leave it for last. For it is best first to be reminded just how important those speeches by a British prime minister really were, and what difference they made.

This isn’t a history exhibition, so you won’t be able to take their full measure; you won’t fully grasp how washed up Churchill’s political career was in the mid-1930s; how few in England were prepared to recognize what was taking place in Germany; how few were also prepared to think the unthinkable about war, scarcely 20 years after the continent was so stained in blood; and how visionary Churchill was, in knowing what would happen and in understanding what price would be paid.

So you won’t really be able to understand that there was a period — between Germany’s beginning to bomb England in 1940 (killing more than 40,000) and the United States’ entrance to the war at the end of 1941 — when England might well have fallen or made generous accommodation to German demands, had Churchill not been a master of words and ideas, rallying his “great island nation” as prime minister with promises of blood, toil, tears and sweat.

But you will see enough to get a sense of what his wartime leadership meant. And what the rest of this fine exhibition accomplishes is to show how Churchill’s words can seem the expression of a life force, mixing mercurial passions and extraordinary discipline, passionate devotion and exuberant self-promotion, extravagant indulgence and ruthless analysis. The show, which opened on Friday, helps put a life in perspective that even during the years after the Sept. 11 attacks has been energetically celebrated as an ideal and just as energetically derided by critics for its intemperate character.

More than 60 documents and artifacts have been gathered by Allen Packwood, the director of the Churchill Archives Center at the University of Cambridge, England, for this exhibition, also drawing on the holdings of Churchill’s house at Chartwell, Kent. There are few opportunities to see these documents on public display, even in England, though many have been digitized as part of the museum at the Churchill Center and Museum in London.

There are letters from Winston’s difficult childhood, when his wealthy American mother and neglectful, titled father sent him to boarding school at 8. (An early letter home from 1883 or ’84 is scrawled with a child’s “X’s” — kisses rarely returned by any but his beloved nanny.) And there is a report card in which the child, not yet 10, is described as “a constant trouble to everybody.”

But we see the adventurer and historian begin to evolve, courting danger in battle and then writing its history. (“I am more ambitious for a reputation for personal courage,” he wrote his mother in 1897, “than of anything else in the world.”) There are drafts of speeches that are mapped out like poetry, a sample of Churchill’s amateur landscape painting, his Nobel Prize in Literature from 1953 “for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory.” (The onetime Prime Minister Arthur Balfour described Churchill’s three-volume history of World War I as a “brilliant autobiography disguised as a history of the universe.”)

Perhaps the most remarkable document here is a New York doctor’s prescription from Jan. 26, 1932. Churchill had been on a lecture tour when he was hit by a car at Fifth Avenue and 76th Street and needed medical assistance.

“This is to certify,” the doctor writes — this in the midst of Prohibition — “that the postaccident convalescence of the Hon. Winston S. Churchill necessitates the use of alcoholic spirits especially at meal times.” The quantity, the doctor continues, is “naturally indefinite,” but the “minimum requirements would be 250 cubic centimeters,” or just over 8 ounces.

That “naturally indefinite” quantity would become one of Churchill’s trademarks, along with his cigars and the rhythms of his voice, which was heavily used in his political career. He was a candidate in 21 parliamentary contests between 1899 and 1955, losing 5 of them. But all of this — even the elaborate touch screens showing every document in the exhibition, along with other documents and transcriptions of handwriting — would inspire purely specialized interest had it not been for Churchill’s speeches and writings from the mid-1930s into the 1950s.

This was a rhetorical achievement, almost a musical one, in which Churchill’s innate optimism provided a kind of elevating promise even as he was trying to map out the scope of cataclysm. It was also a strategic achievement, for in his speeches we can see him demonstrating that there were choices to be made. And it was a political achievement because before the United States was involved in World War II, America had to be addressed as well, made to understand the stakes.

Churchill shaped a notion of the “English-speaking peoples” that proved fundamental because he understood that the English literary and political traditions had defined the very character of liberal democracy that was coming under threat. Churchill’s speeches declared an allegiance of language and of ideology. They also helped shape that allegiance, celebrating a particular heritage and its possibilities, while emphasizing its vulnerabilities and the need for its defense.

The achievement is a little like Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, defining the stakes of the Civil War while reshaping the America’s conception of itself. There are a few comparisons between Churchill and Lincoln in these documents, which seem thoroughly appropriate. (President Roosevelt framed some lines by Lincoln as a 70th-birthday gift for Churchill in 1944.)

Churchill was attentive to the long line of historical ideas. And his ability to conjure that tradition for support is another reason individual setbacks were less crucial for him. Something larger was at stake. It wasn’t just a matter of opposition; it was a matter of what was being championed, even if the British Empire was in its twilight and the United States was beginning to bear the standard.

This was a reason Churchill urged the United States to claim European territory in the late days of the war, to prevent Stalin from gaining too much control. It was Churchill, in the wake of the war, who saw what was on the horizon. “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic,” he said in his famous 1946 speech in Fulton, Mo., “an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” There would be no respite for the war-weary.

All this is latent in this marvelously compact and suggestive show. It also demonstrates why attempts to displace Churchill from a central position in recent history are misguided. Flaws and failings are plentiful in individual lives, as in cultures and civilizations, but there are more important things deserving recognition: traditions that run deep and wide, that justly inspire advocacy and allegiance and that might even lead, as Churchill promises, to “broad, sunlit uplands.”

Spitfires found buried and in pristine condition after being lost for almost 70 years

Car enthusiasts are always on the hunt for the best " Barn Find" - a classic car that was put in an old barn somewhere and forgotten. Then found and restored to original condition.

This story tops any barn find as they are going to have up to 20 Supermarine Spitfires right out of the crates they were shipped in and likely in pristine condition as they were preserved in the grease that coated all the parts since they left the factory 70 years ago....unbelievable.



Buried treasure in Burma: Squadron of lost WWII Spitfires to be exhumed
Published April 19, 2012

FoxNews.com
It's buried PILOT treasure!

Like a treasure chest stuffed with priceless booty, as many as 20 World War II-era Spitfire planes are perfectly preserved, buried in crates beneath Burma -- and after 67 years underground, they're set to be uncovered.

The planes were shipped in standard fashion in 1945 from their manufacturer in England to the Far East country: waxed, wrapped in greased paper and tarred to protect against the elements. They were then buried in the crates they were shipped in, rather than let them fall into enemy hands, said David Cundall, an aviation enthusiast who has spent 15 years and about $200,000 in his efforts to reveal the lost planes.

The 62-year-old man -- a British farmer by trade -- realized the fate of the aircraft thanks to an offhand comment a group of American veterans made to a friend, he told the Sydney Morning Herald.


'We've done some pretty silly things in our time, but the silliest was burying Spitfires.'
- David Cundall, aviation enthusiast


''They told Jim: 'We've done some pretty silly things in our time, but the silliest was burying Spitfires.' And when Jim got back from the U.S., he told me,'" Cundall said.

The location of the planes, which remains a closely kept secret, was confirmed during a recent trip to the Far East country, he said.

''We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates. They seemed to be in good condition," Cundall told the Herald.

The Spitfire Mark XIV planes are rare for more than one reason: They used Rolls Royce Griffon engines rather than the Merlins used in earlier models to achieve tremendous speeds. Griffon-powered planes could reach 440 mph thanks to the hefty, 2,050-horsepower engines.

When production of the planes ultimately ended in 1947, 20,334 Spitfires of all versions had been produced, but just 2,053 of them were Griffon-powered versions, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The planes were deemed surplus and were buried in Aug., 1945 -- potentially along with another eight later in the year. At that time, propeller planes were falling out of fashion in favor of newer jet-engine designs -- Cundall said Spitfires "were 10 a penny." British military officials decided burying them was cheaper and more practical than bringing them home.

International sanctions prevent military material from leaving the country, but a recent visit by British Prime Minister David Cameron may enable the safe exhumation and return of the planes to England.

Only about 35 Spitfires are currently flying.

Jack the Springer Spaniel saves lives in Afghanistan

When you think of dogs in a war zone, a "Springer Spaniel" would likely not be the first breed that comes to mind but here is proof that the breed can do the job even in the rough terrain of Afghanistan.

Good Show Jack.

Jack the springer spaniel, the bomb-sniffer dog who's saved his master's life... again and again
By David Wilkes - UK Mail
7th December 2011

Amid the myriad dangers of the Afghan conflict, Jack the springer spaniel is so much more than just a man’s best friend.

Thanks to his skill at sniffing out bombs, he has saved his handler Private Andrew Duff’s life ‘more times’ than the soldier ‘cares to think about’.

Jack is one of a number of the Army’s specially trained Arms and Explosives Search dogs, scouring the deadly paths of Helmand Province for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted by the Taliban. He has prevented countless servicemen and civilians being killed or maimed.

Blissfully unaware of the danger he faces, six-year-old Jack has been keenly working with Private Duff, 31, for 18 months, proving himself an essential asset with at least nine confirmed ‘finds’.

Now his feats have made him the cover star of this week’s edition of Country Life, out today, where he is featured in a new series about Britain’s ‘top dogs’.

Not for nothing does Private Duff, of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, describe himself and Jack as ‘inseparable’.

‘Once, we were searching a compound in North Helmand that we had patrolled past many times previously. Jack told me that he’d found something, right under where I was about to step,’ he said. ‘To this day I am certain that he saved my life and those around me. I trust him implicitly.

Jack underwent 15 weeks of intensive training in Britain, involving sessions on fitness and obedience and tests with distractions such as smoke and heat, before being flown out to Afghanistan, where he spent another three weeks learning how to locate IEDs.

A dog indicates a ‘find’ by sitting. The training is based on rewards, with dogs receiving a treat – often a play with a tennis ball or a cuddle – every time they sniff out an explosive device.

Private Duff said: ‘Jack’s appetite for searching is immeasurable. Whenever he’s out of his kennel, he’s working, whether I’ve asked him to or not. He loves it.’

The extraordinary bond between military dogs and their masters was tragically highlighted earlier this year when Theo, a 22-month-old springer spaniel cross, suffered a seizure and passed away shortly after his handler, Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, 26, was killed in a firefight with the Taliban in Helmand.

The dog, which had broken the record for successful finds with his master, was said to have died of a broken heart.

And the Bride wore a PORSCHE.....

Diamonds maybe a girl's best friend but one savvy lass in England decided that she would rather have a PORSCHE....one she built herself from an old VW....

Where are girls like this stateside??? She sounds like a real catch.

A bride's welded bliss: How she built Porsche from wrecked VW for her big day
By Sadie Whitelocks - UK MAIL
15th September 2011

For Megan Ashton, it was her childhood dream to arrive at her wedding in a classic Porsche.
Now the 26-year-old has done exactly that – not by hiring one, as any bride might, but by building her own from a clapped-out Volkswagen Beetle.

She spent six years painstakingly transforming the 40-year-old VW into a Porsche 356, the company’s first production model.

The Royal Navy engineering officer paid £200 for the wreck before stripping it down to the chassis and meticulously rebuilding it virtually from scratch, donning blue overalls, getting covered in grime and grease, and spending £4,000 in the process.

The stunning vehicle now features a white leather interior with a mahogany finish, has a 356 body shell, and includes an authentic steering wheel and speedometer. It also boasts an impressive top speed of more than 100mph – and is valued at £25,000.

The proud owner was driven in it by her father to her wedding to Rob Ashton, also 26, a captain in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

After the ceremony at Sandhurst military academy in Surrey, her new husband took the wheel to drive them to their reception.

‘I loved every minute of it and it was such a special moment to be able to pull up on my wedding day in it,’ said the new Mrs Ashton, from Amesbury, near Salisbury in Wiltshire. ‘It was a close-run thing getting the car finished in the end, but after six years it was well worth it.

‘There were times when I didn’t think we’d get it done in time as it was such a huge project, but it meant so much. I dreamed of driving the car but got carried away buying my wedding dress, which meant it was quite difficult to fit in.’

The 356 was created by Ferdinand Porsche, son of the company founder who had designed the Volkswagen Beetle.

It was manufactured between 1948 and 1956 and shared many parts with the Beetle to save money – making the two cars easier for Mrs Ashton to fuse together.

She bought the battered 1969 VW when she was a student, then stripped it down to the bare chassis before fitting larger cylinders and pistons to the engine, increasing it from 1285cc to 1776cc.

Only the chassis, which had to be shortened, wheels and engine remain of the original car, which was also given a new registration plate.

Mrs Ashton, whose father Viv Beal, 54, runs a garage in Barnstaple, Devon, said: ‘I know people might think it is quite unusual for a girl to be interested in cars but I have always grown up surrounded by it.

‘My Mum and Dad have been buying various parts for the car for birthday and Christmas presents for the past six years – so I am looking forward to getting some girly treats now.’

Her father added: ‘We’re all into classic cars and it was a very proud day for all of us. Megan’s Porsche replica is her pride and joy.

CAMP BASTION - The HQ for all British Forces in Afghanistan

Last year, I spent from May until September living at Camp Leatherneck in Helmand Province. Right next door is CAMP BASTION, HQ for the Brits in AFGHN.

I enjoyed spending time there and the writer of this article captures the feel of the place....You have to be there in the summer to experience the 120-125 Degree heat (that's in the shade by the way)

God love the Brits as they are " brilliant" and our best allies.


Inside Camp Bastion

It is home to 30,000 people, has its own airport, fire station and police force – and in six years has grown to a city the size of Reading. Nick Hopkins visits Britain's vast military base in the Afghanistan desert
Nick Hopkins guardian.co.uk,
Monday 15 August 2011

The planes tend to arrive at night, and if the sky is clear, the moon bathes the airport with an ethereal, ghostly light. A film of dust and sand covers the tarmac and shimmers silver in the dark, conjuring familiar images of lunar walks made by astronauts a generation ago.

This place, though, is not some other world, but Afghanistan. And the surroundings are not beautiful or charismatic. It is Camp Bastion: a brutal, functional, military city built from nothing in the desert, from which the UK has orchestrated its conflict against the Taliban for the past six years.

There is probably no place like it on earth. It has grown so much that the perimeter wall is now almost 40km long – making it roughly the size of Reading; and its airport is busier than any other in the UK, apart from Gatwick and Heathrow.

The Afghans will inherit it one day, should they wish. Otherwise it could turn into a vast, derelict Atlantis in the desert – no better monument, perhaps, to the west's invasion of a country that has been an enduring battleground over the past 30 years.

Nobody ever imagined this eight years ago when the British started looking for a safe place to fly supplies for the troops who were to be sent to the southern province of Helmand. The British didn't want to set up camp too close to any fighting, and they wanted somewhere flat, to build a landing strip for aircraft. They chose a place in the plains of north-west Helmand, where the Soviets had once had a small base, and dug a trench. The Soviets had recognised the area's strategic importance.

"It used to be a trading crossroads. And we can see everything around us," says Commodore Clive Walker, the Royal Navy officer who is currently in charge of the entire camp.

Though the land is arid, it also has boreholes filled with fresh water that has taken years to flow hundreds of miles from the peaks of the Hindu Kush to the underground aquifers in the middle of the desert.

The British decided to call the new camp Bastion – a reference to the huge earth-filled bags that have been used to define its boundaries. The bomb-proof bags are made by a UK company called Hesco Bastion, which was set up by a British inventor, Jimi Heselden. Heselden, who died last year, made a fortune selling his invention to the British military, and thousands of the bags now line the roads around this camp, and almost every other in the country.

The other ubiquitous building block of the city is the Iso freight container, the sort you see on lorries or the decks of ships at ports around the world. There are now 10,000 Iso containers at Bastion, almost all of them brought in by road through Pakistan, after being shipped from Europe or America to Karachi. By some estimates, it would take a decade to remove them all from Helmand, though many of them are likely to stay put.

Rather than bringing in water supplies from elsewhere, the British set up a water-bottling plant on site, drawing the water from the two existing boreholes. The plastic bottles are made at the plant, which provides one million litres a week for Bastion, as well as many of the other smaller bases and checkpoints across the province.

Most of the fresh food is flown in, with the rest coming by road. There is a central warehouse where most of it is stored – it is thought to be the second-biggest building in the whole of Afghanistan. With between 20,000 and 30,000 people on the base at any one time, the quantities needed to feed them are vast; 27 tonnes of salad and fruit come in every week alone. Convoys of lorries, with armoured support, thunder out of the camp most days to supply other bases, often leaving in the middle of the night to minimise the disruption to the villages and towns that they rumble through.

The base has become so big that it has eight incinerators and a burn pit to get rid of the rubbish. The camp also has its own bus service, fire station and police force. There are on-site laws and regulations too. One of them is the speed limit – 24kph (15mph). It is enforced by officers with speed cameras, who can leap out from behind containers, or from inside ditches, to catch anyone flouting the rules. Anyone caught speeding more than three times is banned from driving on the base. Though the limit is quite low, many of the military vehicles are so big, and the dust they churn up so blinding, that it is dangerous for them to be going any faster.

There aren't any pavements at Bastion, or street lights, so walking around at night can be perilous without a torch. The airport is busy day and night. It dealt with 2,980,000 pieces of freight in June alone, including 73,000 pallets of mail.

There isn't much in the way of nightlife – but there is a Pizza Hut takeaway restaurant that trades from inside a converted Iso. Customers can sit outside on pub-style benches. There is also a bar next door called Heroes, which has giant TV screens showing news channels from the UK.

For thousands of staff here, their lives revolve around huge air-conditioned gymnasiums. Bodybuilding has become a near obsession for many of the soldiers who live on site, who have little else to do once they have finished work. The gyms are busy from 5am. There are no weekends at Camp Bastion.

While the airport is the hub for flights in and out of the country, the heliport is busier. Every day, RAF Chinook, Sea King and Merlin helicopters run like buses, ferrying troops to and from the base. They are responsible for the bulk of the 600 movements undertaken across Helmand every day.

"We can take things by road, fly them in by helicopter, or throw it out of a back of a plane," says Commodore Walker. "It all depends what is being transported and where it is going. We used to have 60 or 70 vehicles leave the camp in convoys. But that was not good for relations with the local population. We try to go out first thing in the morning so the convoys don't disrupt the bazaars. We try to time them carefully."

Above all else, though, the camp is a military base. The US Marines, and the Afghan security forces, have their own areas now, but the core of the base remains – and is run by – the British. Soldiers arriving from the UK for a six-month tour will stay at the camp for about a week before being deployed elsewhere. In that time, they will spend five days acclimatising to the heat or the cold. In summer the temperatures reach up to 55C. In winter, it will freeze.

One of the most surreal sights in the city is its Afghan village, a replica built by the British. It even has a small number of local residents who tend to a bread oven, riding motorbikes and selling food at a market. It is supposed to give the soldiers a better feel for what to expect when they go on patrol. There is also a training area designed to help them identify the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that have been used to such deadly effect by insurgents. There are tell-tale clues the soldiers need to learn; they can be taught about the different techniques used by the insurgents for planting IEDs, and how the villagers might be trying to warn them of their whereabouts. If an Afghan has stopped using a bridge to cross a stream or a river, there is often a reason.

Elsewhere in the camp, there is a kennel for the dozens of dogs that are used on patrols, and for sniffing out drugs and explosive material. One of them is called Charm – a german shepherd so big that he rarely has to raise growl to deter potential troublemakers.

The medical facilities at Camp Bastion rely on a taskforce of helicopters, which are controlled by Colonel Peter Eadie, the commander of the UK joint aviation group. In the past, patients were brought into the trauma unit at Bastion before major surgery could begin. Now, consultants fly out in specially adapted Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters to any emergency, so they can start work on the injured as soon as they set eyes on them.

"The system is one that has evolved over the years," says Eadie. "Countless lives have probably been saved this way. We take the hospital to the patient."

He can hope to get a helicopter from Bastion to an injured soldier in less than 19 minutes. And the most serious cases can be back in the UK in less than 24 hours.

All of this is beyond the capabilities of the Afghan security forces, and that situation is unlikely to change before the end of 2014, when Nato forces will have ended all frontline combat operations against the Taliban.

"The Afghans are starting to get themselves into a position to support their own troops but they cannot leap up to our level of technology overnight," says Walker.

How much of this remains when the British and Americans leave has yet to be decided. Even though the drawdown of British forces will be modest this year and next, Walker is already thinking about what equipment will be left in the desert, and what will be carted back home, to be put in storage.

"It took us eight years to get to this stage and now we have to start thinking about what to bring back," he says.

The huge canvas tents in which most people live will be repaired, folded up and returned to warehouses in the UK. Some of them sleep up to 32 people on bunk beds. Only VIPs and some of the pilots have better "tier 2" accommodation, which means they sleep in a prefabricated metal pod with has a hard roof rather than a soft one.

"The tents can be refurbished and put back on the shelf in the UK for the next time," he says.

How many of the 3,000 British military vehicles will return is less clear. Though bomb-damaged trucks and armoured cars can be entirely rebuilt at the workshops in Bastion, some of them are likely to remain in Helmand – they will have taken too much punishment to be of value again.

Walker is trying to look ahead without losing grip on the day to day, which remains the priority. Providing British forces with the right equipment, food, and first aid is a juggling act he performs every day. "If I don't get it right, we're in a bad place. We can't fail."

Class Act - Prince William & Kate salute our servicemen & women

The British are our best allies regardless of the crap you hear from the White House. President Obama has a personal grudge against England as he feels they mistreated his Grandfather in Kenya but true Patriots know that the Brits are our steadfast partners in keeping the West safe. They have serious internal issues (as do we) and our shared sacrifices & mutual support are part of the "Special Relationship" that we have shared for decades.

The Heir-To-The-Throne and his Bride came to the US and demonstrate class and all that makes us proud to call them our friends. Brilliant....Good Show.


We salute you: William and Kate wrap up their U.S. tour by paying tribute to brave Americans who serve in the military
By Rebecca English - UK Daily Mail
11th July 2011

The royal couple's last event saw them attend a jobs fair at Sony Pictures Studio staged by Service Nation: Mission Serve.

The body is an umbrella organisation set up by the US government which brings together different service charities to support the re-integration of servicemen and women into civvy street.

The royal couple arrived in a motorcade with an escort of 17 officers from the Californian Highway Patrol - affectionately known as Chips - who had British flags fixed to the back of their large bikes.

The couple were greeted by Sir Howard Stringer chairman and chief executive of Sony Corporation and then led inside a building for a 25 minute-long private meeting with the senior staff from Service Nation: Mission Serve.

In Sound Stage 15, a huge 42,000 square foot open-plan building, dozens of business recruitment stands for the former US servicemen and women were set up.

Sets from iconic movies were built in the huge area from the yellow brick road from the Wizard of Oz to elements of the latest Spiderman movie and Sir Paul McCartney has used it as a rehearsal space.

The royal couple were cheered by the ex-servicemen and women and their partners who were attending the fair when they arrived, and the couple did a short walkabout.

The royal said: 'This is the last event on our tour of North America, but to my mind, it is one of the most important.

'This is because it is about men and women who - of their own free will - choose to put their life on the line for their country.'

He added: "Service Nation Mission Serve, and all the companies and employers taking part today, are providing opportunities which mean something very immediate and personal to us.

'Catherine and I both have friends back in Britain who could benefit from a brilliant initiative like this.'

William made the audience laugh by taking a swipe at his brother Prince Harry: 'I am delighted, therefore, that our Foundation – and in that I include my low-flying Apache very average brother – is a partner in today’s event.'

The royal went on to tell the audience 'how grateful we are to have been welcomed so warmly in the Golden State and the City of Angels. Thank you so much.'

The couple then filled boxes given to youngsters whose parents have been deployed to Afghanistan.

William and Kate were first shown a teddy bear called Cuzzie who was dressed in a scarf, goggles, jacket that was one of the main items.

The royal couple stood next to each other and filled the package with a journal for the children to jot down their feelings,
dogtags, so they can be just like mum or dad, a DVD that takes them through the issues around deployment, and postcards to send to the frontline.

When william picked up the popular American toy - Uno playing card - he said: 'I haven't seen these in ages, I used to play this a lot,' then put it in the box.

The couple then left to catch their scheduled flight back to the UK.

Wootton Bassett given the 'Royal' prefix in honour of ceremonies for UK War Heroes - "We are not doing this for any plaudits, honours or awards."

Many of our military traditions stem from what we adopted from the British military as we became a nation over 235 years ago.....

101 years since the village of Tunbridge Wells got the nod from Edward VII, Wootton Bassett has been given the 'Royal' prefix in honour of its moving ceremonies remembering Britain's war dead.

The Queen granted the honour personally, marking the announcement that troops killed abroad will no longer be taken back to RAF Lyneham, just outside of the Wiltshire town.

Since 2007, over 150 repatriations from Afghanistan have arrived in Lyneham, with each one commemorated by the Wootton townsfolk.

Steve Bucknell, the town's mayor, said back then: "We are not doing this for any plaudits, honours or awards. We don't want anything to take the attention away from the guys who have paid the ultimate price."

I salute the good people of Royal Wootton Bassett and wish we would do something similar here as I feel that we should also honor our brave men & women when they are returned home after paying the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

To our Allies in Britain I say, Good Show.


Wootton Bassett granted 'Royal' title to honour parades

Wootton Bassett is to be the first town in more than 100 years granted the title ''Royal'' in recognition of its parades for fallen soldiers, David Cameron has announced.

12:15PM GMT 16 Mar 2011 - UK Telegraph

The Prime Minister confirmed that troop repatriations would no longer happen via the Wiltshire town from September due to the closure of a nearby RAF base.

But he said the Queen had agreed to the tribute as ''an enduring symbol of the nation's admiration and our gratitude to the people of that town''.

''Their deeply moving and dignified demonstrations of respect and mourning have shown the deep bond between the public and our Armed Forces,'' Mr Cameron told the Commons.

The Prime Minister made the announcement after making his regular tribute at the start of question time to the most recent military casualty in Afghanistan.

"The town will become Royal Wootton Bassett later this year in a move I believe will be welcomed right across our country."

In a written ministerial statement, Defence Secretary Liam Fox confirmed that repatriation ceremonies for those killed in operational theatres will move from RAF Lyneham to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

"I would like to thank RAF Lyneham for their excellent work in supporting the important task of repatriation ceremonies," Dr Fox said.

"I am certain that RAF Brize Norton will maintain the standard of solemnity, dignity and respect to our service personnel killed on operations as shown by the personnel at RAF Lyneham.

"I would also like to record publicly my thanks to the people of Wootton Bassett who have chosen to pay their respects in a unique and special way.

Guide dog assists his human and K-9 friends in making sure they can get where they need to go....

Man's Best Friend not only takes care of his master's need for assistance but another K-9 as well....Here is a great story about why our lives are empty without the assistance of our 4-legged pals....

Glad to post a "feel good" story in the midst of all the otherwise crappy news.

Good Girl, Opal....you bring credit to all pups like you who take good care of others, both two and four legged.


Blind man keeps his old guide dog after it loses its sight... and then gets a new one who now leads them both around
UK Daily Mail
10th March 2011

After six years of loyal service, Graham Waspe was devastated when his guide dog Edward was left blind after developing cataracts.

But his devastation turned to joy when his replacement Opal turned out to be a real gem.

Mr Waspe's new dog is not just aiding his owner to carry out everyday tasks, but also helping Edward to get around.

Mr Waspe, of Stowmarket, Suffolk, received his new dog last November after Edward developed the inoperable problem which resulted in him needing both eyes removed.
And the two-year-old Opal has stepped in where Edward left off as they tour their old haunts together.

While Edward is well know across the schools and community groups of Suffolk, Opal is now building his own reputation as their owners give talks about the Guide Dogs charity, training for such special dogs and the incredible ways they help their owners.

Graham said: 'Opal's been great for both of us. I don't know what we'd do without her.'

And his wife Sandra, 58, said that despite the loss of his eyes, Edward still loved nothing more than to be around children, have his tummy tickled and receive lots of attention.

The eight-year-old has been retired for four months but the loss of his eyesight has shown no sign of slowing him down.

Sandra said: 'We were both devastated and cried buckets on the night they told us they were going to remove his first eye.

'Graham said then "do you think he will ever be happy again?" and then they said they would have to remove the second eye.'

She added: 'He is still very popular - just as much, if not more than before.

'People ask lots of questions about how he copes and he is probably more famous now because even more people stop to talk to him.'

Sandra said Opal had arrived shortly after Edward retired and the two dogs got along fine.

'Opal arrived far quicker than expected because, sadly, a couple of people in the Stowmarket area with fairly young guide dogs had died,' she said.

'We got Opal on November 12 and she started training with Graham on the 16th and they were qualified in early December.'

Mr Waspe has limited vision in only one of his eyes following two separate incidents earlier in his life and coped without a guide dog until 2004.

As well as carrying out their school visits to raise awareness, the Waspes also do vital fundraising and run a local group.

Not the place you want to be.......UK SAS members 'arrested near Benghazi'

On a list of places one would never want to find yourself, being held by Libyan rebels is right up there.....The SAS commandos were on a mission when it appears things did not go as planned.

Being imprisoned overseas is bad enough but I have to believe that the Libyan Rebels are just a little less than pleased with seeing British Military in their country.

I hope that the lads are well treated and that there is a way to get them home safely....Godspeed.

Libya unrest: SAS members 'arrested near Benghazi'
Anti-Gaddafi fighters are reportedly well-armed and organised
BBC 03/06/11

Details of a UK operation to rebel-held Benghazi in Libya in which eight men - six reportedly SAS - were arrested, have been disclosed to the BBC.

Defence Secretary Liam Fox said a small diplomatic team was in Benghazi and "they were in touch with them".

The BBC's Jon Leyne said witnesses saw six men in black overalls land in a helicopter near the city early on Friday and they were met by two others.

They were later arrested when it was discovered they were carrying weapons.

According to an earlier report in the Sunday Times the unit was trying to put UK diplomats in touch with rebels trying to topple the Gaddafi regime.

In a statement, the MoD said: "We neither confirm nor deny the story and we do not comment on the special forces."

Our correspondent, who is in Benghazi, said the men went to the compound of an agricultural company where they were challenged by Libyan guards and asked if they had weapons.

"Witnesses said that when the men's bags were checked they were found to contain arms, ammunition, explosives, maps and passports from at least four different nationalities.

"The witnesses said at that point all eight men were arrested and taken to an army base in Benghazi where they are being held by the opposition forces who control this area."

I spoke to one person and he said it's ok, they're fine. We're in contact with London, just give us a few days and it'll all be ok.

I think basically that the opposition here, the people in control, have an understanding of the situation: these are not hostile people.

The problem was arriving on a helicopter, in the middle of the night, carrying weapons.

You can understand the sort of fears that provoked here and so there were misunderstandings, they have been arrested.

The big question here is why on earth, if this was some kind of diplomatic or even military liaison, why they chose to do it like this?

The HMS York was docked in Benghazi harbour on Wednesday.

So if Britain wanted to send anybody in to the court house where the proto-government is based here, they could have jumped in a taxi, or even walked there, from the harbour.

Meanwhile, eyewitnesses and rebels say four towns which Libyan forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi claim to have retaken remain under rebel control.

BBC staff report that Tobruk and Ras Lanuf remain in rebel hands.

Anti-Gaddafi forces still control Misrata and Zawiya, residents and rebels said. But Misrata was reported to be under renewed attack on Sunday.

Routine deployment

Officials in Tripoli said pre-dawn gunfire there was celebrating pro-Gaddafi "gains" of the towns.

Regarding the SAS seizure claims, Geneva-based Human Rights Solidarity group said it was aware that a team of special forces had been seized by Libyan rebels but it did not know which country they were from.

Separately, a group of Dutch special forces was apparently captured by Col Gaddafi's forces in western Libya while trying to assist Dutch nationals evacuate.

Earlier, the MoD confirmed Scottish troops were on standby to assist with humanitarian and evacuation operations in Libya.

Defence Secretary Liam Fox told the BBC the UK had no plans to use British land forces in Libya.

The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, is on a routine deployment notice of 24 hours at an RAF base in Wiltshire.

Former foreign secretary, David Miliband, told the BBC's Andrew Marr show that Libya was going to have to be a "big squeeze rather than a big bump on Gaddafi".

He said they would need to squeeze his oil money, squeeze him politically and also "make sure people know that they have our support".

Questioned about Col Gaddafi's son Saif giving the Ralph Miliband memorial lecture at the LSE last year, he said it was "horrific".

Set up to honour his academic father's memory, he said it had been "horrific to the whole family, obviously".

Tribute to a Brit Soldier, "'He disobeyed a direct order so that he could render life-saving first aid to a colleague..."

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

This was demonstrated by this British Soldier who gave his life, disobeying a direct order to save his friend's life and sacrificing his own.....

This is why I see the British as our greatest allies. We share a kindredship with them that transcend politics. POTUS acts like a petulant child towards them but all true Americans admire the Brits for their steadfast support for the " Colonies " as they like to call us.

To the Family of Private Martin Bell, you have our thanks, condolences and undying support. We too mourn the loss of this brave soldier.


'Epitome of courage': Mother's grief as soldier who defied orders to save injured comrade is buried By Richard Hartley-Parkinson
UK Mail - 26th February 2011

A paratrooper who died while disobeying a direct order so he could help a wounded friend was described at his funeral today as 'the epitome of courage and the finest example of what makes this country great'.

Private Martin Bell, 24, was the 350th UK military fatality in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001.

Pte Bell, from 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, was fatally wounded by the blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) to the south of Nahr-e-Saraj in Helmand province on January 25.
He was struck as he moved to help a comrade injured by another device.

Today, hundreds of mourners packed Bradford Cathedral for a funeral service with full military honours.

The mourners were led by his parents Elaine and Simon, along with his brothers Oliver and Philip.

They were told about Martin's bravery and how, without his bravery, his friend would have died on the battlefield.

He was killed moments later when an IED exploded south of Nahr-e-Saraj in Helmand Province a month ago.

One mourner laid a wreath of red chrysanthemums and roses nestled inside a pair of black Nike trainers - symbolic to his friends since he was known to lose his training shoes.

With it, a card that read: 'Dear Martin, Just in case you lose your trainers again. I'll never forget you and will love you always. Miss you already.'

Shortly before the funeral, Lt Col Andrew Harrison of the 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment paid his respects to Martin
.
He said: 'He was a great soldier, a great family man and a great friend and he died in the most courageous of circumstances.

'He disobeyed a direct order so that he could render life-saving first aid to a colleague and for that exceptional valour he paid the ultimate price.

'He will always be remembered as a true hero.'

Martin's coffin, which was carried by eight colleagues from his regiment, was draped in a Union Jack flag and adorned with his maroon beret, a belt, and a wreath of poppies.

His mother, Elaine, is hugged by a soldier. She wrote: 'I love you so much Marts, my heart is in pieces and the pain is unbearable.'

As his coffin was slowly taken inside, it was followed by 20 family members, including mum, Elaine, dad, Simon and brothers Oliver and Philip, who comforted their parents
.
All of the family members wore burgundy silk scarves as a mark of respect to their fallen hero.

A lone piper played "Amazing Grace" as four hearses, including one carrying a wreath that read "Marts", as he was affectionately known by his family, entered the Cathedral grounds.

Reverend Dr David Ison, Dean of Bradford Cathedral, led the service which lasted just over an hour. The moving service began with The Lord of the Dance hymn and included readings from Martin's parents, brothers, and Lt Col Harrison.

"The Climb" by Joe McElderry could be heard echoing from the cathedral as mourners wept.

Mum Elaine told the congregation that despite being nervous to do a reading, she took strength from the courage her son had shown during his time in service.

She thanked his regiment for the support they have provided the family and said: 'I now know why Martin was so proud to be part of such an incredible force.

'Martin told me that if anything were ever to happen to him, we were all to celebrate his life and that's what we're doing now.'
Before the service the family said: 'He had a wicked and infectious sense of humour that would have served him well in difficult times.

'We are a very close knit family and although we are grieving for his loss, we hope that other soldiers out there will keep safe.

'Pte Martin Bell's name will be carved into the chronicles of history.'
As 12 soldiers from Martin's regiment fired three shots into the air in honour of their fallen comrade, the sounds of Brian May's 'No-one but you' could be heard playing inside the Cathedral.

Martin's proud dad, Simon, wrote on a tribute of white flowers that lay next to his son's coffin: 'My darling Martin, my son, my brother, my best friend, my hero, my everything.'

Elaine wrote: 'To mummy's little soldier, what does a mum put to her son? I love you so much Marts, my heart is in pieces and the pain is unbearable. I am so proud of you, please look after us. Love Mum.'

A touching tribute, laid by friend Sarah, said: 'You stole my heart a long time ago, now you have taken it with you and it will be forever yours. I will always love you and never forget you. A true hero, my hero, all my love.'

Last Flight of the Harriers

The Last flight of the UK Harrier....sad to see as they won the day in the Falklands. Not sure what to think as the Brits have had to cut back on thier Navy and for an Island nation, that can't be a good thing.....Good Luck Brits....I feel that the vestiges that made Britain a force to be reckoned with are slowly being surrendered to progress....or regress....or worse.

Last hurrah for the Harrier: Jump jets take to the skies for their final farewell

By Ian Drury - UK Daily Mail
Last updated at 12:52 PM on 16th December 2010

Flying in a spectacular diamond formation so tight it ­appears they are ­almost ­touching, 16 of Britain’s legendary jump jets soar through the wintry skies.

The occasion was billed as a celebration but, for many, the mood was as sombre as the gloomy weather.

On a freezing day heavy with ­emotion, the ­Harrier — the ­revolutionary aircraft that helped Britain defeat Argentina in the Falklands War in 1982 — took to the air for the last time.

The sense of loss — of both the iconic fighter planes, and of a cherished piece of British military and aviation history — was symbolised in a moving tradition called the ‘walk of honour’.

After landing the jets following their last flight, the pilots walked away from their craft without a single backward glance.

The Harrier jets have been axed after falling victim to a savage round of defence cuts. Their next stop, after being decommissioned next year, will be the scrapyard.

To mark their retirement after 41 years’ ­service, 16 Harriers were scheduled to take off from their base at RAF Cottesmore, Rutland, and perform a spectacular flypast of seven other RAF bases, the nearby towns of Stamford and Oakham, as well as Lincoln Cathedral.
Unfortunately, the weather spoiled the occasion. Conditions were so poor that the pilots, after forming a ­diamond formation, could not safely fly below the cloud cover.
Nevertheless, more than 2,000 people turned out at the airfield to bid farewell, while the Red Arrows performed a flypast in tribute.

Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell, the Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group, said: ‘The Harrier is a true icon and stands testament to the innovation and excellence of British design and engineering and the skill and courage of our airmen.

‘It has had a truly distinguished service with the RAF and the Royal Navy, from the South Atlantic to the skies over Afghanistan. It takes its place in history as one of ­aviation’s greats.’

Group Captain Gary Waterfall, the Joint ­Harrier Force commander, said: ‘This is an emotional day for all those who have been fortunate to be involved with one of the true icons of aviation, alongside Concorde and Spitfire.’

Considered one of the country’s greatest technological achievements, the British-built military jets were the first in the world to be able to take off and land vertically.

Introduced by the RAF in 1969, they were famed for their ability to hover above the ground, a distinctive ­feature which enabled them to fly in and out of areas close to a battlefield that conventional aircraft could not reach.

An RAF Harrier puts on a display at RAF Cottesmore, after a flypast passing over seven military bases, the town centres of Stamford and Oakham and Lincoln Cathedral before landing back at RAF Cottesmore

The 700mph Harriers played a crucial role in defending the nation’s interests, seeing action in every conflict from the Falklands — where they were known as the ‘Black Death’ by Argentine pilots, after shooting down 25 enemy aircraft without a single combat loss — to the two Gulf Wars and five years in Afghanistan.

The aircraft also flew combat ­missions in Bosnia, Kosovo and Sierra Leone, providing close air support to troops on the ground.

But the 79-strong Harrier fleet was axed in the coalition Government’s strategic defence and security review, saving less than £1 billion. The decision sparked controversy, because scrapping the 130 RAF Tornados — which were retained — would have saved £7.4billion.

Commander Nigel ‘Sharkey’ Ward — dubbed Mr Sea Harrier after being decorated for ­flying the jets in the Falklands — said: ‘The ­connived withdrawal of the Harrier from ­service is an appalling miscarriage of justice, and of ­operational wisdom.

'The reprehensible actions of those who contrived this as “a logical ­operational decision” must be condemned as disloyal and against the direct interests of our national defence capability.’

Meanwhile, the Government announced yesterday that it is to scrap HMS Illustrious, its final aircraft carrier. She will be decommissioned in 2014 — joining her sister ship, HMS Ark Royal, which will be scrapped next year.

The helicopter and troop carrier HMS Ocean will be retained following a review, revealed Defence Secretary Liam Fox.

VIDEO of the actual mission - "Chaps, I think I've been hit - but I'm OK." - BRIT PILOT COOL UNDER FIRE

In October, I had posted the story of the RAF Pilot that took a hit to the head from the Taliban and managed to land the Chinook Helicopter he was flying....Bloody Brilliant - He was part of the crew based out of Camp Bastion, right next door to my old home-away-from-home, Camp Leatherneck in Helmand Province, Afghanistan

Here is the link to the story I posted - see the actual video above....good show - Brilliant !

http://usnavyjeep.blogspot.com/2010/10/chaps-i-think-ive-been-hit-but-im-ok.html