We need soilders more than aircraft or ships
Colonel Stuart Tootal who was Commander of 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment wrote in the Times last week that the success in Afghanistan and other similar areas of conflict requires “boots on the ground”; enough soldiers to take the territory and hold it and work with the local people. He supports the view of General Sir David Richards, the Chief of General Staff, that soldiers are ultimately more important than advanced technological aids. It must be right that without the necessary manpower the equipment, no matter how advanced, will ultimately fail. That manpower needs to be trained and experienced. The Puma review by Air Vice-Marshall Carl Dixon of May 2008 highlighted the problems that emerge when resources are stretched. Pumas were left in Iraq when the Chinooks deployed to Afghanistan and the Puma Force found themselves being called upon for many more years than had originally been anticipated. Problems emerged, not from the lack of aircraft, but from the lack of experienced flying personnel. We see it all the time in our cases in the ages of the victims and the deceased. The operational pressures that were put on some of the flying Puma Force are not easily understood by those of us who have never flown the aircraft here let alone engaging the enemy in complex manoeuvres at night on NVG with high threat levels and dynamic, ever changing intelligence and mission. It would be wrong of us to ask Service Personnel to take on these pressures too frequently, too early and too often.
