Subject: Future military fighters and guns - yes or no ?
From: "Paul J. Adam"
Date: 3/2/04 1:41 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

In message , ArtKramr
writes
There are those who fought: those who trained and were ready, but
weren't called: those who would have enlisted and fought if called: and
those who would refuse.

You have a a lot to answer for.

In that case so do I, but I'm not sure why. (Wore uniform, took the
Queen's shilling, and now advise and support the frontline. Not my fault
they haven't had a war that they wanted me for combat duty in.)

--
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
W S Churchill

Paul J. Adam MainBoxatjrwlynch[dot]demon{dot}co(.)uk


Thren there ar ehtose who stepped forward and volunteered for the Air Force,
the Marine Corps, the Paratroopers.

Art, I *work* with Royal Marines, Paras and members of other specialist
units. They accept my experience and trust my judgement in my fields of
expertise, just as I have complete faith in theirs.

Many of them have not seen combat, even when other members of their unit
have (assigned to other duties, in the wrong battalion, whatever).
Should we - for an example - denigrate the courage of 1 Para because
they weren't sent to the Falklands? Are they "less brave" than, for
example, the Blues and Royals or the Scots Guards, who despite not being
"Air Force, Marines or Paras" went and fought?

We thankfully don't have to do total wars these days: some regiments are
sent to a conflict, others have other missions to cover.

Then there are those who didn't.
They just
waited to be called many hoping they never would be. I suggest that there
is a
difference between these two calibers of men. No offense of course.

I volunteered for the RAF. They told me that I couldn't join as aircrew
because my eyesight wasn't good enough. I offered to join as an engineer
officer and they told me to come back once I had my engineering degree:
but by then we'd had "Options for Change" and they'd frozen recruitment,
and I got a job designing and building their weapons instead.

I signed up for the part-time Army in the meantime, though it seems that
doesn't count either because you only recognise one regiment: I look
forward to seeing you explain to my cousin (PWRR, but was attached to
the Black Watch for Telic, got an unscheduled self-drive holiday in
Basra) that he's "not a real soldier" because he didn't go Para.


I signed up and served, and made myself ready to go: and a few years on
I signed up in a different capacity and am ready to march to the colours
again. I'm not really sure what more I'm supposed to do: start a war
just so I can fight in it, perchance?

--
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
W S Churchill

Paul J. Adam MainBoxatjrwlynch[dot]demon{dot}co(.)uk

They also serve who stand and wait. How would they have done in combat?. We
will never know will we?



Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer