Soldier - Magazine of the British army

A PERSONAL view from Julie McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Army Families Federation. Log on to www.aff.org.uk for more information on the Army Families Federation

Give mum some parental guidance

A soldier from 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment is welcomed home from operations

Close contact: A soldier from 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment is welcomed home from operations

ASHORT time ago I was contacted by the mother of a new recruit and asked what was available to parents in the way of support and information when their soldier is preparing to deploy.

I was about to launch into the usual list, headed by the Unit Welfare Officer (UWO), when I sat back and thought for a minute.

This lady would probably have no idea who or what a UWO is, she is unlikely to know where her nearest HIVE [Help Information Volunteer Exchange] is and she certainly won’t have someone living next door who is an old hand at this deployment lark.

There is a lot of information available from the MoD and individual units for family members – deployment guides, Soldier, ArmyNet and the AFF’s Families Journal all provide information that is not targeted at spouses alone.

But there are a number of reasons why this information does not always reach families (spouses and parents alike). The primary one is that this communication relies on the soldier... yes, you.

Units and the Army as a whole cannot contact a family just because they want to. Just like any other employer they need the correct contact details and permission to do so.

There are personnel out there who do not want their parents contacted – they joined the Army to escape someone or something and that must be respected. There are also soldiers who do not want their spouses contacted, but that’s for another column.

So many times we hear from parents that “the Army didn’t contact me” and I have a huge amount of sympathy, some families are let down by the system.

Lack of resources, even after operational uplift, often mean that a unit has to decide who they can effectively look after.

Others have to proactively seek out assistance or information and if they don’t know where to start looking it can be a frustrating process. But again it comes down to the soldier to check that the family and the unit have the information that they need to ensure that contact can be both made and maintained.

If the military system still fails them then there is definite cause for major concern and complaint.

Until my husband deployed I don’t think I had truly appreciated the impact on parents when their son or daughter is away. Even when they’ve lived away from home for more than 20 years and been married for 16!

My mother-in-law phoned daily when he left. Initially I thought she was doing so to check I was coping, but three weeks in I realised that it was to help her adjust.

The only knowledge of the Army and of the campaign in Afghanistan that many parents have is what they see on the news or read in the papers.

Spouses have the advantage that they, in most cases, know the system and understand not only the terminology but also have people in the same situation to talk to.

This doesn’t make the operational tour any less worrying for them but it does make it easier for them to switch off from media coverage and not believe everything that they see or hear.

It is assumed that many parents will get the support and information that they need from the internet but for many of a certain age that’s just not an option.

Trying to distinguish one end of the web from the other could make an already stressful time worse. That’s not to say there aren’t some great sites out there for parents and family members.

I have been really impressed by the emotional and practical support that families give to each other online.

So whether you’re married or single, about to deploy or have just dropped into conversation that you’re likely to go on operations in two years time, think about how your loved ones, wherever and whoever they are, will get the support and information that they will need. You are the key to a world of reassurance.

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Bagging up the bad news

FOR members of the national press looking to score cheap points against the Army, soldiers’ clothing has often provided the ammunition they needed.

From lacklustre boots to bulky backpacks, it was not that long ago that troops’ equipment was making the news for all the wrong reasons.

Being cynical journalists ourselves, it was with slight scepticism that Soldier accepted an invitation from the Defence Clothing Team to take a peek inside the latest version of the Black Bag.

The holdall, so said the experts, contains all of the clothing and kit personnel need when deployed on operations. Not only that, but the team claimed that many of the bag’s contents are top-of-the-range, name-brand items that should stop the trend of troops buying their own gear.

Convinced they were writing cheques their bags could not cash, we headed to Bath to check things out for ourselves and it did not take long for our doubts to be blown away.

Entering the conference room where the holdall’s innards were laid bare, the sheer scale of the kit soldiers receive was staggering.

With the gear spread out over four tables, we were given a tour of everything from underpants to body armour, boot brushes to head torches.

Any questions about quality not matching quantity were dispatched in similarly short order.

Nothing makes it past the bag’s zip without first being given the green light by serving soldiers with operational experience.

Likewise, the Defence Clothing Team are increasingly ensuring that everything they procure is manufactured by the brightest lights from the commercial industry.

As our cover – made possible thanks to the kind people at Next – suggests, troops on ops now receive gear that is as stylish as it is practical. See Bag of tricks to judge for yourselves.

Staying with operations, we also took a trip onto the ranges at Pirbright and Bisley to examine how traditional Army shooting competitions are evolving as a result of front-line feedback from Op Herrick (See Sure shots).

Driven by members of the Operational Shooting Training Team, contests at the annual Central Skill at Arms Meeting now take in aspects including casualty recovery, ammunition carrying and weapon transitions to provide entrants with a much more relevant experience.

Elsewhere in this issue, we caught up with the forward air controllers responsible for bringing the Armed Forces’ aerial power to bear as they were put through their paces during Exercise Flying Rhino in the Czech Republic (See Space control).

Of course, all soldiers have to get to theatre in the first place and for many that journey begins at the Joint Air Movement Centre in South Cerney. Soldier took a trip to the terminal to see how the facility has improved (See Checking in).

And as professional a job as today’s troops do on ops, there is no denying that the sweetest moment of the tour is returning to greet loved ones and enjoy some home-cooked food.
Celebrity chef Nathan Outlaw is well aware of the value of a good meal and sets out his perfect homecoming line-up on see Come dine with me and also serves up the chance to win a stay at a top boutique hotel in Cornwall.
Hopefully that line-up will give our media friends some positive food for thought.