Thoughts

In 1966 they gave us a pay raise that caught us up with the married rats plus a bit. Since then it's been down hill. First off we had King Pierre (P.M. Trudeau) who scummed his way out of WW 2 who couldn't stand the idea that the Canadian Military were better people than him. He moved the Cdn Bde down to Lahr down sized it to a combat group (what ever that means in Americanize) Then refused to spend money on new equipment or training (rumour was that being in Lahr we were close to the Swiss border in case of war). The Americans didn't want us in their zone of Germany, but got stuck with us. Mind you though it was a beautiful area of Germany to be in. We were still technically part of BAOR go figure. We really were lost souls looking for a job and not getting one. I think Luxembourg out did us in commitment to NATO by then.

When I joined at 17yrs of age in the late '70s, I couldn't have cared less about politics. I was just glad to have the job that I'd wanted to do since I as far back as I could remember. In my part of the country they were taking 1 candidate in 8 then so I was quite lucky to have got in (unemployment was high). I thought that the food was great (in reality it was actually crap but I ate better in the Army than I ever did at home and I ate more as well!!), got loads of 'free' work clothes, got to play with guns and tanks and they paid me for it! Not much in the way of pay, as I was classed as a 'young soldier', a sort of halfway house between Jnr Ldr and Adult service, too old to go to Juniors but too young to earn the same as those of 18yrs of age upwards (I got £14 a week until I passed off to be exact). I had a great time though and not until I was a full Cpl did I take the remotest interest in politics. I was paid to be a squaddie and that was it as far as I was concerned. Where ever the Government sent me, they'd pay me to be there so why get upset? That was my job.

The money and conditions improved slightly as I moved upwards. Like most, my first real 'contact' with 'politics' came on my EPC, where two dozen or so of us were educated in subjects such as the 'Army of the Contemporary World' (and taught how to count and all the other stuff that we'd ignored at school) by 'odd' Officers fom the RAEC (when I say 'odd' I don't mean to be rude, it's just that they never sort of fitted into what our perception of an Officer should be), which was fun, especially when the female Captain took the class, for obvious reasons. Two of them to be precise. There were one or two in the class (who'd listened to blokes from their units who'd been on previous courses), who'd taken to reading grown up newspapers like 'The Telegraph' and who tried to 'big' themselves up in lessons, usually to fall foul of the remainder of us taking the piss. Anybody ever heard a Pioneer Corps Cpl try to sound educated? If only you could bottle it.

That was the only skirmish we had with politics until we made it to the WO's & Sgt's Mess. Then we'd have to put up with the 'well rounded opinion on everything' that was the single or unaccompanied WO1. Frankly very few of us gave a shit and just wanted to get plastered at the bar, so once again, the vain attempt of a squaddie trying to sound clever was mocked by those politicians and officers alike, considered best suited to the Army life. My next 'official' contact with politics came on the rebranded all singing, all dancing version of what used to be the EPC (A)...the EFP2 (it's changed again). Once again, although different capdages and personalities, we were graced with the presence of the 'widely read' chaps, who appeared more out to impress themselves and the Education Officers than any of us, with their grasp on current affairs. Both were avoided at the end of course piss up. Depite the 'upgrading' the course was full of the same old crap with a bit of 'management' thrown in.

I'll swing the lamp and say that the kit was never that great in my time and I only left a couple of years ago. The money wasn't brilliant and neither was the accommodation, we all whinged but we still came back the next day. We just got on with it. I think that was the breed then (and it wasn't that long ago). People just did it. I believe that, irrespective of party, British politicians got too used to that 'can do, will do' attitude of those who served in the Forces and they took it for granted as they had always done. Now having been caught out, they use the situations currently being experienced in the military as ammunition to fire at each other in Westminster. The senior officers however, are worse. They weren't so forceful in their opinions during the 80's and 90's when they were climbing the greasy pole. They played a different type of politics and it disgusts me when the 'usual suspects' appear on Newsnight. If they truly possessed any of the intergity that they now feel hell bent on displaying, they'd have shown it 15-20 years ago.

Well said and well put Rocky

I don't ever remember being offered a vote whilst in the army except in the referendum to join or not to join the common market.

Even when that happened an officer had us all on parade and more or less said we had to vote although he couldn't influence which way we would vote.

Were we offered the chance to vote while in Germany? If not, why not? A couple of years back I remember there being some argument regarding ex pats living in Spain being given the right to vote in British elections. Surely we as service personnel had more right to vote than those?

Cdn Armed Forces can vote no matter where they are. I remember the first time I voted in Germany. We were in Sennelager on Ex. So they had 3 bell tents lined up.
1st tent pick up the folder and envlope with hand written ballot
2nd tent fill in the form and seal into envelop
3rd tent hand into officer who seals into another evelope
Leave 3rd tent and get a lovely glass of issue rum.
Incidentaly the voting age then was 21. Execpt if you were in the active regular armed forces then you voted no matter what age. I remember seeing apprentice soldier 16 years old voting in Kingston at the school of RC Sigs. I was 19 at the time I first voted. I think I voted 3 times before I was 21.

Afternoon everybody. My first post and i just want to say smashing site. Under the tories in the late seventies/early eighties threats of cuts were regular, so it would appear nothing has changed. Under the tories, kit changes were a source of great amusement to the R.Q.M.S and his storemen.A winning lottery jackpot ticket was easier to obain than a pair of D.M.S.

That rings a bell Chips. Remember the MORATORIUM ? In our stores there was a "minimum stock" which was interpeted as "when we get to the last three-stop issuing" So you go in, see what you wanted,can't have it,thats the minimum stock