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[Gaffers]

NB what you have to realise is that as servicemen we know the risks and we do it anyway.  No vehicle is completely bomb proof.  I can't go into details but when you bring in more armour they just change tactics until they defeated it.  Equipment is just one piece of the puzzle, training, analysis of enemy tactics, strong leadership and a fair amount of street smarts all help evade fatality and injury.

To Blame it all on equipment is narrowminded, like I said we know the risks.  If we wanted safe jobs we would work elsewhere.

Fair comment, Guffer, and I bow down to your bravery and superior knowledge of the battlefield. However, in an ideal world, I presume you would still prefer to undertake your duties with the best equipment available and not have some accountant decide you can't have it? 

Jim has much more experience than myself, and what I said is felt all across the services.  We moan constantly that we don't always have what we mean but having to deal with shortages makes us a better armed force.   I don't care who reads this, I have only reflected the soldier's view while putting a positive spin on it....... I should go into politics 

[2woody]

I agree - the Army is just about the best thing about being British, it's certainly the best in the world, through training and dedication to task.

Speaking as a supplier of vehicles to MoD, we can provide vehicles to a spec and to a cost, but it is not always appropriate to use them in that manner. For example, a well-protected wheeled vehicle can be made blast-mine proof, but when the opposing forces dig a hole and lay seven mines on top of each other, you haven't suddenly made the vehicle seven times stronger.

Yes, it's partly down to the equipment spec, but just as much down to the officers and men on the ground - they have to decide what risk to run for everything they do - and they deserve the credit for it.

The weak link in the chain is, I'm afraid the media-led times in which we live. Suddenly, the casualty rate is the only measure of a campaign's success. I'm sure the soldier knew the risks of his patrol, and I'm sure his chain of command did also.