Combat and Survival Current Issue

tapmaster

Today I was at the news stand and doing a bit of security research and came across a great article written by someone I (keep in mind I am a small fish in the big pond of life) have great respect for as a leader in the security industry. He is a member of CP world and was speaker at the conference last year. After attending a couple of his courses a few years back I was enlightened by this article. David Rubens is a subject expert and for those of you who dont' read Combat and Survival I have posted a link about the 60,000 extra pair of eyes in the industry.

Kind regards

Tapmaster

Combat and Survival Magazine

AthenaIntelligence

I recently contacted the Home Office requesting details on the implementation of the recent 60000 statement.

Unsurprisingly - I was met with the sound of wind gently blowing tumbleweed across the desert.

I wonder if they have an implementation policy in place - or - as is quite likely, it is just another pointless Govt soundbite.

Scab

Wait a minute, this rings bells...

Oh yes! Using the reserve forces's capabilities for the civil contingency stuff. A force stuffed full of CBNR trained, medical trained and other useful skill's trained soldiers who can be deployed within hours.

I wonder whatever happened to that idea too.

MatthewB

Maybe because of the restrictions imposed by the reserve forces act. I seem to remember something written into the act that stops them being used for any operations within the UK. Mobilisation can only take place on operations outside the United Kingdom for the protection of life or property. There is another section relating to imminent or actual attack on the UK, but I don't think this covers civil duties.

Scab

Its the Gub'mint's idea. Why does the Gub'mint not rewrite the legislation to suit its own ends like it does on every other matter?

MatthewB

Difficult situation - it is hard enough getting reservists mobilised for major ops overseas even with long periods of notice beforehand (I think most reservists I know that are currently serving in TELIC or Herrick put their hand up and volunteered to go). The military still needs to consider their careers and lives outside of the armed forces and have to battle against the right of the employer or the reservist to appeal on a number of grounds.
Changing the act to include civil unrest or terrorist attacks and enabling short notice call outs would put reservists in a very precarious situation with their employers, and could have big impacts for small companies suddenly losing key personnel. However, it would work for full time reservists (FTRS) who are employed almost the same as regulars but not for the part time majority.
What a lot of people are not aware of is that reservists can volunteer to join the Civil Contingency Reaction Forces that provide support in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. They may be called up for service at very short notice but I assume they have made (and are made to make) special aramgements with their employeers, something like retained firefighters. It is possible that this branch could be expanded and rolled out but how many people have this kind of flexibility apart from out of work CP operatives?

mike77

I think the plan to train shop workers etc has already been carried out, as part of the governments' CONTEST strategy. This is available for download at the Home Office web site and makes some interesting reading. It was updated recently, so CONTEST TWO is the current document/strategy.

To MatthewB: I was a reservist with the Cheshire Regiment, I knew a few guys that were mobilised for the foot and mouth destruction of cattle. My Company were in the Civil Contingency Reaction Force, and you were automatically put into it by default. I don't think I was given a choice. I only had 1 call out exercise in 3 years, and I only found out about that the following week when I was having "an interview without coffee" with the OC on to why I did not attend (my civilian boss took the call and forgot to tell me the TA called!).

Kind Regards

Mike

MatthewB

Thanks for putting me right on that, I wasn't 100% sure about how it works as I think it's specific to the TA (please correct me again here) and I'm RAF Reserve.

mike77

Glad to be able to help.

Interesting point MatthewB raised about employer co-operation though. What if the TA deploys you in a civil emergency and your employer refuses to release you?!

M

Scab

Are those not issues to be hammered out on a individual basis before signing up? Proper planning & preparation prevent piss poor performance...