Lex Foutish
Registered User
- Messages
- 825
Yeah the infantry down in Cork really scares most men
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And this is how they turned out a few years later...........................
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Yeah the infantry down in Cork really scares most men
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Provide security for cash vans in transit
So the protection of a private transaction is done by the Defence Forces? I can understand that it’s getting more dangerous to transport money between banks, but do we really need the Army doing that? In other countries it’s down to the company providing the service or the police. I know we have this notion that our police force should not be armed but wake up and smell the coffee it’s 2009!
Provide bomb disposal service
I’m sure the Shin Bet would rather deal with bombs at the Israeli embassy. And as for other bomb disposal, that is clearly a Public Safety issue and needs to be done, especially given that there were more than 100 separate bomb attacks involving crime gangs and dissident paramilitaries in the Dublin region last year. The question however is if trained law enforcement officer would not be better for this, as they not only could dispose but also ensure forensic evidence is secured at the same time.
Provide security at government building
And again that is a law enforcement job or the job of a professional security service but not youngsters with a gun who might cause more harm than good if there is ever a professional attempt to go after our governments buildings.
Provide security at their own barracks (this is 24 hour continuous shift)
What we don’t have does not need protection.
Provide air transport for various ministers
“who are too lazy to drive” is I think the right description. While there are needs to provide ministers with air transport I think this needs scaling down and correct sourcing.
Patrol to prevent illegal fishing (navy but they are all the same)
And again a law enforcement job. However given the state of our fishing industry and the fact that most rules for fishing are EU rules the question arise if this really is the job of the Navy.
Patrol to prevent drug smuggling
And again a law enforcement job. I thought we had a customs service (there was even a TV show about our hero customs services staff protecting us from the illegal cigarettes and alcohol from abroad).
Train for the overseas peacekeeping missions
As long as the world cherry picks their so called peace keeping missions (ignore Darfur, ignore Sri Lanka) I sincerely question if someone actually should participate in these.
So in summary the majority of day to day work is law enforcement and not traditional defence work, it looks to me the government uses the defence forces (because they know that the English are not going to invade us again) as a substitution for a modernization of our Law Enforcement apparatus.
We need to modernize our law enforcement service and bring it into the 21st century, while I have the outmost respect of historical reason to form the Garda Síochána as it currently exists, it is clearly not in a position to deal with the current thread from armed gangs and violent crimes. Sure there has been some limited success recently but overall it’s not able to do what it’s supposed to do.
Let’s face it, there is very little chance that any conventional war will happen in Ireland (seriously who is going to invade us) so we should discuss what the defence forces are doing not for the sake of cutting jobs or saving money alone but to ensure that law enforcement is strengthened.
I’m all for security but honestly I rather have an M16 in my backyard to protect me myself than to hope that some teenager of the army (who does not work on nights or weekends) will protect me.
Indeed - If I recall correctly, the official army briefing for soldiers going out on these joint operations started off with something like 'A Guard with a gun is a fool'.Some years ago, friends of mine in the Armed Forces (this predates the establishment of the Armed Forces Union) were on the point of refusing to man joint Army-Garda check-points and cash-in-transit protection operations if the Guards were armed.
The lack of safety, proper training and fire-arms awareness displayed at the time by armed Guards was terrifying by all accounts. I believe the Army guys made their thoughts known to their local Army commander at the time, a well known sports personality, and fire-arms training for Guards (provided by the Army ?) improved afterwards.
The army do work weekends and nights, just go past any barrack. the ones left open that is.
A barracks cannot close down totally if you have a lot of firearms within so a certain level of security has to be maintained round the clock. I presume a certain amount of their training and manoeuvres etc take place in the night also. I imagine prison security is round the clock. There is probably more that we're not aware of.
What exactly do they 'work' at, at night-time?
As far as I can determine, the defence forces' main 'job' is to maintain, feed and cloth itself. There are there to defend the country against subversives, drug smugglers, illegal fishermen and-God forbid- anybody mad enough to try and form a coup.
The question is; are they worth 500m per annum in wages? And then there's the pension costs. Plus costs of feeding, clothing and housing them. I think we could cut down to about 1,000.
The bomb squad sped past few a few nights ago, i suppose thats one thing they "work" at, at night. unless bombs only go off between 9-5..
Going back to the original question
The armed forces of any country must be prepared to defend the country - so they train and wait. Very boring job, according a very unscientific and statistically incorrect survey which I carried out of soldiers that I know.
Its the same in most countries in peace time
And is it true that we have the only navy in the world where you can go home for lunch?
You know, Berlin, a pretty big army was (eventually) beaten by a much smaller organisation in 1916 -1921.
What do the approx 10,000 employees of the Department of Defence actually do all day? quote]
I started this thread 7 months ago and while I still believe there is a lot of waste in the Defence Forces, I think I should acknowledge the amount of good work done by them during the recent floods and snow.
What a stupid question set by QED. The question is up there with the most brain-dead questions you can get.
Along with protecting the people of this country the army is tagged with working in dangerous conditions like rescuing people in atrocious weather conditions and locations. The army brings water to people who need it e.g due to the recent floods in Cork.
The army is laboured with clearing up when there is a bin strike.
When there is civil unrest the army augments the Garda Force.
Remember the Army Bomb Disposal people risk their lives every week.
The army protects our banks, shipment of cash, VIP visitors.
A more interesting question is What does the army not do?
Etc etc.