Tom Hunter
19 February 2001, 14:35
MONDAY FEBRUARY 12 2001
A woman's place is not in the SAS
BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR
The Chief of Defence Staff fires a parting shot on the future of the Armed Forces
THE prospect of women serving in the SAS and in other combat roles was rejected yesterday by General Sir Charles Guthrie, the retiring Chief of Defence Staff and a former officer in the elite regiment.
Sir Charles, the Government’s top military adviser, also issued a warning that political correctness, equal opportunity for its own sake and “barmy ideas” could damage the Armed Forces’ unrivalled reputation around the world.
Speaking on the eve of his retirement, he said a report was being prepared into women’s possible future roles “in submarines, diving, infantry, the SAS, tanks and the RAF Regiment”, all now barred to them.
In his time in the SAS in the 1960s he was twice “blown up” while serving in the east Aden protectorate, once when he drove over a landmine and again when a grenade was thrown at him. Combat, he said, was frightening and dangerous and he did not believe the Services were ready for women to take on this role.
Special forces had to remain “special” and there was no question of the SAS “lowering standards”. Sir Charles, the Colonel Commandant of the SAS, disclosed that Bombardier Brad Tinnion, the SAS soldier killed during last year’s dramatic rescue of six British soldiers held hostage in Sierra Leone, was the first one out of a helicopter.
“What would have happened if it had been a girl stepping out of that helicopter, what effect would it have had (on the other soldiers)?” Sir Charles asked. Israeli Army experience was that when women combat soldiers were wounded, male soldiers stopped fighting.
Although Sir Charles, who retires on Thursday, will play no part in the decision whether to allow women to serve in a combat role in the Army, he said in an interview with The Times: “The Armed Forces represent one of this country’s great assets and we mess about with it at our peril.”
Individual rights were important but the effectiveness of the team was crucial. If those campaigning for equal opportunities in every area “don’t like it, so be it”.
Sir Charles said none of the Defence Secretaries under whom he has served — Malcolm Rifkind, Michael Portillo, George Robertson and Geoff Hoon — had put pressure on him to accept changes “when some people had come up with barmy ideas”.
However, he gave warning: “If a young leader in battle makes a courageous decision — and sometimes you have to take risks — and he takes the wrong decision and somebody is killed, does that mean his platoon can sue him? We have to be very careful about going too far down this route.”
In his time as Chief of Defence Staff, the Armed Forces have taken part in 44 different operations, including Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, flood relief in Mozambique, and Sierra Leone: too many, he believes. “We are the victims of our own success,” he said. When the United Nations wanted peacekeeping troops in a crisis, it always turned to Britain.
At the height of the Kosovo operation, 47 per cent of the Forces were engaged. Although it was now down to 26 per cent, Sir Charles said he would prefer it to be less than 20 per cent, to ensure that servicemen and women spent enough time with their families and to train.
“We have to be robust and say we can’t do everything, otherwise we’ll shake ourselves to pieces,” he said.
Sir Charles said there had been some “sorry tales” in getting new equipment, the worst being the replacement of the ageing Clansman radio. The new Bowman communications system was at least eight years behind schedule, and soldiers deployed to Kosovo complained of having radios which could be eavesdropped by the Serbs.
Looking to the future, Sir Charles gave warning against the belief that warfare would no longer have to involve soldiers on the ground and would consist solely of “silver bullets and missiles”. It would still be necessary, he insisted, “to put people in harm’s way”.
He was worried about the issue of depleted uranium weapons and the fear among Gulf and Balkans veterans that they were the cause of their illnesses. “Understandably, there is a feeling that with BSE and Gulf War syndrome we are not quite sure what we can believe but I am content that the risk to our soldiers from DU is very slight,” he said.
Sir Charles, 62, was yesterday beginning to pack up his kitbag — gathering all the possessions he has acquired over more than 40 years in the Army — including a buffalo rifle presented to him last week in the US as a farewell gift.
Despite being a former SAS officer, Sir Charles had to admit: “I don’t know what I’m going to do with this. I don’t even have a gun licence.”
A woman's place is not in the SAS
BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR
The Chief of Defence Staff fires a parting shot on the future of the Armed Forces
THE prospect of women serving in the SAS and in other combat roles was rejected yesterday by General Sir Charles Guthrie, the retiring Chief of Defence Staff and a former officer in the elite regiment.
Sir Charles, the Government’s top military adviser, also issued a warning that political correctness, equal opportunity for its own sake and “barmy ideas” could damage the Armed Forces’ unrivalled reputation around the world.
Speaking on the eve of his retirement, he said a report was being prepared into women’s possible future roles “in submarines, diving, infantry, the SAS, tanks and the RAF Regiment”, all now barred to them.
In his time in the SAS in the 1960s he was twice “blown up” while serving in the east Aden protectorate, once when he drove over a landmine and again when a grenade was thrown at him. Combat, he said, was frightening and dangerous and he did not believe the Services were ready for women to take on this role.
Special forces had to remain “special” and there was no question of the SAS “lowering standards”. Sir Charles, the Colonel Commandant of the SAS, disclosed that Bombardier Brad Tinnion, the SAS soldier killed during last year’s dramatic rescue of six British soldiers held hostage in Sierra Leone, was the first one out of a helicopter.
“What would have happened if it had been a girl stepping out of that helicopter, what effect would it have had (on the other soldiers)?” Sir Charles asked. Israeli Army experience was that when women combat soldiers were wounded, male soldiers stopped fighting.
Although Sir Charles, who retires on Thursday, will play no part in the decision whether to allow women to serve in a combat role in the Army, he said in an interview with The Times: “The Armed Forces represent one of this country’s great assets and we mess about with it at our peril.”
Individual rights were important but the effectiveness of the team was crucial. If those campaigning for equal opportunities in every area “don’t like it, so be it”.
Sir Charles said none of the Defence Secretaries under whom he has served — Malcolm Rifkind, Michael Portillo, George Robertson and Geoff Hoon — had put pressure on him to accept changes “when some people had come up with barmy ideas”.
However, he gave warning: “If a young leader in battle makes a courageous decision — and sometimes you have to take risks — and he takes the wrong decision and somebody is killed, does that mean his platoon can sue him? We have to be very careful about going too far down this route.”
In his time as Chief of Defence Staff, the Armed Forces have taken part in 44 different operations, including Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, flood relief in Mozambique, and Sierra Leone: too many, he believes. “We are the victims of our own success,” he said. When the United Nations wanted peacekeeping troops in a crisis, it always turned to Britain.
At the height of the Kosovo operation, 47 per cent of the Forces were engaged. Although it was now down to 26 per cent, Sir Charles said he would prefer it to be less than 20 per cent, to ensure that servicemen and women spent enough time with their families and to train.
“We have to be robust and say we can’t do everything, otherwise we’ll shake ourselves to pieces,” he said.
Sir Charles said there had been some “sorry tales” in getting new equipment, the worst being the replacement of the ageing Clansman radio. The new Bowman communications system was at least eight years behind schedule, and soldiers deployed to Kosovo complained of having radios which could be eavesdropped by the Serbs.
Looking to the future, Sir Charles gave warning against the belief that warfare would no longer have to involve soldiers on the ground and would consist solely of “silver bullets and missiles”. It would still be necessary, he insisted, “to put people in harm’s way”.
He was worried about the issue of depleted uranium weapons and the fear among Gulf and Balkans veterans that they were the cause of their illnesses. “Understandably, there is a feeling that with BSE and Gulf War syndrome we are not quite sure what we can believe but I am content that the risk to our soldiers from DU is very slight,” he said.
Sir Charles, 62, was yesterday beginning to pack up his kitbag — gathering all the possessions he has acquired over more than 40 years in the Army — including a buffalo rifle presented to him last week in the US as a farewell gift.
Despite being a former SAS officer, Sir Charles had to admit: “I don’t know what I’m going to do with this. I don’t even have a gun licence.”