Month: January 2013

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Royal Navy Lynx aids capture of suspected pirates

By Sharon Black

Flight 217 of 815 Naval Air Squadron is currently deployed on board the French frigate FLF Surcouf as part of Operation Atalanta, the EU ’s counter-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa. The Lynx was sent ahead by the French warship to find the suspected pirates after the USS Halyburton, operating as part of NATO ’s Operation Ocean Shield , received a distress call from a merchant vessel reporting she was under attack from 6 men armed with rocket-propelled grenades. Boarding teams approach a suspected pirate vessel as Flight 217’s Lynx helicopter hovers above [Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2013] Although the MSC Jasmine, sailing 260 miles off the Somali coast, managed to repel the attack themselves, a German EU maritime patrol aircraft was scrambled to track the suspect vessel, which was by then towing another boat with several more men on board.

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2013 Health Partnership Awards launched

By Sharon Black

The ceremony honours the people, projects and initiatives that provide serving military personnel, including reservists, and their families and veterans with the very best in healthcare and social care. The awards are open to civilian health staff and military medics working within the Defence Medical Services , the NHS , and private or voluntary sectors. The 2013 awards ceremony, to be held on 21 May, is being hosted by the Welsh Government and, from today, people can nominate individuals or teams who provide care and support to Service personnel

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2013 Health Partnership Awards launched

By Sharon Black

The ceremony honours the people, projects and initiatives that provide serving military personnel, including reservists, and their families and veterans with the very best in healthcare and social care. The awards are open to civilian health staff and military medics working within the Defence Medical Services , the NHS , and private or voluntary sectors.

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Royal Navy sailors help African community

By Sharon Black

25 volunteers from the Plymouth-based frigate’s company headed to the village of Kigamboni while their ship was berthed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The sailors helped to install windows and doors in the community centre building, repaired fencing, and built ‘hugle beds’, which will be used to grow vegetables in dry conditions.

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Royal Navy sails into London Boat Show

By Sharon Black

As an island nation, the UK’s prosperity and security is dependent on its ability to access the sea. That is why the Royal Navy is globally deployed and has a range of versatile ships, submarines and aircraft operated by professional sailors, aviators and Royal Marine Commandos. The Navy will be at the London Boat Show from 12 to 20 January, where visitors can learn more about naval life and how, every minute of every day, somewhere in the world they are protecting the nation’s interests

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Sapper Richard Reginald Walker killed in Afghanistan

By Sharon Black

Sapper Walker was shot in an apparent ‘insider attack’ by a member of the Afghan National Army ( ANA ) at Patrol Base Hazrat in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province on Monday 7 January 2013. He was working on a construction task with other military engineers from his Troop, as part of the preparations to hand the camp over to Afghan security forces, when the Afghan soldier turned his weapon on ANA and ISAF soldiers at the base. The incident resulted in a number of casualties, all of whom were extracted to the Bastion Role 3 medical facility where Sapper Walker was pronounced dead.

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Sapper Richard Reginald Walker killed in Afghanistan

By Sharon Black

Sapper Walker was shot in an apparent ‘insider attack’ by a member of the Afghan National Army ( ANA ) at Patrol Base Hazrat in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province on Monday 7 January 2013. He was working on a construction task with other military engineers from his Troop, as part of the preparations to hand the camp over to Afghan security forces, when the Afghan soldier turned his weapon on ANA and ISAF soldiers at the base.

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Libya operation recognition for Naval Air Squadron personnel

By Sharon Black

The 4 servicemen from 815 Naval Air Squadron are among 1,500 Royal Navy personnel to receive medals for their part in the NATO -led Libya operation. The aircrew and engineers, based at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, were presented with NATO Operation Unified Protector medals for their participation in the Libya operation while serving with 217 Flight on board HMS Liverpool . Left to right: Lieutenant Alastair Crawford, Petty Officer Paul Perry and Lieutenant Craig Farquharson with their Operation Unified Protector medals [Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2012] The four who received medals for the operation were Lieutenant Alistair Crawford, Lieutenant Craig Farquharson, Petty Officer Paul Perry and Air Engineering Technician Matthew Parker

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Marines train to tackle pirates

By Sharon Black

Among the ship’s company of HMS Monmouth is a detachment of Royal Marines , vital for HMS Monmouth’s tasking at sea. One of the major roles of the Marines is conducting boarding missions against suspected pirates and smugglers. To hone these skills they used their time on land to visit a specialist ‘Ship-in-a-Box’ facility owned by the US Coast Guard in Bahrain

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The defence training and education capability programme

By Sharon Black

Overview The DTEC programme was born from the SDSR 2010 that stated that the Ministry of Defence ( MOD ) should embrace a step change in its exploitation of modern simulation training systems in order to increase operational effectiveness, reduce costs and minimise the MOD ’s environmental footprint. A key aspect of the change is to increase the pace of MOD ’s acquisition processes to better exploit rapidly improving technology and to address the broader cultural barriers to the use of simulations. Current activities DTEC is reviewing a number of its activities including: An end-to-end approach to training led by operational needs and front line commands A systems approach to training products Standards and networking Research and possible industry input to DTEC A need to overhaul procurement arrangements to enable rapid acquistion of off-the-shelf solutions and applications Wider exploitation of networked training and learning systems to support mission planning/preparation Capability test, experimentation and evaluation For DTEC project support contact: Jon Brooking email: DESPTG-DTSI-PSF-ABMgr@mod.uk Tel: 030 679 30428 Mob: 07747 898124 Grant Bailey email: DESPTG-DSTI-PSF-RSMgr@mod.uk Tel: 030 679 71321 Mob: 07787 526920

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Pilots prepare for landing on Royal Navy’s new carriers

By Sharon Black

RAF and Royal Navy personnel have been training with the Flight Control Office – or Flyco – of the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at the BAE Systems simulator at Warton in Lancashire. When the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 comes in to land on the deck of the UK’s next carriers it will be vital that pilots are well-versed in the skills of landing on a moving deck.

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Soldier from 28 Engineer Regiment killed in Afghanistan

By Sharon Black

The soldier was killed by small arms fire from a suspected member of the Afghan National Army (ANA) who turned his weapon on ANA and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) soldiers at Patrol Base Hazrat in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province. Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Major Laurence Roche, said: It is my painful duty to report the death of a soldier from 28 Engineer Regiment who was shot and killed by a suspected member of the Afghan National Army at a patrol base in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province

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WWII airman celebrates 100th birthday

By Sharon Black

On New Year’s Day, family, staff and residents at the Ilford Park Polish Home in Devon joined their oldest resident, former Spitfire pilot Mieczyslaw Juny MBE , for his 100th birthday celebrations. Mr Juny was born in Lwow, Poland, on 1 January 1913. At the age of 26, he took part in the Polish Campaign of 1939.

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MOD invites tenders for UK construction projects

By Sharon Black

The companies shortlisted for the framework by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation ( DIO ) are: Balfour Beatty Group Ltd BAM Construction Ltd Carillion Construction Ltd Interserve Construction Ltd Kier Graham Lend Lease Construction (EMEA) Ltd Miller Construction (UK) Ltd Morgan Sindall plc Skanska UK plc Wates Construction Ltd The National Capital Works Framework will be used for the design and build of construction projects up to a value of £50 million.

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Keeping the UK military on the map

By Sharon Black

When Australian scientists went to have a look at Sandy Island in the South Pacific recently, they discovered that, despite having featured on maps and on Google Earth for years, it doesn’t actually exist. The experts working at the Defence Geographic Centre ( DGC ) may well have smiled wryly on hearing this.

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MOD Police Committee – Terms of reference

By Sharon Black

The Committee’s main role is to provide independent scrutiny and assurance to the Secretary of State that the Ministry of Defence Police is delivering policing services in accordance with the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987. In order to perform this role the Committee is required to: Provide scrutiny and guidance to ensure that police powers and authority are impartially and lawfully exercised by the Chief Constable Confirm that MDP is meeting the standards required of a police force Validate that MDP ’s exercise of its authority is responsible, proportionate and impartial Validate that MOD ’s use of the MDP is appropriate in relation to the exercising of policing powers and authority Provide scrutiny and guidance on any other matter in relation to the use of policing powers which fall within the responsibility of the MDP Consider the MDP ’s targets and performance and the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency’s corporate and business plans as far as required to the exercise the above functions Consider all complaints made against all members of the Chief Officer ranks of the MDP .

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Army Olympic gold medalist awarded MBE

By Sharon Black

Captain Stanning, of 32 Regiment Royal Artillery , and her rowing partner, Helen Glover, were the first British Olympians to win gold medals in the 2012 Olympic Games , and the first female pairing to win Olympic gold medals in a women’s rowing event at the Games.

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Countering weapons proliferation

By Sharon Black

Issue The spread of weapons of mass destruction ( WMD ) poses a threat to the UK and the international community. Indiscriminate trade in conventional arms and the use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear ( CBRN ) weapons and ballistic missiles raises serious humanitarian and security concerns. We’re working around the world to champion and implement UK policies as set out in the National Counter-Proliferation Strategy to prevent the spread of CBRN weapons and ballistic missiles.

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Gurkha pension and redundancy calculators

By Sharon Black

Gurkha pension calculator ( GPC ) The Gurkha pension calculator below gives a forecast of benefits for members of Armed Forces Pension Scheme ( AFPS ) 75 or AFPS 05 who transferred as part of the serving Gurkha Offer To Transfer ( GOTT ). All officers, and those soldiers who joined as part of the 1993 intake and earlier, were given a service credit. This calculator will adjust the pensionable service to take into account any service credit received.