Protection for those who expose bad behaviour in the Armed Forces
SIR – I served for 17 years in the British Armed Forces and have no hesitation in saying that Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston’s report on military culture, which found “an unacceptable level of inappropriate behaviour” within the Forces (report, July 16), does not go far enough.
His principal recommendation, that a “defence authority responsible for cultures and inappropriate behaviours” be established to manage complaints, will do little to assuage the concerns of British military personnel that they are not being listened to.
It takes great moral courage to speak out against your superiors – yet currently, whistle-blowers in the Armed Forces are not afforded legal protection for doing so. This needs to happen and to happen quickly. Military personnel whose moral compass compels them to speak out for the betterment of the Armed Forces deserve a robust statutory framework to support them.
Colonel Mary Roohan (retd) Huntingdon SIR – I have served as an officer (female) in both the Army and the RAF, and have never experienced or witnessed any “offensive” behaviour.
What is truly shameful about the latest report on the modern military is the apparent rush to jump on the bandwagon of political correctness and blame society’s ills on “middleaged white men”. Apart from these comments being racist, offensive and insulting, such people seem to forget that the military is not a tick-box exercise in equality and diversity, but a fighting force to protect this nation. Natasha Wilson
Salisbury, Wiltshire
SIR – We have had a fine, but brutal, tool in the Army. We need to guard against destroying it by creating unrealistic situations.
Minorities must not be abused, and nor should women be disrespected. Modern social attitudes should be considered. However, it is inappropriate to be gender-blind in infantry type units. We should reconsider and draw more sensitive lines for the benefit of all.
Group Captain DRE Evans (retd) Cardiff
SIR – Military life and discipline, in training and on operations, is by its very nature hard. When I joined the Coldstream Guards in 1963 my initial squad comprised 39 men; only 11 of us completed training. “Custard soldiers” – those who got upset over trifles – did not progress.
I have no doubt that Sir Nick Carter, Sir Mark Carleton-smith and all the other “white, middle-aged men” will rejoice when men and women of black, Asian and minority ethnic origin earn senior roles. Their stated aim is for the military to be on a par with the civil society from which it is drawn. The men at the top today are impressive figures who have won their spurs over decades of service; they have no need to apologise for being white and middle-aged.
Rev Canon Alan Hughes Berwick-upon-tweed, Northumberland