background military covenant
Background
The first duty of any British Government is the defence of the Realm and for that reason we have armed forces. Following the end of the Cold War in 1990, politicians radically reduced the size of Britain’s forces, while reaping the ‘peace dividend’ to fund their social programmes. As the so-called ‘teeth’ were being cut, so went the argument, there was also a need to reduce the military ‘tail’. This included the closure of all military hospitals run by the Army, Navy and Air Force. In 2007, this programme of closures left Britain as the only country in the developed world without a dedicated hospital for its military personnel.
In recent years, both press and television have carried a number of stories highlighting the current Government’s failure in its duty of care towards troops who have put their lives on the line in war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Wounded soldiers flown home to Britain for treatment are now sent to dilapidated hospitals. Once there, apart from suffering the indignity of being put on wards alongside civilians who could not possibly grasp what they had been though, they have been contracting C. Difficile. More than 2,100 troops have suffered psychiatric problems after returning from Iraq since 2003 and many of them have waited up to 18 months for NHS treatment.
In October 2006, General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the Army, stunned the Government by warning that they were in danger of breaking the following covenant:
Soldiers will be called upon to make personal sacrifices - including the ultimate sacrifice - in the service of the nation. In putting the needs of the nation and the army before their own, they forgo some of the rights enjoyed by those outside the armed forces. In return, British soldiers must always be able to expect fair treatment, to be valued and respected as individuals, and that they (and their families) will be sustained and rewarded by commensurate terms and conditions of service.
Douglas Young, chairman of the British Armed Forces Federation said:
If the military covenant is anything other than spin and hot air, then it has to be at the forefront of policymakers' minds whenever defence policy is being formulated and not just trotted out when there's a good news story. The sacrifices made by members of all three armed services in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the past few years have been immense and in return they need to be recognised with the special consideration that the covenant appears to promise.
A good illustration of how the current system works may be taken from the story of a civilian typist with the RAF who received a payment of £484,000 after injuring her thumb at work. Meanwhile a 23-year old paratrooper, Ben Parkinson, who lost both legs after a landmine injury in Afghanistan and will need care for the rest of his life, will be given compensation of £152,150.
In August 2007 the Royal British Legion launched its Broken Covenant Campaign. In an unprecedented development, this veterans’ organisation demanded that the Government uphold the Military Covenant and provide the armed forces and their families with proper care, in return for asking them to risk making ‘the ultimate sacrifice for their country’.
The Legion stated its campaign aims to ‘address the growing sense of disillusionment among service personnel and veterans about their treatment by the state’. The campaign will focus on the need to boost medical care, strengthen the system of coroners' inquests to ensure swift closure for bereaved families and to resolve iniquities in the compensation system for injured troops. Our armed services, whether we agree with the political decisions regarding their deployment or not, deserve the respect and gratitude of the British people.
In the words of that wise old warrior George Washington:
The willingness with which our young people serve in any war, no matter how justified, will be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.
The Military Covenant
(Extract from Army Doctrine Publication Volume 5)
Introduction: Soldiers will be called upon to make personal sacrifices - including the ultimate sacrifice - in the service of the Nation. In putting the needs of the Nation and the Army before their own, they forego some of the rights enjoyed by those outside the Armed Forces. In return, British soldiers must always be able to expect fair treatment, to be valued and respected as individuals, and that they (and their families) will be sustained and rewarded by commensurate terms and conditions of service. In the same way the unique nature of military land operations means that the Army differs from all other institutions, and must be sustained and provided for accordingly by the Nation. This mutual obligation forms the Military Covenant between the Nation, the Army and each individual soldier; an unbreakable common bond of identity, loyalty and responsibility which has sustained the Army throughout its history. It has perhaps its greatest manifestation in the annual commemoration of Armistice Day, when the Nation keeps covenant with those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives in action.
0103 Soldiers will be called upon to make personal sacrifices - including the ultimate sacrifice - in the service of the Nation. In putting the needs of the nation and the Army before their own, they forgo some of the rights enjoyed by those outside the Armed Forces. In return, British soldiers must always be able to expect fair treatment, to be valued and respected as individuals, and that they (and their families) will be sustained and rewarded by commensurate terms and conditions of service. In the same way, the unique nature of military land operations means that the Army differs from all other institutions, and must be sustained and provided for accordingly by the nation. This mutual obligation forms the Military Covenant between the nation, the Army and each individual soldier; an unbreakable common bond of identity, loyalty and responsibility which has sustained the Army and its soldiers throughout its history. It has perhaps its greatest manifestation in the annual commemoration of Armistice Day, when the nation keeps covenant with those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives in action.
0104 "Soldiering" expounds the British Army’s Doctrine for the Moral Component. It enunciates the ethical and moral basis for the operational effectiveness of the British Army. For serving soldiers it provides the fundamental tenets of their profession. It is the doctrinal basis for the Army’s Human Resources policies and strategies. It describes for policy makers the intangible values and qualities which must be taken into account. It tells the wider public the basic truths about the British Army – why, how and in what circumstances soldiers differ from civilians.
0105 Like the other doctrinal publications, ‘Soldiering’ is not immutable: it will develop over time. Like them it has particular relevance and value for commanders, their staffs, and those engaged in training them. For the officer corps it is designed to complement ‘Serve to Lead’ which is issued to all cadets at Sandhurst. It also underpins ‘The Values and Standards of the British Army’ which is aimed at all officers and warrant officers; it explains the specific values of the British Army and standards of conduct expected of all who serve in it. The related booklet is issued to all ranks.
