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A lesbian Army captain sent home from Afghanistan after she was accused of an 'inappropriate relationship' with a sergeant was behaving like a 'love struck teenager' and undermining operations, a tribunal heard today. Karen Tait, 29, who is claiming sexual discrimination against the Ministry of Defence and her commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Deborah Poneskis, upset the chain of command with her 'sly and underhand' behaviour, the employment tribunal in central London heard. Claims: Captain Karen Tait at the tribunal. She says her commanding officer objected to her sexuality Cpt Tait, an operations officer with the Royal Military Police, was sent...

More than 100,000 new state-of-the-art lightweight SA80 rifle magazines have arrived in Afghanistan to be used by troops fighting on the front line. The 30-round Magpul EMAG magazine is around half the weight of a standard metal magazine and helps reduce the weight that soldiers have to carry in their kit. Made from a polymer, the EMAG weighs 130g compared to its metal equivalent of 249g. Troops carry up to 12 magazines, so this change means each carries around one kilogramme less weight in total than before. Although it is lighter than others, the EMAG is robust; it's durability is...

It was recently revealed that, last November, a British sniper (corporal Craig Harrison) set a new distance record when he killed two Taliban in Afghanistan, at a range of 2,620 meters (8,596 feet). He did this with a L115A3 rifle firing the 8.6mm Lapua Magnum round. The previous record was held by a Canadian soldier, corporal Rob Furlong, who dropped an al Qaeda gunman at 2,573 meters (7,972 feet) in 2002, also in Afghanistan. Furlong, however, was using a 12.7mm (.50 caliber) rifle. These weapons are good at 2,000 meters or more, but weigh twice as much as the 6.8...

Of the 67 in service, just 18 – or 27 per cent – are available for front line operations in Afghanistan or for training pilots in the United Kingdom. Across all the aircraft types, less than half of Britain's military helicopters are available for operations, with 62 per cent (322 out of a total of 522) out of service. Ministry of Defence figures obtained by the Conservative Party also show that only 44 per cent of the RAF's Chinook helicopters, 35 per cent of Merlins and 43 per cent of the Royal Navy's Sea Kings are available for service in...

'It was like Zulu' How British troops in Afghanistan fought to the point of exhaustion against the Taliban. “You couldn’t make it up,” the sergeant added. “There were four sangar [sentry posts] in the corners of our compound being hit at the same time. It was 360-degree warfare.” As the base came under intense fire, a group of Taliban used an irrigation ditch to move up to one of the compound’s rear walls. There was a real risk that the insurgents might breach the base’s security. With little thought for his personal safety, and knowing that drastic action was required,...

Three Grenadier Guards and two Royal Military Police were attacked as they rested inside a compound. The soldiers, who had removed their body armour and helmets, were shot by an Afghan national policeman who then fled. It is not known whether he was a member of the Taliban or being coerced by the insurgents. The gunman is thought to go by the name Gulbuddin and is believed to have had an accomplice. There are also suggestions that he had animosity towards his superiors after being repeatedly moved around the country as part of his duties. He is now being hunted...

An army general who is reported to have criticised aspects of the war in Afghanistan has resigned. Reports said Maj Gen Andrew Mackay, General Officer Commanding Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England, was unhappy about strategy. Prince Harry spent 10 weeks from December 2007 in Afghanistan under the command of Maj Gen Mackay. The Ministry of Defence has insisted that the general's departure was a "personal matter". Maj Gen Mackay's operational tour to Afghanistan was notable for the re-capture of Musa Qaleh, a strategic town, from the Taliban. He was subsequently awarded a CBE for his role in the mission....

A veteran soldier who became trapped in a ravine for two days after a 250ft fall has survived, thanks to skills learnt 65 years ago during World War II. Great-grandfather Daniel Currie broke his elbow and shoulder after slipping during a walk at Fiddler's Elbow, near Abercynonon in Wales on Good Friday.Unable to move, and without food or water, Mr Currie protected himself using survival skills learnt while serving in the Army 65 years ago.The 87-year-old covered himself with leaves as temperatures plummeted to 3C overnight, and cleared surrounding undergrowth in order to make himself more visible to rescuers.Speaking...

The British army suffers from lack of soldiers, lack of money and lack of conviction

  Ghanaian orphan ... Paul Apowida My duty to serve the country   Published: 30 Dec 2008     AN orphan has joined the British Army to repay the country that saved his life. Ghanaian Paul Apowida was sent to a boarding school and later college by UK charity Afrikids. He had been brought up in an orphanage after being rescued by a nun when his stepmum tried to poison him. Now rifleman Paul, 23, has joined the 1st Infantry Training Battalion in Catterick, North Yorks, to pay the debt he feels he owes. The talented artist, who recently...

Forces to repay town's tributes Members of the armed forces are to parade through the streets of a town in Wiltshire to thank locals for honouring dead British service personnel. Over the past 18 months residents of Wootton Bassett have lined the streets more than 100 times as coffins have been brought through the town. The town is near RAF Lyneham, the airbase to which bodies are repatriated after deaths in Afghanistan or Iraq. Sunday afternoon's tribute will also see a flypast from a Hercules aircraft. In a letter to the town thanking the residents for the gesture, the head...

Senior Taliban leader killed in Afghanistan Reuters July 22, 2008 KABUL (Reuters) - A senior Taliban commander in southern Afghanistan surrendered to Pakistani authorities and British forces killed another leader, dealing a "shattering blow" to the militant group's leadership, the British army said on Tuesday. Mullah Rahim, the top commander for southern Helmand province, gave himself up after British forces had killed two other Taliban leaders in little over three weeks. Hours after his surrender, another senior Taliban commander, Abdul Rasaq, also known as "Mullah Sheikh", was killed in a British missile strike 15 km (9 miles) north of the...

Havildar Bhanbhagta Gurung, VC Gurkha who was decorated for his courage and skill in capturing a Japanese position in fierce hand-to-hand fighting Havildar Bhanbhagta Gurung, VC Bhanbhagta Gurung won his Victoria Cross in Burma in 1945. His action was the culmination of a series of extraordinarily gallant actions by this soldier of quite exceptional courage, yet it occurred while he was in disgrace, albeit unjustly. Born in the hill village of Phalbu in western Nepal, he was recruited into the old Indian Army soon after the outbreak of the Second World War, and joined 3rd Battalion 2nd King Edward VII’s...

BRITAIN'S Prince Harry will not be allowed to fight on the front line in Afghanistan, The Mail on Sunday newspaper says, citing senior sources in the prince's regiment. Harry, third in line to the throne, reportedly threatened to quit the British Army if he was blocked from active service due to safety fears and any such decision is likely to infuriate the 22-year-old. Although a formal decision has yet to be made, sources in the Household Cavalry told the weekly tabloid they thought it was too dangerous for him to deploy in Afghanistan. The southern Helmand province, where the bulk...

“HAVE you ever used a pistol?” yelled Sergeant-Major Mick Bolton amid the Kalashnikov fire and bursts from a machinegun as we ran across a baked-mud field and dived for cover. “If it comes down to it, everyone’s going to have to fight.” Round after round fizzed past our ears, sending up clouds of dust. My heart was thudding crazily against my flak jacket, my breath coming in short, rasping pants. The whoosh of a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) close enough to lift the hairs on the back of my neck was followed by an orange blaze of flame as it landed...

NICOSIA (Reuters) - The six-year-old mascot for a British army battalion has been demoted in disgrace for acting the goat during a parade in full view of dignitaries. Billy Goat has been a mascot of the First Battalion, the Royal Welsh regiment, since he was six months old and had the official rank of lance-corporal before his frisky antics during a parade marking Queen Elizabeth's official birthday earlier this month. The army said he had been demoted to fusilier (private) as a result of his behavior. "The goat major had a hard time keeping him in line, he was bouncing...

Heroes of Basra riot among 70 honoured for bravery in Iraq Richard Norton-Taylor Friday March 24, 2006 They also include a bomb disposal officer awarded the George Cross - which ranks with the Victoria Cross as the highest award for gallantry - and a Royal Marine who led an assault in his river craft which, in the words of the Ministry of Defence, "unhinged the enemy". Lieutenant Colonel James Woodham of the Royal Anglian Regiment is awarded the Military Cross for his role in charge of negotiations when the two SAS soldiers were arrested by Iraqi police in Basra last...

The Army is abandoning mixed-sex training units because too many female recruits are getting injured trying to keep up with their male counterparts. From next April, women will be placed in their own platoons and although the training regime will remain the same, it will be conducted at a pace 'sustainable and commensurate with their physical profile'.

What's in [British] emergency ration packs? By Jonathan Duffy BBC News Magazine They're standard-issue to British squaddies in Iraq, but now half a million Army ration packs are being sent to victims in the hurricane disaster zone. What will they make of them? We sample the contents. The food is a long way from the gumbo, crawfish and Cajun-inspired cuisine Louisiana is renowned for, but to those caught up in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina it could be a lifesaver. The UK is flying half a million military ration packs to the disaster zone in the southern states of the...

Last week a furore rightly erupted over the insistence of Ministry of Defence officials that soldiers engaged in Iraq must face prosecution for alleged offences against the European Convention on Human Rights. Earlier this month in the House of Lords, six former Chiefs of the Defence Staff joined forces to protest that this posed a major threat to the morale and future efficiency of the British Army. Only gradually emerging, however, from behind veils of official obfuscation, are the details of another, equally serious threat to the army's future, as MoD officials plan to lock it into a fully integrated...