Re: British Special Forces small arms 2017
 

Interesting. Yep, it was always just the SLR, or, as Arrse would have it, 'The Rifle'. There again not everyone on here is even British.

Re: British Special Forces small arms 2017
 

The SLR was invented solely so that NCOs could inflict "pokey drill" on squaddies if there was any spare time.
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/164...07/6841172936/

Oh the sheer fun:mad: of holding 11 pounds of rifle out at full extent, with the first to drop before the NCO called the change getting a good shouting at.

(Actually I seem to recollect it more in the first few weeks of joining, perhaps they used it as a screening method to see who would stick things out or not. )

Re: British Special Forces small arms 2017
 

Yes I do remember doing that, although I don't think I ever 'lost' that.

I do remember, as a teenager, very early on in training leaving my rifle three yards away while I answered a call of nature. A grizzled veteran of a training Cpl charged me with my rifle and 'bayonetted' me in the stomach several times with it bloody hard while calling me every foul name under the sun.

My rifle never, ever, left my person in the field again.

Re: British Special Forces small arms 2017
 

And that is precisely why that lesson was taught the way it was. Doing things that can get you killed ( or your Cpl killed) are frowned upon :)

I do not envy the job recruit training NCO's do ESPECIALLY in western democracies

Re: British Special Forces small arms 2017
 

Agreed and one of several reason I do not favour women in front line infantry units.

Re: British Special Forces small arms 2017
 

Hey !
I represent that remark !

As long as a female can meet the same physical standards as the males I don't see a problem (and only 10-25% can). I TOTALLY hate the idea of any sort of dual standards system.[/quote]

Re: British Special Forces small arms 2017
 

In Norway we had "AG-gym", which was much the same as "pokey drill". AG-3 is the Norwegian licence-built H&K G-3. Gym is short for gymnastics, and it was often done to the chant "AG-gym er gøy", which translates to "AG-gymnastics are fun".


To get to start Officer/NCO training here in Norway, the minimum time for running 3000m is 14 min for men and 15 min for women. This is the same on all physical tests. (The qualifications and grading in Norwegian: https://forsvaret.no/karriere/krav/fysiske-krav)

Re: British Special Forces small arms 2017
 

Yeah well...the guys see it differently. A few thousand years of evolutionary attitudes to overcome and yes there are plenty of examples of women fighting in partisan units and there will ALWAYS be a small % of true amazon warriors out there but if I had a vote ( and I don't.... ) I'd keep women out of jobs that are within front line hand grenade range....there are plenty of jobs just as demanding that aren't frontline.

Re: British Special Forces small arms 2017
 

My point was a training NCO (unlike an enemy) simply could not ram a rifle barrel into a girls stomach in training, indeed even harsh words can lead a lot of women to tears.

Many years ago, I actually went out with a female British Army soldier, who shortly after women were made to start guarding their own bases in UK, told me that "she could not really shoot anyone."

I remember watching a TV documentary from Afghanistan in which a UK female (Sapper?) said that during firefights she would "get down on the ground and let the boys do their stuff."

The trouble is that they do tend to drop the standards: Women in the British Army for example being allowed to do 'knee' pushups!

The British Army have done extensive testing on women in infantry sections, all women and mixed sections both performed way below male only sections. My own belief is that there are a lot of roles women can fill in the military, but infantry soldiering is not one of them.

Anyway this is now a long way off topic.

Re: British Special Forces small arms 2017
 

<SIGH>suddenly I feel my age......

I was never a runner, even in my teens I'd finish a X-country at the back of the pack.....might have something to do with the wonky heart valve I was born with but that's been fixed and now I'm bionic

After I recovered from the open heart surgery and stroke I decided I didn't want to be quite as chubby as I had become so I set out to loose weight and because I am NOT a particularly patient person I went at it big time with a 1000 cal deficit diet...so if I burned 3000 cals I could eat 2000......it's hard to do but you get used to it ( so is self-flagellation I understand...)....6 months after my surgery I was 50 pounds lighter than I was when I started and I was walking 4km a day and that , at the time was a "big deal".....and I was even occasionally running 400-500 m at a stretch ( again.....a "big deal" for me)....this year I start going further....then further...then I FINALLY got off the Beta blockers and I started running 2km a day......now to put that into perspective I hadn't run a full 2km IN MY LIFE before that and in the last month I've run nearly 70 km and if ANYONE had suggested even 20 years ( even 40 ! ) ago that when I was 63 I'd be running 70 km a month I would have wondered where you were buying your drugs:D

Anyway..the POINT of all this was your "minimum time for running 3000m is 14 min"....... I have a ways to go to catch up to 20 year old Norwegians:) 14 minutes is a good time for me for 2km........3km in 14 minutes seems impossible ....but so did "running" in general not long ago:)