Soldier – August 2019

Why have we not had a pay rise?

http://www.soldiermagazine.co.uk AUGUST 2019 55

‘WHY I’M FEELING LOW ABOUT OUR STALLED PAY RISE’

Is there

any truth

in this?

Are Gurkhas part of Nato picture?

Pictures: Graeme Main

Royal Gurkha Rifl es

training in Louisiana as

part of the Allied Rapid

Reaction Corps’ Support

Battalion

http://www.facebook.com/soldiermagazine

Get it off your chest

and on social media

We examined mental resilience

training in the July issue

(page 44) and it was a topic of

hot debate on the

Army Facebook page.

Sylvia Valderrama

Great job ... it gives

the family peace of

mind and confi dence to know

that our British Army soldiers

are equipped to face their

mental challenges whether in

the fi eld or not. God bless.

John Sped

Rory Thomas, with

respect, perhaps the

Army has now learned that

mental resilience is another

key weapon in ensuring the

soldier is well trained to deal

with the stressful and highly

pressured situations they

fi nd themselves in. Perhaps

they’ve looked at the history

of those who have served in

previous generations and put

together something to give

soldiers another solution to

coping with the abnormal jobs

they have to carry out.

Stephen Paul

That’s another box

ticked.

Rory Thomas

With respect, what

the **** is mental

resilience training? My

cousins who went to war in

WW2 never had it, neither did

my generation who served in

the 60s and 70s.

I

N YOUR Nato-themed issue in April you

refer to the Gurkhas as being part of the

British Armed Forces’ contribution to

that particular organisation.

It has always been my understanding

that these personnel were explicitly not

part of Nato.

I heard that this was the case when the

Gurkhas were deployed to the Falklands,

rather than another British Army regiment,

because the Service was close to being

unable to meet its Nato commitments.

Is there any truth to this, or is it an

urban myth? – Alan Bolland, Troon

Maj Shane Burton (RGR), Chief

of Staff, Headquarters Brigade of

Gurkhas, responds: The Brigade of

Gurkhas is an integral part of the

British Army and as such these troops

are indeed part of Nato.

Gurkha units have been deployed

as part of British Armed Forces

supporting numerous Nato

operations including Bosnia, Kosovo

and Afghanistan.

●AS WE hit the heights of summer is

there a logical and valid reason why we

have not yet had an increase in our pay?

The question of retention and

recruitment surfaces all the time, so

how about looking after the welfare of

soldiers in terms of a pay rise?

It can’t be that diffi cult – April 1

happens every year after all.

Perhaps it is a coincidence that it

is also April Fools’ Day? – Name and

address supplied

Maj Tony Frank, Allowances Policy,

Army Remuneration, Personnel

Policy (Army) replies: You should

have spoken to your administration

offi ce for advice.

The delay to the pay award has

been widely communicated and

has been the subject of numerous

messages on routine orders.

An announcement has just been

made on this matter (page 13),

and most soldiers will receive an

increase of 2.9 per cent as part of

a range of pay rises for the military

and civilian public sector workers.

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