The Kintyre Forum

Should members of the armed forces - be allowed to wear their uniform - in public?.

Think it's been a bit of a security risk for a long time, regardless of the Daily Mail today.
A lot of it has to do of where they are aswell

If they want to wear their uniform, Yes... Why shouldnt they?

Do firemen/nurses/police/Footballers/bank clerks/till girls/McJobbers etc wear their work clothes when off duty?

The Peterborough furore was started by a serviceman being abused wearing his uniform going home from his work.. I believe nurses,police,bank clerks,till girls and McJobbers would often travel to and from work in their work clothes.. Not sure about footballers and firemen.. If they did it would still be wrong if they were verbally abused for doing what they are paid for...

Wasn't there a bit of amusement recently in the town when a guy was walking about with a desert uniform on for weeks and he wasn't even in the army?

Maybe he found it comfy.

S

A family member recently returned from Iraq and after flying into Brize Norton he took a hire car to Heathrow and caught a flight to Glasgow.

He was astonished by the looks/comments he got whilst travelling home still wearing his uniform.

As a member of the armed forces who put himself forward to fight for his country he could not believe the negative response from the public.

He was verbally abused and several people put their fingers up to him.

He was not trying to create controvery by travelling in his uniform, he was simply exhausted from travelling and desperate to get home to his family after months away.

In America, servicemen/women are respected for the job they do. People want to shake their hands and have uttermost respect for them.

Rightly or wrongly these people are posted to regions most of us couldnt even imagine going to and they should be repected for the job they do.

If they choose to wear their uniform in public - for whatever reason - then i for one, do not have a problem with it.

Lel wrote:If they choose to wear their uniform in public - for whatever reason - then i for one, do not have a problem with it.

To be honest I don't really care one way or the other. It was strang to see someone walking about the COOP shopping with a desert uniform on and not being in the army.

Sounds like your relative had a hard time from the public on his way home.

S

Firstly I should make it clear that nobody should be abused for their job of work (unless they are a politician or an estate agent )

But members of the forces shouldn't be treated any differently than anyone else, it's a job they choose knowing the associated risks.

But members of the forces shouldn't be treated any differently than anyone else, it's a job they choose knowing the associated risks.

Totally agree with you on this. They know what they are signing up for.

Dont think anyone should be abused regardless of their job....they are only like the rest trying of us trying to make a living

It was strang to see someone walking about the COOP shopping with a desert uniform on and not being in the army

Maybe the guy was practicing for the TA? Is there still TA in the town? Remember it from many years ago!

Lel wrote:Rightly or wrongly these people are posted to regions most of us couldnt even imagine going to and they should be repected for the job they do.

Absolutely, and whatever your views on the rights and wrongs of the various wars/troubles that our country is currently involved in, abusing our servicemen/women is totally out of order. Some people are incredibly ignorant. If they wish to protest against a war, target the politicians who sent the servicemen, not the soldiers.

I saw a couple of episodes of Ross Kemp in Afghanistan and my respect for what our armed forces do jumped after that - and I had a lot of respect for them before.

Malky

i don't think anyone goes arounfd in public in uniform just to showoff that they are a member of any particular branch of the armed services. for a lot its as has already been said, its a career they chose for one reason or another, for some a desire to serve, for others the only chance they can see of a fulltimes job, there might be a small percentage who like the idea of playing sodjers, you might see them strut about, but that could also be down to the discipline thats been drilled into them, giving the appearance of arrogance when all it is, is pride in the uniform. while we should support "the troops" at the end of the day anyone who signs up does so with a clear picture of what is expected of them, british soldiers have been in combat situations somewhere in the world for the last 200 years or more. fighting didn't stop with the end of WWII.

I'm not pro any branch, i'm very much anti military but the arguement can be made that if british troops or navy or airforce didn't help whoever the latest country might be, then who will, it is britain, not america that is the world's army, going where the UN presence should be. wrong? probably, i wonder how northern ireland would have turned out if the UN had stationed troops there instead of the british army? guns don't kill, people do, soldiers don't start wars, governments do, i'm quite sure the troops would rather be swaggering about their local tesco in uniform than fighting in iraq or afghanistan.

oh and tosh? maybe where you live thats the opinion of estate agents, up here? the local estate agent is my wife, consider yourself duly chastised.

Peterborough is a multi cultural city with certain areas, where as a British born caucasian, you would be in a minority.

Peterborough is 23 miles from Corby,I visit it every week owing too my work.My son has been a policeman there for 15 years.

I think you will find that the abuse directed at the R.A.F. personnel occured in this area populated by the ethnic "minority".This is substansiated by the statement printed below,taken from Times online.


“This was not a blanket ban for the whole of Peterborough but service personnel were advised to watch out for certain areas,” the senior RAF source said.

Tosh wrote:Do firemen/nurses/police/Footballers/bank clerks/till girls/McJobbers etc wear their work clothes when off duty?

nurses,uniforms... now your talkin

general jack o'niell wrote:i

oh and tosh? maybe where you live thats the opinion of estate agents, up here? the local estate agent is my wife, consider yourself duly chastised.

Appols to Mrs Jack, no personal offence intended

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2004/ma ... e.property