Military History Encyclopedia Forum

[cj.linton]

Hi all, just a Question i'd like to ask people, Should Territorial Army units be sent overseas to serve as regular army?

The reason I ask this is because a friend of mine was killed in Iraq during it's early fighting and he was in the T.A. should he have been there? this isn't a question of wether or not the war should have happened, it did happen and there is nothing that can be done about it now. but.

Are T.A units trained enough to support Regular Army units?
As they are a defence force, surely they would serve better defending the country, I would rather see T.A soldiers guarding Train stations and Airports than going abroad to fight

I know that the T.A fulfills many important rolls in the Army, especially as Medics (which my late friend was), and as Admin Staff and I.T technicians. however they are still required to do the roll of regular soldiers and I do not think that it is right. If they had wanted to fight then they could have joined the Regular Army couldn't they?

I know that during the first Gulf War in '91 most of the blue on blue (friendly fire) incidents were caused by National Guard units of the U.S Army. I know that there are many National Guard units in Iraq, so do you yanks believe they should be there, or should they be better used defending your country on your own soil?

Thanks for your time.
_________________
do you know? at the end of the thirty years wars all sides agreed to treaties by various names... all except two countries who technically are still at war!

Sweden and the tiny Italian republic of San Marino!

[roo]

Sorry but must disagree having done my time in the TA (i'm to old now) the first thing you learn is that first and foremost you are an infantryman then you are your specialisation ( i was Signals). My Regiment did go to Iraq and on its return only one member resigned. When I was in, the main threat was the Soviet block and there was no doubt in any of our minds that if called we would go. It's a case of you take the money you do the Job. Your reference to defense units refers to the special ta' units set up for older reservists (Normally past the age considered for active duty) who trained one or twice a year and weere expected to be used gaurding power stations etc in a time of crisis.

[Adam@HW]

I've also done my time with the TA. I think all TA soldiers are well aware that operations overseas are now part of the job. The question should be do they get deployed as units or are they split up to fill regular units vaccancies? Firends of mine had mixed experiences a couple of years ago with some regular units welcoming them and others not. Would they have performed better if deployed as a complete unit?

[roo]

Yes I believe that they should be deployed as Units not individuals

[dukeJoe]

[ailybu]

I've also done my time with the TA. I think

[oyasidiq]

I agree

[jorgea]

I personally think they ought to stay home to defend against invaders