Tomorrow is Armed Forces Day, a UK National event which celebrates the Armed Forces by enabling the Great British Public the opportunity to show their support for the Armed Forces Community.
2020 has been a tough year for many, and sadly, I do not see it getting easier. Whilst I am ever hopeful for a bounceback from the impact of COVID and the associated social, economic and emotional upheaval that it has caused, the chances are that we will not go back to life as it was before. Therefore, one might ask ‘What is the point of marking Armed Forces Week?’ I would not be surprised if calls arise from some quarters for the whole thing to be shelved owing to it being an affront to modern day liberal values. Readers will be unsurprised that, as a former Army officer, I wholeheartedly support Armed Forces Week, to find out why, read on.
As we enter the third decade of the 21st Century, our Armed Forces are at their smallest since the Second World War. Veterans currently make up around 5% of the population, a figure that will diminish significantly as the last of the World War 2, and National Service veterans pass away and go to the big reorg in the sky. In 2020, the vast majority of those who live in our country will have no relatives with a history of service, much less know anyone who is currently serving. This has far reaching and potentially calamitous implications.In the minds of many people, the Armed Forces will not be ‘theirs’ but will be an organisation of ‘others’ who are viewed as a potential instrument of oppression by the State against the people. This sentiment is perhaps best illustrated by the panic that consumed some when, during the earliest stages of COVID, a proliferation of images on twitter showed a convoy of left-hand-drive European military vehicles driving on the right hand side of the road accompanied by a message warning that lockdown was coming to the UK and that the Army would be on the streets to enact martial law. Whilst many of us with military experience found this amusing, the sense of panic and fear that it inculcated was genuine and understandable.
To understand the importance of this, we need to look at Clausewitz’s Trinity, which tells us that to be successful in war, there must be political will, military means and the support of the public. In an era in which some feel that defacing the cenotaph and attempting to set fire to the Union Flag is an appropriate form of protest, I’ve a developed a sense for the first time that the bonds of trust between the military, the people and government are at real risk of unravelling.
Events like Armed Forces week are one of the few means of maintaining those bonds of trust. So take the time to look at the national events online, perhaps run a socially distanced street party or hold a virtual Big Brew Up in aid of SSAFA . However you do it, take advantage of this once in a year opportunity to support our Armed Forces. They are here for you and they are from among you.
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barry alexander 