The Sandbag Times Issue No:27 - All The Best

Tributes paid to street attack soldier
A man who died following a
street disturbance has been
named as former soldier
Thomas Julian Sloman. The
27-year-old's family has
paid tribute describing him
as a devoted father,
boyfriend, brother, grandson
and nephew. They said:
"He was deeply loved by all
his family and friends. It
had been his honour to serve
his country as a member of
the Welsh Guards. He
served in Afghanistan. "He
had recently left the Army
and was looking forward to
the next chapter of his life.
He was a good guy with a
heart of gold, and will be
sorely missed by all who
loved and knew him.'" More
More British Troops Will Be Sent To Afghanistan
Britain will send dozens
more troops to Afghanistan
as the country's security
situation continues to
deteriorate. The Prime
Minister will announce the
deployment of up to 50 more
military personnel. There are
still 450 British troops in
Afghanistan, who had been
due to return the the UK at
the end of this year but will
now have their tours
extended into next year. The
50 additional personnel will
mostly help to train the
Afghan security forces: 21
will join the counterterrorism
missions, 13 will
join the NATO Resolute
Support mission and 15 will
be involved in leadership
training at the Afghan army's
officer training academy.
The UK handed control of
the country to Afghan troops
in October 2014, after a war
that cost the lives of 453
soldiers.At the time, Defence
Secretary Michael Fallon
said that Afghanistan was
"no longer a safe haven for
terrorists". The news comes
after US President Barack
Obama announced that he
will keep the remaining
8,400 US troops in
Afghanistan for the rest of
his presidency. Read more
Army to be given new long range rifles
British troops are to be issued with a new infantry combat rifle
for the first time in 20 years to cope with the fierce fighting
conditions of the Afghan war. The Sharpshooter will use larger
7.62mm bullet rounds in order to engage with Taliban fighters
over longer distances. The change comes after the military
found that the standard Nato 5.66 rounds lost velocity at ranges
over a thousand feet. The 5.56 rounds, used by the SA80
rifles, had proved adequate in previous conflicts in Iraq,
Kosovo and Sierra Leone where much of the exchanges had
taken place in urban battlegrounds. However, in the valleys and
mountains of Afghanistan the insurgents often start shooting
matches at distances of up to 2,500 feet. Read more here
Soldier to receive
payout from MOD
over Iraq Vaccines
A former soldier is to receive
a pay-out after secret Gulf
War vaccinations to combat
anthrax left him with a
catalogue of debilitating
illnesses. Martin Budge
alleges the jabs have left him
unable to work and nearcrippled
by lung disease
sarcoidosis, severe
headaches, eyesight
problems, tinnitus and
arthritis. The 56-year-old,
from Dudley, has just been
informed by a War Pensions
And Armed Forces
Compensation Panel that a
recommendation for
compensation will be made.
For Martin, who left the
forces through ill-health in
1992, it is the culmination of
a two-and-a-half-year battle.
He told the tribunal that his
case was muddied by a War
Office confession that vital
medical records had been
destroyed. Speaking after
the hearing, Martin, a former
warrant officer with the
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers,
said: “Am I bitter? Very
much so. “I’m not bitter
about the Army – I loved my
career – but I’m bitter about
the way I was treated
afterwards.” Part of that
bitterness stems from the
knowledge that the cocktail
of chemicals forced through
his veins was not needed.
The world now knows that
Saddam Hussein did not
possess the weapons of mass
destruction that drove this
country to war. The tyrant
had developed a range of
bio-weapons but chemical
weapons were never used on
our troops. Martin, now on
disability benefit after being
forced to quit his job as a BT
engineer through ill-health,
had a 19-year career in the
Army. He served in the first
Gulf War, where he first saw
action in Iraq and Kuwait
from 1990 to 1991, but left
in 1992. Read more here
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