A Privatised Military

Much has been said of the collapse of the covenant between the military and the government/people. Not so much has been said about how to solve it. In many ways the Army suffers due to the lack of Unions. This lack is incredibly important because it measn there is nobody to fight for the soldiers rights except to various private individuals. That said having Unions would be lunacy.

Let us be clear: the covenant has been broken. Soldiers use outdated and dangerous equipment, have lamentable pensions, rates of pay, hours and compensation. They have few benefits back in country and are on the job pretty much 24/7. So what can we do. Well simple...

1. Better pay. If the MoD can pay Afghanis to dress up like Taliban for £50 a day and spend £80 million per Eurofighter then they can afford to spend £50 a day on soldiers wages.
2. Better compensation. As the recent Ben Parkinson/RAF Typist scandal has shown compensation is currently wack. Considering what these men and women put on the line I think more could be done. In particular free private health care for life for those in the warzone might be nice.
3. Better contracts for equipment. I mean just look at this list. One can only surmise some tit in the MoD mistook the chaingun for a minigun. The only other reasonable excplanation for buying a chaingun is that the bloke in charge though guns work in real life like they do in DOOM. As mentioned here, it would make a fuck load more sense to buy tried and tested weapons and kit off the peg rather than spending billions and billions on things that don't work. Fuck the SA 80, use the G36 or SLR. Etc.
4. Decent explosives proof kit. Not just more vehicles like the Mastiff but also some nice anti-Mortar barracks at Basra. Because a mattress just isn't really the same.
5. Morale boosters and free shit. Free post, free cinema tickets etc. If the Yanks can have them why can't our soldiers?
6. More helicopters. No explanation even needed.

Now one of the reasons I mention all this is because of the comparison between say Blackwater and our own MoD. Blackwater provides cheap, useable and well suited kit to its men. Its always there on back up. The MoD on the other hand is still buying things based on how shiny they are. Wouldn't it be nice to add more privatisation to the military?

These are just general thoughts, off the top of my head. No plan, no drafts, just writing. And if even I, a man removed from war by two generations, can think of this kind of stuff when the MoD can't then what kind of chance do our soldiers have?