Robbo Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Interesting story on sixty minutes this Sunday night, "inside the cockpit" follows the RAAF pilots in Syria. I have a very good mate who finished his Hornet training about two years ago, he is just 27 and I am amazed at the focus and dedication to the job these boys have. Please keep safe and we thank you all for your service and dedication. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff13 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 I have a son who spent 7 months on the ground in Afganistan. I also am a amazed by the guts and determination of our young men and women. I am devestated by the disgraceful way our sucessive government have treated them since they came home. That is the ones who came home. 40 of our young men died there many more left there sanity behind in that desolate land. Sorry but this acorn has fallen very close to the tree. 2 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litespeed Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Geoff, I hope your son is well and not too badly affected by his tour. I hope he is able to absorb what he has seen and done without too much of the trauma that is so prevalent of our brave men and women. It is truly disgraceful how politicians wave the flag and send our youth to fight and sometimes die. The injuries are rarely just physical and require support and compassion that is often life long. We know so much about the affects of war on those that witness it but defense and governments do so little. I suggest the next pollie who wants to send us to battle should be at the frontline themselves. Once we run out of dishonourable members of warmongering parliaments- peace might have a chance. Unfortunately I expect the 60 minutes story is purely aimed at propaganda to justify why we are over there bombing. I thank your son and all those fine men and women doing such difficult tasks. Phil 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Perry Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Our PM has been severely castigated ( last week ) for assasinating a couple of British Jihadis ( NOTE TO IAN - I'll keep the POLLY bit short ) with a Predator drone. The usual suspects are to blame for this,. . .no further comment. It's now been stated that the RAF have been responsible for over three hundred strikes, but not using RAF pilots. "Embedded" RAF personnel have been used in U.S. ops in Syrian airspace, and this has also caused some consternation. I am just PRAYING ( interesting for me as,. . .well I won't go there either ) that there is no attempt to bomb Assad. . . this idea was defeated in the commons some time ago. Just make things worse, but the main reason for this post is to say that I AM TOTALLY DISGUSTED with the way our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been treated after they came back. Sounds like you have the same problem in Australia Geoff. We have more than three thousand of them living rough as they can't get social housing. . . .and the injured ones can't even get useable prosthetics on the NHS. I don't want to go on anymore about this as I'll lose my rag and damage my last keyboard. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yenn Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Our Aussie vets get better treatment than the Poms, but it is still a bit rough sometimes. the Viet nam vets were made the scapegoats for failed government policies. I take my hat off to our military, they are posibly the worlds best at what they do. I can at least talk from experience I was a British soldier and my grandson was an Aussie infantryman. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrZoos Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 I think we would all rather see every serving military personnel get an early pension, generous super and properly looked after than one politician take another business class flight or com car...or perhaps even a breath Hats off too all current, former and future service men and women for your incredible selfless sacrifices. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff13 Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Our Aussie vets get better treatment than the Poms, but it is still a bit rough sometimes. the Viet nam vets were made the scapegoats for failed government policies.I take my hat off to our military, they are posibly the worlds best at what they do. I can at least talk from experience I was a British soldier and my grandson was an Aussie infantryman. I would be happy to debate you on that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litespeed Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 I am with you Geoff, I know a excellent Psychologist who is a specialist in PTSD and works for the military, he knows how poorly the men and women are treated and that includes the very ones fresh from the warzone. The funding is just not available to actually do what is needed. Also the brass and bureaucrats make it next to impossible to get any help, the soldiers are treated as lazy or weaklings. The hoops they must jump through are legendary. They are systematically abused and degraded by those who are meant to care for them, this is not by just neglect but also intent. The politicans know it and just either don't care or are destroyed by whiteanting from within the military and its public servants. They will destroy anyone who confronts the ugly truth and tries to change for the better. They are so ingrained in the dirty system they will do anything to protect themselves- anything but do the right thing. Servicemen are fighting daily for simple recognition of their needs to no avail. The strategy is wait them out til they die or are imprisoned due to their inability to cope when they return. The debt we owe them is staggering. A royal commission is needed but will never happen It makes me ashamed to be Australian at times 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kununurra Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 And it is not just the politicians, we cancel a game of AFL due to a tragedy but take it for granted what our military heroes do for us. A lot more should be done for our returned soldiers no matter what battle it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red750 Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Ben Roberts-Smith VC has the pollie's ear. Why isn't he using some influence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litespeed Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 And it is not just the politicians, we cancel a game of AFL due to a tragedy but take it for granted what our military heroes do for us.A lot more should be done for our returned soldiers no matter what battle it was. Which brings up another issue- all the leeches that suck blood on the name of ANZAC. Like the ANZAC football games- disgusting. If they were serious then all involved would donate all ticket and advertising sales, tv rights etc would directly go to funding services for our service men and women. And not just the artificially lowered profits. But the government which controls the rights just pays lip service. If they were not using the ANZAC name none of these games would be run. The same goes for the so called "RSL" clubs just a bunch of gambling/drinking dens, the actual clubs themselves do bugger all for veterans. And even have refused at times to allow certain veteran groups to be recognised. Disgusting hypocrisy- I have always refused to stand for remembrance at a RSL for this very reason. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff13 Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Ben Roberts-Smith VC has the pollie's ear. Why isn't he using some influence? Mate I hate to sound negative because I know we need all the help we can get for our boys, but if you have ever read the book Exit Wounds. Exit Wounds - One Australian's War On Terror by John Cantwell (Major General RTD), MajGen Cantwell got to be Chief of the Australian Army, he was first in line to be promoted to Chief of the Defence Force. He resigned before being appointed to the top job because of PTSD. This book is a must read for anyone who cares about our young servicemen and women. If he could get the help he needed without resigning first,then how the hell can our diggers? 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 ...the so called "RSL" clubs just a bunch of gambling/drinking dens, the actual clubs themselves do bugger all for veterans. And even have refused at times to allow certain veteran groups to be recognised.. I totally agree, Litie. Our local RSL regularly spends up large on refurbishments, but I rarely enter the place- it is depressing, even though they try to hide the pokies. I grew up with a bloke whose father fought harder and suffered more than most. What kept him going thru atrocious, hungry winters working down Silesian coal mines was the back pay he'd pick up if he survived being a POW. He wanted to buy a farm. He never got the money and the RSL was no help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litespeed Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Yes Geoff, That is recommended reading and the first thing the Dr I mentioned should be read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 I've stopped going to RSL clubs since they went political with Clubs Australia.I don't like pokies particularly. I've seen pensioners put their entire cheque through the machine the day they get it.Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yenn Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 OK Geoff what do you want to debate? The only thing I can see that is debatable in my post is the statement that Aussies are better treated than Poms. I am only going on the stories I have heard from the Falklands war with the poms. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff13 Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Well for a start I was posted to England in 1986 and was there for 2 years, and worked with many poms who were in the Falklands. You are correct they were not treated well on return home, they were however treated far better than our boys coming home from Afganistan and the Gulf. I can vouch for that from first hand experience. British soldiers coming home now are not being treated very well either and I would be one of the last people on earth to belittle their service or their treatment. I certainly believe that they are being treated no better than our boys, but neither are they any worse off. Being an ex serviceman I understand the system and everything it stands for, being the Father of an Australian Soldier who spent 7 months in Afganistan I actually do know the truth of the way our boys were treated not only after they came home, but also before they went ( having personally paid to kit my boy out to a standard where he could survive) and when they were over there. I honestly could tell you true stories that could possibly make your skin crawl. My argument with your last post was only the comparison between our boys and the poms. Trust me when I say that there is not one of the allied governments who have given our boys the respect that they deserve. This I am afraid is a very sore point for me. I very nearly lost my family because of my service. My son lost his and we are still fighting for our grandchildren to get to know their real father and their Grandparents. I have seen first hand the devastating effect of PTSD. The hardest thing is to get the boys to admit they need help. They are so painfully ignorant of their own problems, but their families live it every day. Sit down with someone who is suffering one day, lock the door so he can't leave the room and force him to give you the trigger to his problems. The result is that you then take on the responsibility for those problems. Trust me before you put yourself in that position, be certain that you can handle it. Again sorry guys I am not trying to hijack the thread but Governments around the world are ignoring this problem, and I have tried to fight this fight at so many levels that I actually am starting to believe that my fight is unwinnable. That, my friends, is a bitter pill to swallow. OK. trust me I do not want a fight with any one, but you are talking Falklands and Vietnam. Please study Gulf War 1 and 2 and Afganistan. Oh and please lets not forget East Timor either. John Cantwell spent time in all four of those theaters. Remember he is the Aussie Digger of the past 40 years. 2 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willedoo Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 I am just PRAYING ( interesting for me as,. . .well I won't go there either ) that there is no attempt to bomb Assad. . . this idea was defeated in the commons some time ago. Phil, thankfully that's getting less likely by the day. The coalition is finally starting to figure out that doing so would be handing IS the keys to Damascus. After a little bit of Russian sabre rattling over the last couple of weeks spooked the horses, the US and Russia are co-ordinating on a military level again, as well as FM/ Secretary of State level regarding Syria. Things are looking a bit more positive. Hopefully now, they can concentrate on the main game. Cheers, Willie. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litespeed Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Geoff, Thankyou from the bottom of my heart, what you have just said is very difficult. I have had PTSD for 25 years and it still haunts me. It basically cost me everything I had in life including family- I am still picking up the peices. I hope your son is able to repair his family relationship and heal. Again thankyou 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff13 Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Litespeed. You know how it works. His family is gone. My wife and I still live in hope of building a real relationship with our grand children. If we can bring our son along for the journey that will be a bonus. It is hard and the few people who understand really can't help much. Having said that by knowing that their are people who do understand helps in its own right. Thank you and to those others who hear our call. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnarly Gnu Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 the US and Russia are co-ordinating on a military level again.... That would be a wise thing to do but apparently they aren't. Yep, both Russian and US military (albeit at a limited level) are fighting in Syria but neither is communicating with the other. Not much that could go wrong there, seems a great idea for Australia to join in.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted September 19, 2015 Author Share Posted September 19, 2015 Friends..... Please don't turn this into another politics topic, I was simply letting people know about a segment coming up on tv. I am sure we are all proud of our servicemen and yes we all agree they deserve better from our government. But please no more politics as this is going down the wrong track like the other topics have. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share Posted September 20, 2015 Good Story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red750 Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Recorded it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share Posted September 20, 2015 I saw some familiar faces..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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