Impact of War, Conflict & Terrorism on the UPS Essay

If there is a war and NATO decides that the UK needs to provide direct military action then the British Army will have to be prepared. War affects the army as an organisation because it means they will lose soldiers and have to retrain new ones. An example of this would be the crash of Nimrod XV230 which killed everyone on board, that highlighted the cost-pressure of the war. The training and recruiting of troops is expensive enough but to constantly sustain the high amount of soldiers that is required in a war such as Afghanistan it comes with great financial struggles, some soldiers have even had to do multiple tours in Afghanistan. Financial cuts are just getting more severe as well, in 2010 there were 102,000 trained personnel ready to support the UK but by the year 2020 there is only going to be 82,000. With this come more struggle and a more intense battle for any soldier fighting in a war in the future. Providing soldiers for a war also puts strain on welfare officers as they are the ones who have to deal with helping the wounded, grieving families and children who have lost fathers. Because the UK have had to provide such a strong army for many years now and have lost so much funding it means that they can’t afford to keep on anyone who is badly injured and those who claim compensation will not receive anything near what they may have in the past, this will directly affect the economy as these injured soldiers may not be able to return to a civilian job and will claim benefits. The war in Afghanistan caused the army to be equipped with a lot of new high tech equipment in a really short space of time, this meant they had to operate and maintain this equipment which weighs down logistics and is very costly in the long run. It seems that the more war the UK Army has to deal with the more money it is costing them, and with that comes setbacks and redundancies. This could lead to a lack of morale from the service men and women as they are being asked to do more but for fewer advantages. Another key issue from personnel at war besides physical injuries would be the mental damage they suffer. Statistics from the MOD show that between April and June 2013 there was 1367 new cases of  personnel suffering with a mental disorder in the Armed Forces, putting them at the highest amount of mental disorder sufferers than any of the other services. That’s just within a three month period, and with Afghanistan tours running every six or ninth months it just seems that number will rapidly heighten. Overall it seems the main impact the British Army suffers from when it comes to War is the financial cut backs. They are expected to do so much and constantly provide strong soldiers yet they aren’t seeing much in return. CONFLICT Conflict undercuts or destroys environmental, physical, human and social capital, destroying all available opportunities for a sustainable development. So saying that makes it clear that it is going to directly affect the well-being of the British Army because it results in the loss of lives and in some cases human rights. It is said that the British Army has been involved in some form of conflict for around 100 years now, so you could almost say it’s just part of the job and something you have to deal with. But similar to war, conflict has its effects, mentally and physically. There is a thin line between what makes a war and what makes a conflict therefore the effects are very similar, just the effects of a war would be on a much larger scale. Constant conflict is a burden for the UK army as it takes time away from training and puts pressure on troops to be sent out on a mission before they are ready. In some cases soldiers only have 6 months training before they are deployed somewhere, whereas others take part in training for a much longer period in time before sent anywhere. Conflict will also increase the stress levels within the British army which can lead to more serious problems such as extreme physical and emotional exhaustion. There is also the obvious factor that conflict can lead to war if it gets out of hand, which then would lead back to all the affects war has on the Army. Overall it seems that conflict affects the British Army in the exact same ways that a War does however just not on such a grand scale. TERRORISM Terrorism directly affects the British Army as they have to actively engage in counter-terrorism operations across the world. The main reason the British Army sends troops out to Afghanistan is to get rid of the Taliban regime and Al Qaeda, a well-known terrorist organisation. The British Army  enforces anti-terrorism alongside providing humanitarian aid. Not only does the British Army have to get rid of Al Qaeda but they also have to make sure they cannot return, this is a tough and time consuming task that has seen the death of many service personnel. Reference: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/15212871 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/285196/30_june_2013.pdf http://www.unep.org/dewa/Africa/publications/AEO-2/content/203.htm http://www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/operations-deployments.aspx http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Your_Guide_to_the_Intelligence_Corps.pdf