bobdina
08-17-2009, 02:59 PM
Deputy Commander Joint Helicopter Command, Air Commodore Simon Falla, has written to a national newspaper in response to critical media comments regarding the presence of ten Chinook helicopters at an RAF base in Hampshire.
A CH-47 Chinook lifts off after landing a team of Royal Marines on Salisbury Plain during a training exercise
The newspaper published an image of the aircraft at RAF Odiham and claimed that while they are desperately needed by troops on the front line, the helicopters are 'sitting idle' in the UK.
Air Commodore Falla wrote:
"Far from sitting idle, the aircraft in your picture are used for training the aircrews and, critically, the troops who perform so heroically in Afghanistan day by day. Without that training neither would be able to do their jobs. Other aircraft are undergoing maintenance and servicing to keep them safe.
"We do not send aircraft to operational theatres unless we are sure they can cope with the huge demands, just as no sensible motorist drives his or her car on the road without making sure it was properly maintained.
"Misleading articles such as this do nothing to help our people in Afghanistan. They only serve to make them wonder whether they have the support they need at home, and to unsettle their their families."
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusiness/SeniorRafOfficerRespondsToCommentatorsO
A CH-47 Chinook lifts off after landing a team of Royal Marines on Salisbury Plain during a training exercise
The newspaper published an image of the aircraft at RAF Odiham and claimed that while they are desperately needed by troops on the front line, the helicopters are 'sitting idle' in the UK.
Air Commodore Falla wrote:
"Far from sitting idle, the aircraft in your picture are used for training the aircrews and, critically, the troops who perform so heroically in Afghanistan day by day. Without that training neither would be able to do their jobs. Other aircraft are undergoing maintenance and servicing to keep them safe.
"We do not send aircraft to operational theatres unless we are sure they can cope with the huge demands, just as no sensible motorist drives his or her car on the road without making sure it was properly maintained.
"Misleading articles such as this do nothing to help our people in Afghanistan. They only serve to make them wonder whether they have the support they need at home, and to unsettle their their families."
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusiness/SeniorRafOfficerRespondsToCommentatorsO