Shannon W Unit 8: Understand the impact of war, conflict and terrorism on the public services
D1
Task 3 (D1)
The UK public service I have chosen to write about is the British Army and how having to deal with
war, conflict and terrorism impacts them. The British Army are always being deployed on operations
around the world, some can be for peacekeeping reasons, providing aid or they are having to deal
with a war or conflict. There are no real positives for having to deal with war, conflict and terrorism
because it always has negative consequences.
For this report, the example I am going to use to evaluate the impact on the British Army when
having to deal with war, conflict and terrorism is the Afghanistan war, also known as ‘operation
Herrick’ that began in 2001and lasted until 2014. The British Army got involved in the war shortly
after the 9/11 attack, which was thought to be planned by Bin Laden and the Al Queda. It was mainly
America’s war with Afghanistan however, Britain provided troops to assist the US.
In my opinion, the worst impact it had on the British Army was the loss of lives. According to the
gov.uk website, a total of 454 British troops and MOD (Ministry of Defence) citizens died since the
war started in 2001. Each soldier that has died means that the British Army has lost personnel with
special skills and qualities.
Even the surviving troops have been negatively impacted and most of them that served in the
Afghan war have been medically discharged, due to physical injuries or mental disorders as a result
of the trauma they witnessed. Their mental illnesses and physical injuries will impact them for the
rest of their lives. Ben Parkinson is one of the most severely injured survivor from the Afghan war
and he suffered from more than 40 injuries, which included brain damage. As a result, the Ministry
of Defence and NHS granted Ben’s family with a Bespoke care package which will cover any extra
costs in order to care for him. This impacts the British Army and the NHS because a percentage of
their budget will contribute towards ex armed forces personnel, like Ben, in order to pay for their life
long injuries as a result of the war.
Another impact it has on the service is the cost to train and deploy troops. With cuts keep being
made to the Ministry of Defence, the British Army is getting less money to help deal with wars and
conflict. It also puts thousands of armed forces personnel at the risk of being made redundant. Even
due to the army’s decreasing numbers, their work load is increasing. The war in Afghanistan
(operation Herrick) cost the UK an estimate of £37 billion, according to an article from the Guardian
in 2013.
The British Army were deployed in Afghanistan for 13 years, from 2001-2014. The length of the war
itself had an impact on the British Army because a lot of their troops were prioritised to that
operation, therefore they didn’t have any spare troops or resources for other issues that might have
had to deal with at the time.
The current impact that the British Army are facing is that they are still currently deployed in
Afghanistan today to help remove the Taliban from power and being in control. According to the
Army.mod website, there are currently nearly 1,000 British troops deployed in Afghanistan.
In my opinion, I feel relatively safe if an event of a war, conflict or terrorism took place today
because I think the British Army are well equipped when it comes to war and they have been
effective when dealing with it in the past. However, they now have new vehicles, weapons and
technology to help deal with it.
References
D1
Task 3 (D1)
The UK public service I have chosen to write about is the British Army and how having to deal with
war, conflict and terrorism impacts them. The British Army are always being deployed on operations
around the world, some can be for peacekeeping reasons, providing aid or they are having to deal
with a war or conflict. There are no real positives for having to deal with war, conflict and terrorism
because it always has negative consequences.
For this report, the example I am going to use to evaluate the impact on the British Army when
having to deal with war, conflict and terrorism is the Afghanistan war, also known as ‘operation
Herrick’ that began in 2001and lasted until 2014. The British Army got involved in the war shortly
after the 9/11 attack, which was thought to be planned by Bin Laden and the Al Queda. It was mainly
America’s war with Afghanistan however, Britain provided troops to assist the US.
In my opinion, the worst impact it had on the British Army was the loss of lives. According to the
gov.uk website, a total of 454 British troops and MOD (Ministry of Defence) citizens died since the
war started in 2001. Each soldier that has died means that the British Army has lost personnel with
special skills and qualities.
Even the surviving troops have been negatively impacted and most of them that served in the
Afghan war have been medically discharged, due to physical injuries or mental disorders as a result
of the trauma they witnessed. Their mental illnesses and physical injuries will impact them for the
rest of their lives. Ben Parkinson is one of the most severely injured survivor from the Afghan war
and he suffered from more than 40 injuries, which included brain damage. As a result, the Ministry
of Defence and NHS granted Ben’s family with a Bespoke care package which will cover any extra
costs in order to care for him. This impacts the British Army and the NHS because a percentage of
their budget will contribute towards ex armed forces personnel, like Ben, in order to pay for their life
long injuries as a result of the war.
Another impact it has on the service is the cost to train and deploy troops. With cuts keep being
made to the Ministry of Defence, the British Army is getting less money to help deal with wars and
conflict. It also puts thousands of armed forces personnel at the risk of being made redundant. Even
due to the army’s decreasing numbers, their work load is increasing. The war in Afghanistan
(operation Herrick) cost the UK an estimate of £37 billion, according to an article from the Guardian
in 2013.
The British Army were deployed in Afghanistan for 13 years, from 2001-2014. The length of the war
itself had an impact on the British Army because a lot of their troops were prioritised to that
operation, therefore they didn’t have any spare troops or resources for other issues that might have
had to deal with at the time.
The current impact that the British Army are facing is that they are still currently deployed in
Afghanistan today to help remove the Taliban from power and being in control. According to the
Army.mod website, there are currently nearly 1,000 British troops deployed in Afghanistan.
In my opinion, I feel relatively safe if an event of a war, conflict or terrorism took place today
because I think the British Army are well equipped when it comes to war and they have been
effective when dealing with it in the past. However, they now have new vehicles, weapons and
technology to help deal with it.
References
