BFBS Sitrep

It’s 10 years since British troops left Helmand and combat operations came to an end. But the conflict reshaped the forces in ways that can still be seen today.The next war is expected to involve tanks and trenches not seen in Helmand, so from equipment to military mindsets Sitrep assesses what is helpful to still have, what is a hinderance, and what gaps may exist.150,000 British personnel served in Afghanistan. A handful of those veterans tell us how that experience shapes their lives today. And Invictus medalist Jonny Ball talks to Sitrep about his new mission to create a community for all veterans of British operations in Afghanistan.

Admiral Sir Keith Blount, who is the most senior British officer in NATO, talks to Sitrep’s Claire Sadler and Professor Michael Clarke from the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium.He explains alliance thinking and actions on key topics including NATO's future, technology developments, the Ukraine war and the threat posed by Russia and China.Allied personnel were in attendance for the first Sitrep Live podcast.Admiral Sir Keith took up the role of DSACEUR in July 2023, the first Royal Navy officer to hold the position, and is second in command to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, US Army General Christopher G Cavoli.

Across 45 years of service General Sir Mike Jackson played a key role in many historic moments for Britain’s armed forces, even before he led the Army as Chief of the General Staff.Known to all simply as Jacko he is best remembered for defying his US commanding officer in Kosovo by saying “I’m not going to start World War Three for you”.  He did not get sacked, but did get the Distinguished Service Order.Sitrep hears new insights from that incident along with memories and tributes from those who served with General Sir Mike, and reflections of the General himself shared in some of the many times he spoke to BFBS.General Sir Mike Jackson.  1944-2024

Our armed forces put their lives on the line to protect the rule of international law and ordinary people’s human rights. But some believe those rights and laws are disproportionately affecting our troops and military decision makers.Sitrep talks to two SAS veterans who explain why they want the UK to opt-out of part of the European Convention on Human Rights, and we get expert legal opinion from Joshua Rozenberg about whether that’s possible and how much difference it would make.Diego Garcia has just ten square miles of dry land, so why have the US and UK fought so hard to keep it as a secretive military base? Professor Michael Clarke explains why the remote island is a strategic “jewel in a silver sea”.And one of the most important but bloodiest battles of World War Two in Italy is retold through the eyes of those who fought on both sides.  The historian James Holland tells us why he’s revisited the battle of Monte Cassino.

Almost exactly 10 years since Operation Shader began RAF strikes against the Islamic State terror group ministers say it will be drawn down in favour of a new security partnership.But what form should that take, and is this the right time given everything else happening in the Middle East? Sitrep gets the thoughts of former Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon.We also assess Iran’s weapons and military capability, along with what it tells us about the risk of a wider regional war in the Middle EastAnd Sitrep hears from Albania where British troops have been the first to use a new 650 mile NATO route across the Balkans, to deploy themselves for months of peacekeeping in Kosovo.

The Army’s world-renowned Royal Military Academy Sandhurst is undertaking a radical process to modernise. It’s conducting what it calls a ‘Critical Mass Trial’ – huge efforts to ramp up the numbers of women in its platoons in response to a tragedy at the Academy. BFBS Forces News has been given rare and exclusive access to Sandhurst and has documented it in a new series produced by Rosie Laydon who talks to Sitrep. Something that’s really getting people fired up in the military is the prospect of paying 20 per cent VAT on private school fees from January. Some personnel are even threatening to leave the Armed Forces if the Government pushes ahead, whereas others claim it will put new people off joining in the first place. Sitrep talks to the RAF Families Federation and retired Army Officer Hamish de Bretton-Gordon. And former Tornado Navigator and bestselling author John Nichol talks to Kate Gerbeau about the history of the tomb of the unknown warrior and the painstaking efforts of finding, identifying and reburying the fallen, which he explores in his new book. 

More than a hundred years after the First World War, more than half a million soldiers are still missing, a third of whom are thought to be buried as ‘unknown’. Two years after the end of the Great War, The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior was established at Westminster Abbey and has served as a focal point for the public’s grief ever since.Former Tornado Navigator and bestselling author John Nichol talks to Kate Gerbeau about the history of the tomb and the painstaking efforts of finding, identifying and reburying the fallen, which he explores in his new book.They’re joined by a veteran who served in the Army for 30 years, Colonel Lindsay MacDuff, who was involved in more than 200 repatriations from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lebanon is on edge after thousands of Hezbollah electronic devices exploded across two days. Many people have died and thousands are injured. Former Army Intelligence Officer Philip Ingram explains how the plan was coordinated and what militaries  learn from these attacks.Russia has lost at least 15 warships since its full scale invasion of Ukraine but it hasn’t stopped it carrying out significant maritime exercises and launching a new department to strengthen its power at sea.Royal Navy veteran, John Foreman CBE, who was UK Defence attache to Moscow until 2022, says it shows Putin wants Russia to be a great maritime power. John also elaborates on the country’s naval ambitions.And - it was one of the most iconic campaigns of the Second World War -  Sitrep’s reporter Tim Cooper is in Arnhem to mark the 80th anniversary of Operation Market garden. 

More than 40,000 Ukrainians have had military training in the UK since Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country, but that’s made it harder for the Army to access its own training areas with bids now eight times more likely to be rejected.Former Royal Navy Commodore Steve Prest explains why the UK thinks it’s a price worth paying, for now.The UK led Joint Expeditionary Force is now a decade old. Professor Michael Clarke explains how this “alliance within an alliance” didn’t seem to matter much when it was created, but has become very important to NATO.And SAS historian Ben Macintyre reveals new details of the 1980 Iranian embassy siege, including how the special forces knew about the terrorist attack before ministers.

It remains an iconic piece of news footage and now historian Ben MacIntyre, the man behind SAS Rogue Heroes, has been given permission to talk to the men who took part in the operation to end the siege of the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980.Some of them have never spoken openly about the mission until now and these personal accounts detail the build-up, planning and execution of Operation Nimrod.Ben MacIntyre talks to Kate Gerbeau about the myths, the legends and ultimately the truth about the most famous and most public SAS endeavour.