BFBS Sitrep

For 70 years there’s been an armistice – but no peace treaty- between North and South Korea.In this special addition, Sitrep hears in full from the 3 star British General helping to enforce the uneasy armistice in his role as Deputy Commander of the US-led United Nations Command Korea.

Shaista Gul was known to thousands of British servicemen and women over the years. He created a small oasis of peace at the UK’s headquarters in Southern Afghanistan.But after Lashkar Gah main operating base closed in 2014 he had to leave the job he loved, and with it the garden he’d created. What followed was Taliban intimidation, fatal attacks on his family, and eventually a perilous journey to eventual safety in the UK.Sitrep talks to Larisa Brown, author of ‘The Gardener of Lashkar Gah: The Afghans Who Risked Everything to Fight the Taliban’, and Shaista Gul’s son Jamal, who worked as interpreter for Britain’s armed forces in Helmand.

Supporting Ukraine, recruitment & retention, procurement problems and a budget to balance. The new Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has a lot to manage, but does it matter this is his first defence role, indeed does it matter who does the job right now?Professor Michael Clarke explains why his room for manoeuvre is limited, and what we can expect.Waiting on the Defence Secretary’s desk are 67 recommendations to shake up Armed Forces life and careers. Could older troops, greater neurodiversity, and direct entry to higher ranks solve skills gaps and make for stronger services?And Sitrep examines the latest scientific research into whether some of the most tightly-controlled illegal drugs in the UK could cure PTSD. We hear from one veteran who says psychedelic therapy has transformed his life.

Is it time for a radical rethink of who the Armed Forces allow to join, and at what rank, to fill critical skills gaps?For centuries most people have only been able serve their country by starting at the bottom and working their way up, after meeting strict elegibility criteria.But in the 21st century, amid ever greater competition for top talent, should the forces be embracing neurodiversity, later-life careers, and sideways entry?And why should you stay with one service for your whole military career?We talk to former Chief of Defence People, Lieutenant General James Swift, about whether these ideas could help build the forces, or damage their effectiveness.

Amid a swirl of questions and conspiracy theories about the apparent death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a plane crash in Russia, one fact is clear. The mercenary group which has been doing the Kremlin’s dirty work for a decade has lost its founders and top team.Professor Michael Clarke explains what it means for the war in Ukraine and why the group, branded a threat to the UK by MP’s, will not be disappearing.After three British soldiers were injured by in attack on UN peacekeepers in Cyprus, Forces News reporter Simon Newton tells us about the reality of high tensions in the buffer zone, despite what is often dismissed as a ‘sunshine tour’.And six months after President Zelensky’s ‘wings for freedom’ appeal, he’s finally been promised western fighter jets. But they won’t be able to make an impact in the war for a very long time. We explain why.

Two years since British troops left, and the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, millions of people are going hungry while women and girls have been stripped of basic rights.The Chairman of the Commons Defence Committee says we need to stop ‘shouting from the sidelines’ and re-engage with the Taliban, but after posting a video from Helmand describing the country as ‘transformed’ he’s facing a no-confidence vote from his colleagues.So how should the UK help? Indeed can it help?  Sitrep talks to former Afghan diplomat Nazifa Haqpal and retired Colonel Simon Diggins who was Defence Attaché in Kabul for two years.Nazifa warns the Taliban is trying to radicalise the population, so Professor Michael Clarke explains the threat Afghanistan poses to the UK, and why we should care about ‘fixing it’.

Ukraine formed 12 brigades, each up to 5,000 soldiers strong, to take back territory from Russia. So far it’s only committed around a third of those forces.Professor Michael Clarke and Forces News Ukraine reporter Simon Newton discuss the military logic, and whether the next phase of the counter-offensive has actually already started.Is there a better way to handle complaints from members of the Armed Forces?Germany’s Armed Forces Commissioner tells us how surprise visits and access-all-areas help her make a difference.And is the pen really mightier than the sword? We explain the concept of ‘weaponised narratives’, how they’ve been used to overthrow governments, and ask whether words can do the same job as warfighting.

The pen, they say, is mightier than the sword, but how? Words can be used as a weapon of war, and the right words used early enough might even save you from the many costs of kinetic operations.That’s the argument put forward in a new book – ‘Subversion, the strategic weaponization of narratives’.It’s author, Dr Andreas Krieg, tells us how weaponised narratives have been used to do things like overthrow governments, and change the world without a shot needing to be fired.

Ukraine’s President Zelensky says it’s ‘inevitable’ that war is returning to Russia, and two drone strikes on a Moscow skyscraper look like an attempt to prove the point.Professor of Defence Studies Michael Clarke explains why he’s worried by this, and we assess whether it makes any strategic sense.Ukraine is manufacturing, and using up, thousands of drones every month. Svitlana Morenets in Kyiv tells us about getting hands on with the ‘army of drones’ programme that is also training thousands of operators.And British man Aiden Aslin, who went to fight Daesh in Syria and then joined Ukraine’s armed forces, tells us what motivated him to fight other people’s wars. 

The President of Belarus says Wagner fighters, exiled to his country, are ‘getting on our nerves’ and want ‘an excursion’ into Poland.Sitrep examines whether this seriously threatens war between NATO and Russia, and we talk to Alicia Kearns MP about cross party warnings that Wagner is a direct threat to the UK.The Prime Minister has apologised to LGBT veterans who were kicked out of the forces, stripped of medals, and in some cases imprisoned. We explain why has he said sorry when the rules were clear and legally binding at the time.And 70 years since the end of fighting, why are North and South Korea still technically at war?