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Paratrooper01 wrote:

Alfa wrote: it's not as easy to get rid of the 1st Battalion of a Regiment as it is the last Battalion.

Last at what mate?

"Last Battalion, The Parachute Regiment" doesnt quite have the same ring to it...

Touché

BPT, who knows mate, can't see it though.

Airborne Legend wrote:BPT, who knows mate, can't see it though.

If there has been a lot of building's and facilities built for your lot, it's a zero chance IMHO, waste of money that way....although the UK Government has done stranger (and more retarded thing's) before.

Funny to see all this talk about SFSG possibly getting a new cap badge after I was berated so much for it a while back!

As for "having a tough time on thier hands" (to change Para Regt/RM capbadges), do you think any of the people wearing those badges are going to have a say in the matter? You just have to look at the SBS to see what can happen, once someone higher up makes that decision.

Leaving the specific reasons for any changes aside, I think we sometimes get a bit precious over this stuff.
I'm a big fan of history, culture and tradition, but the fact is that over the years all HM Forces have changed badges, changed uniforms, been amalgamated, changed names etc. It is a feature of an evolving and dynamic system.

Greenronnie wrote:You just have to look at the SBS to see what can happen, once someone higher up makes that decision.

I don't know too much about this, what's changed? Sorry if you've gone over this before!

Royal Marines had a big ceremony for their change of colours in July 2001.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/news/072001/12/parade.shtml

I remember seeing it on the news at the time, saying how the ceremony was important because it showed respect for all of the former Royal Marines since 1952 that had given their lives under the old colours.

Patrick, that ceremony was the New Colours being presented to the Corps. The SBS question refers to the fact that SBS (part of the RM) now have their own capbadge, primarilly to reflect the all arms mix of the SBS

Rogue Chef wrote:Leaving the specific reasons for any changes aside, I think we sometimes get a bit precious over this stuff.
I'm a big fan of history, culture and tradition, but the fact is that over the years all HM Forces have changed badges, changed uniforms, been amalgamated, changed names etc. It is a feature of an evolving and dynamic system.

Fair one. From what I've seen it tends to be the 'old and bold' that get more concerned than soldiers actually wearing the uniform. When the Pegasus was disbanded at the end of '99 all the old boys thought it was a travesty. And it was a shame, because there is a lot of history behind that badge. However, we were changing to a new brigade (ie moving from 5 Airborne to 16 Air Assault), so it made sense. And to be honest, Para Regt are on exercise or operations more often then in camp anyway, so who gives a damn about badges.

GR,

Spot on.

As I said I do have a strong sense of tradition. but things move on. We often forget that fifty years ago blokes who served in WW2 and Korea would have been saying the same sorts of things about the 'old days'.

It's our own perspective of time that is at fault, we tend to think of ourselves as the originals and anything coming later as 'new fangled'. We forget that that our time is a short dash in the big scheme of things.

GR Wrote who gives a dam a badges, those that have sweated blood to achieve one of them, and those who have fought and died wearing them. The Pegasus badge covered all troops in that were in the airborne from gliders to to the Para's, so why change it for th 16th Assault.

When was the pegasus badge brought back? it must have been short lived, we didnt have it when i left in 89. Remember the uproar when every one in the brigade had to wear the maroon beret? its all about identity, you see a fat remf wearing a maroon beret, the average person dosnt say the remf is attached, they think he is a fat paratrooper, things change good or bad, . Remember when the woman who was in the red threads walked past the cookhouse wearing the beret, the incoming was unreal, same as when we had a woman officer attached, blokes were up in arms, badges ,berets mean more to some than others.

All the glider troops in WW2 wore the Red Beret, and did it proud.

Tab wrote:GR Wrote who gives a dam a badges, those that have sweated blood to achieve one of them, and those who have fought and died wearing them. The Pegasus badge covered all troops in that were in the airborne from gliders to to the Para's, so why change it for th 16th Assault.

Because it was no longer an Airborne Brigade. It wasn't even the same Brigade. So why should we have worn the badge of a Brigade we were no longer in? So cheers for the history lesson, I know my Regimental history.

As I said, it was a shame that we got rid of such a historic badge that meant so much to so many, but the fact is, we have to move on.

It doesn't matter what badge you are wearing when you are fighting, in fact I have worn none at all in the last 13 years when going to various conflicts. But the Unit and Regimental ethos is still with you when you fight alongside your mates.

Would Paras who are part of the SFSG get SF pay?

And do the other regiments and corps who serve with the Paras (Engineers, Signals etc) get deployed with SFSG?