Vegan boots or women's dresses: I don't care what military wear, as long as they get the job done
Following a long-running campaign by the Ministry of Defence's Vegan and Vegetarian network, RAF air crews were recently granted the right to wear vegan uniforms.
According to documents seen by the Telegraph, individuals identifying as "ethical vegans" must be provided with kit of their choosing, such as boots and berets which aren't derived from animal products.
As the RAF capitulates to yet another DEI-inspired change of direction, you would perhaps expect this former Army officer to guffaw and deride the state of the boys and girls in light blue as always being a bit too woke to get involved in the mucky business of combat on the battlefield.
But I'm not too surprised and not too bothered.
Warfare is changing, and with the Russians now conducting hybrid warfare against us, based on cyber, espionage and all sorts of wizardry, we need a plethora of warriors to thwart Putin's ambitions.
They do not all need to be six foot tall of prime British beef to batter the Russian hordes back whence they came.
Capability over costume
In my many years in Iraq, Afghanistan and other theatres of war, I and thousands of 'grunts on the ground' fighting the enemy have completely relied on RAF air power to watch our backs and shoot us out of many a tricky situation.
Quite frankly, we could not care less what the chap or chapess behind the controls of the Tornado or Typhoon was wearing, as long as they got rounds and bombs on target and on time, which the Brit flyers generally did.
Maybe the blokes were wearing girls' underwear and the lady pilots vice versa – who cares as long as they can do their jobs.
Warfare and fighting is a mucky business, and anything which gives you a marginal advantage over the enemy is fine by me.
I served with a Royal Marine unit in Kosovo in the 2000s, and there was a box in the officers' mess full of dresses to be worn by the chaps on special occasions.
I did not judge, but they fought like lions when required. I served with the same unit in Afghanistan a few years later and, equally, I would want them by my side in any firefight, whatever their nocturnal dressing habits might be.
The right person for the right job
The British military must change and adapt to the threats and type of warfare we will engage in, and that also in some respects applies to the type of person we need to fight this war.
We will always need the Tankies, Paras and 'Boot Necks' to close with and destroy the visible enemy on the battlefield, but we also now need a plethora of 'alternative' people, who can fight and win the hybrid war being fought in the shadows and the electromagnetic spectrum.
No doubt some of these folk may not like natural fibres or traditional foodstuffs to fuel their fighting spirit.
Apparently, Army ration packs now also contain a vegan option, which is no doubt only an improvement on the meat options. I always had suspicions on exactly what animal it came from – if it was ever from a living beast or something concocted in the laboratory! We have religious options, so why not veganism?
Straightening out our priorities
What does hack me off, though, is that at last we have a significant increase in defence spending, but I understand it is being used to balance the books rather than purchasing more badly-needed military hardware. It's also reportedly being spent on 'fake' flying suits, which no doubt cost double the real thing.
The fact that the RAF do not want to wear natural fibres, something many avoided in their three-piece suits (Army Officer joke – 'if you know you know'!), is not going to change their ability to support those of us slogging it out in the trenches.
We need all types in the military now, probably most especially the geeky kid who knows his or her way around the dark web better than a GCHQ agent, and Lord knows what they may want to wear and eat, but if they improve military lethality, they are most welcome.
However, as drones take over the air and battlefield, we are going to need fewer of these light blue folks, with their particular dietary and clothing habits, so perhaps once again there will be a leading role for natural fibres and red meat in tomorrow's British Armed Forces?!
Retired Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a former commander of the UK Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defence Regiment
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