I respect this Prince quite a bit after reading this:
Prince Harry has threatened to quit the Army if commanders refuse to send him to the front line.
He told senior officers before recently passing out of Sandhurst as a Second Lieutenant: “If I am not allowed to join my unit in a war zone, I will hand in my uniform.”
Harry, 21, and third in line to the throne, has previously talked of his desire to see action with his comrades and the prospect of him walking out on the Army if he is not allowed on to the front line has turned a theoretical problem into a nightmare for the Palace and Ministry of Defence.
The embarrassment for the Army caused by him quitting would be matched by uproar at the notion that while ordinary citizens are allowed to that their main problem is not whether Harry can take the pressure of coming under fire in action ? but whether the lives of the men fighting alongside him will be more at risk because he is regarded as a ?trophy target? by insurgents.
[…]But sources close to Harry said last night: “He will go bananas if he is given special treatment. He doesn?t want to let the rest of the lads and lasses down by opting out. He was always the first to volunteer on exercises.”
In the final weeks of his Sandhurst training, Harry took part in an exercise in which he acted as commanding officer and sources say that his performance was ?outstanding?.
What exactly would he be doing if allowed to take the war to the terrorists?
The mobility of the Blues and Royals? light Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles will be a great value in Afghanistan and senior commanders say the Cavalry unit could be sent to Helmand province to support Paras in what is regarded as one of the most dangerous parts of the world.
Harry would command a troop of 11 men who would drive into the front line in their Scimitars.
He would lead his men in searching possibly booby-trapped buildings, hunting down insurgents and providing escorts and combat support to infantry operations.
Harry would be required to command his Scimitar team and remain on the ground, although all troop commanders are expected to do their stint in the operations room, which involves logging events, co-ordinating patrols and directing support where needed.
The Household Cavalry ? made up of the Blues and Royals and the Life Guards ? is one of the most active units in the British Army and its most senior and oldest regiment.
It has troops attached to the Paras and the Marines, took part in the invasion of Iraq and has since deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Next month, a squadron of the Household Cavalry will go to Afghanistan in support of 16 Air Assault Brigade. A second squadron is on standby to deploy to Iraq this year and another is preparing to back 3 Commando Brigade when it departs to Afghanistan later this year.
D Squadron of the Household Cavalry Regiment (HCR) supported 16 Air Assault Brigade during the initial battles in the Iraq conflict. HCR also deployed two squadrons to Iraq in 2004.
A high percentage of its officers serve in the SAS and its squadrons support both the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment. The Household Cavalry?s Scimitars spearheaded the advance across the Falklands in 1982, led the way in Bosnia and were first into Saudi Arabia in 1991 before the first Gulf War and again in Iraq in 2003.
Elements of the Blues and Royals and the Life Guards have regularly deployed to Iraq and three Cavalrymen have been killed. They were Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, Lance Corporal Karl Shearer and Lieutenant Alexander Tweedie, all from the Blues and Royals.
I’ll tip a cold one to your bravery young Prince. It takes a special kind of person who runs TOWARDS the sound of gunfire and danger rather then away from it.
It’s true the terrorists would probably target his unit as a high profile target but if I was one of the men being lead by him I would not care one bit. The job is dangerous and to have a royal who could easily get out of it lead a unit to war, that would be enough for me.
Actually having the terrorists target a specific unit would be a godsend, they could wipe out more of the scum that way.
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I can’t remember specificaly, but didn’t his grandfather threaten to cancel or postpone his marriage to the queen if he was withheld from service in the navy, or something like that? One advantage to much of European Royalty, is that such service has been expected for a long long time, and with the nuts shown by their ancestors, recent and classic, they have a pedigree of direct service that should make this less shocking.
In summary, pooh pooh on those who think that spoiled little rich kids don’t have sense of service.
I remember Prince Andrew insisting that he’d go to the Falklands with his unit and his mother backing him up. Nice to have a reminder that the Royals are more than the one-sided idlers that the media often portray.
Argh. I should be fair, I’m only teasing. I’m sure Harry’s paternity is known – as I said, Charles is very close to him – and he does resemble Prince Andrew a bit. Decided I had no business sullying the rep of a good young man. My bad.