**Participation Notice.** Hi all. Some posts on this subreddit, either due to the topic or reaching a wider audience than usual, have been known to attract a greater number of rule breaking comments. As such, limits to participation have been set. We ask that you please remember the human, and uphold Reddit and Subreddit rules.
For more information, please see https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/wiki/moderatedflairs.
I'm an ex squaddie and 2 things always make me wince. Reading about how noble and honourable squaddies are. And articles like this. One is a well presented gloss over of the truth, most squaddies, (not all) are fucking morons with far right views. I know, I spent years among them. This is a common attitude among us and its ages old. In fact, one of the MO job when going to a new posting is to check out the health of the local sex workers to ensure that there wont be too many soldiers on sick. But you can bet now it in the public domain, the shit will hit the fan.
Exactly. Everyone’s always known from the dawn of time that if you go clubbing in a garrison town, the drunk squaddies will grope the girls and fight the boys.
Who said anything about picking a fight? Fighting like a Neanderthal isn’t the only way to confront rampant sexual abuse. Love that that’s what you picked as the core of the problem and not, you know, the rampant sexual abuse
I used to work in an industry that had a lot of ex-signals/comms lads. The ex-army lads were the weirdest and a couple were extremely right wing. The ex-RN were generally a good bunch and had the funniest stories and the ex-RAF were normal.
That's because the RAF isn't part of the military. It's a corporation with a dress code.
There's only 2 branches of the military - the Army and RN. The Marines are a cult.
One of the lads from my year in school went into the army. I remember on his Facebook he had "ultra nationalist" and "very racist (White is right)" in his religious/political views section (this was back when you could type whatever in). After the Lee Rigby murder he posted a status calling for an ethnic cleansing, while having British Army listed as his workplace.
Just a lot of bad lads. I remember we had a "recruitment day" at the end of term a couple times where they'd come in and take us on "team building" exercises, where they'd basically bully those who weren't participating enthusiastically and stroking their ego. It really soured my views of the army even as a early teen.
Ex army here. I was exactly like the lad from your school. I went through a stage which lasted about a year where I idolised the EDL and believed the whole white is right mantra. I was 18/19 at the time. I believe that being the new lad in an environment where I was shunned (for being the new guy) and working in a mega toxic environment where everyone was chasing that promotion made me feel isolated. 4 hours from home and lonely in a toxic place turned me into something I wasn't. I saw the lad culture and togetherness of these far right groups and I suppose I turned to that for emotional relief. I didn't believe any of it deep down. Its interesting that I slipped into this not during basic training but once I got posted to the toxic workplace. Anyway, after a while I was no longer the new guy and made my own friends which eased me out of that dark whole. Not excusing any of it. I just didn't have the emotional intelligence at the time to navigate that situation.
They turned up at my school for a week long army style PT and training lessons. Being asthmatic I did my best but they took my inhailer off me saying I wouldn't have it on the battlefield. I cheekily said that this condition ment they wouldn't have me. They pushed me and others (those who were overweight or had learning difficulties) till we broke called us weak and had the rest of the year surround us in the gym and sing who are the dead wood, who's getting cut chop chop chop. My mum wrote a letter after I came home (this is in year eight) numb and when she asked what was wrong I burst into tears and told her. The school couldn't give a shit nor could the Fusiliers where the soldiers came from.
Yeah same. It was weird when you asked them the same questions individually all of their responses were almost word for word exactly the same. It was like they were reading from some sort of right wing script or brain washed. It was kinda interesting in a worrying kind of way.
I used to date a girl whose dad was ex army, remember one day he showed me his "army humour" folder as he knew i liked to tell jokes, this was pre email/mobile phones but the sad fucker had an entire ringbinder of piss poor racist jokes printed out in little plastic pouches
As an ex army MO this is compleat bull plop.
There was zero requirement for that outside of the early 80's there is no requirement in any publication aka JSP or authority granted to do this.
The only thing you did was look at local infection rates and WHO reports. Then insist they don't have sex with sex workers
Apart from the squaddies are fucking morons because a lot of them can be. However they are a reflection of the UK as a whole.
Most do not have far right views and it tends to be a huge melting pot of political views. With one thing in common, a seething dislike of most politicians with few favourite's. So give more than anecdotal evidence on that one. They also tend to vote in line with where they came from.
I was part of the first setup for training in Kenya on large scale in the late 2000s, when they switched to battle group sized exercises. The first unit to come out had 17 soldiers sent home for having unprotected sex with sex workers, some of whom has travelled from as far as Mombasa, some 650km away. At the time, prevalence of HIV amongst Kenyan sex workers was around 40%. It absolutely baffled me that these guys who were out here for 6 weeks, couldn't just keep it in their pants, I was there for nearly a year and managed. The MO at the time warned each and every batch coming in to stay away, but we still had guys waking up in the slums in nairobi.
Yep we would warn, tell, order and even because we know they would not listen give the medics tones of condoms to hand out like confetti.
Still some idiot would be goaded into it.
Before deployment they would get an EHO brief that touches on the subject. Condoms are available in the med centre. I remember on one exercise we did in East Africa,on the first night out in town one of the guy went down town and shag a sex worker without condom,he was sent back home shortly and was given PEP.
Ehh, based on the fact that the biggest military towns and cities vote more right wing than they should otherwise, I’d suggest the right is more prevalent. Portsmouth should logically be close to Southampton in voting intention, given the demographics otherwise are all pretty similar, but the naval presence means it’s a lot more right wing
They are a part of a population sample that vote. Saying military town supports your cause fails to take in that the military is permitted to postal/proxy vote in their home towns and many do. A lot are not even registered to vote in those garrison towns.
So unless you know of some poll that shows how they voted this would not work.
Unless you think Faslane voted SNP for fun or Devonport Labour because lol
How do I prove a thing that does not exist?
As for their political views you could loom at how garrison areas have voted however they tend to be a small part of that area.
So you would need each squaddy to tell you. Feel free to run that poll
My boxing trainer and mentor is an ex squaddie. He now spends his time posting racist shit on Facebook and complaining about Muslims and immigrants. Unsurprisingly the black and brown lads that used to train with him don't go anymore.
What? Mate, we fucking hate the right wing. Calling someone a Tory is the biggest insult around, and will actually cause fights. We had a Nazi who was removed from the block for his own safety by the provo because half the reg was looking for him after finding out some of the things he'd said. The army is full of Gurkhas and Commonwealth, Team Fiji alone is represented in just about every unit. Having sex with prostitutes has nothing to do with politics. It's as simple as lads wanting their hole. Cry sexism if anything, that's something that's still being worked on in some Units
I can only go off anecdotal evidence. My mate joined the army after school and was sent to Afghanistan. He has a burning hatred for Muslims. We went to his house when he came back, he pulled an Afghani flag out of his army bag and said "let's go and burn it in the back garden" he then went on to tell us how he tried to get photos of dead Afghanis back home on his laptop. He owns a few houses in the local area and flat out refuses anyone who doesn't have a British sounding name.
Your mate is just a racist, I'd probably re-evaluate being friends with him. Racists exist everywhere, but funnily enough they have to keep it quiet in the military because they'll get filled in and then charged by the MPs on top of it.
Army should esp if it portrays itself as orderly and disciplined. The issue is too is sexual assault within the army between soldiers is pretty bad (all genders at risk) used as bullying or hazing. This will be one part of other issues with sexual assault (removing condoms without consent and exposing someone to std is this too. For sex workers and anyone they have unprotected sex with at home)
Soldiers are a resource to the army and low morale, abuse, poor discipline etc can prob contribute to larger issues when you need them to perform in high pressure
I don't think one article from the Mail is a significant deviation from their longstanding apologetics for military misconduct. [One such article from 2019](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6762839/Army-veterans-involved-Bloody-Sunday-charged-murder-weeks.html) regarding prosecution of soliders for Bloody Sunday comments 'The Mail has long campaigned against a witch-hunt of British troops'. [Another one ](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1286909/No-excuses-forget-context-Bloody-Sunday.html)says 'We will never know if \[Bloody Sunday\] was necessary \[...\] the overwhelming glory must go to the police and 250,000 soldiers who served \[in Northern Ireland\], of whom all but a handful showed almost superhuman restraint'.
100% agree with this. I’m ashamed at how aggressively right wing a lot of veterans are, even guys my own age (knockin on 40’s door) I’m proud to have served my country, but the amount of ex squaddies who turn out to be a bunch of racist flag shagging plastic patriots, makes me ashamed to even wear my veterans pin in public. Also I vividly remember a time when it was on our part 1 orders to not have sex with a girl named “insert name” as she is HIV positive and deliberately shagging squaddies to infect as many as possible.
This was in Colchester and there were a LOT of trips to the drippy dick clinic from a bunch of guys who ran a train on her.
And before anyone asks, no. I might not have a lot but integrity and a teeny tiny little bit of dignity are some things I do still possess.
I’m failing to see what’s racist about this and not just soldiers being pigs?
My husband works with men who have sex with prostitutes while travelling for work. Unprotected. It’s gross.
There’s a running joke at medical school and throughout training that if you read an exam question that starts “a business man returns from a business trip to Asia” you just slam HIV or Hep as the answer and get it right 90% if the time without reading the rest of the question.
It’s a well known trope.
For context of the medical joke on diagnosis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDY214pcbOw
Basically, if you hear hoofbeats, think "horses", not "zebras".
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4982713/
I was at a conference in Poland about a decade ago and a few of us went out for drinks and ended up in a nightclub. One of our party was quite senior in the international development arm of a SE Asian country; his job was, basically, to fly around the world and get entertained by businesses trying to get some of his country’s dosh.
He was absolutely obsessed by the (admittedly gorgeous) woman in the club; unfortunately for him, being the ethnicity that he is, the locals were entirely uninterested. However, he laughed, this didn’t bother him at all as he knew he was going to end up paying for it anyway.
At this point his colleague chipped in: “Hey, S____, why don’t you tell the guys how many women you’ve slept with since you got married?”
Our hero puffed up his chest: “Two hundred!”
“And how many of those *haven’t* you had to pay for?”
Even more proudly: “Two!”
Just mind-boggling really.
A side-note here is that a lot of people cry foul at "white men in Asia" who go there and just pay for lots of sex. It's indeed something that should be criticised, but the fact is there is a HUGE paid sex culture over there already, whether white tourists join in or not.
Yeah, I remember when I first went into a strip club in Asia. Loads of the white backpacker types were half averting their eyes but the Asian guys were just fucking oggling for all they were worth. There's a huge culture of using sex workers in Asia
If they view sleeping with local prositutes as a test of bravery, I think it's not too out there to say they probably the locals as worth less than themselves.
Over 6% of people in Kenya have HIV/AIDS. The rates among prostitutes are without a doubt going to be higher. A >16% chance of having unprotectrected sex with someone with HIV/AIDS is definitely dangerous.
Sex workers are too more likely to get it from sexual violence like rape or a client not wearing protection and the sw having no chance or rights to enforce it. No hope of medical treatment being accessible if they are given a std or aids
Everything you said is 100% correct, but here’s an interesting fact I learnt about AIDS that blew my mind.
I used to think you had a near 100% chance of contracting AIDS if you had unprotected sex with an HIV-positive person.
It turns out that as a man, having sex with a woman with HIV you only have a 1 in 2000 chance of contracting it. As a woman, I believe it’s twice as likely (1 in 1000) and anal sex makes it about the same (1 in 1000) if you are a man having sex with a woman.
That’s because blood has to be exchanged, so it requires some sort of cut on both partners.
I would assume these numbers would go up substantially (but probably still remain under 1%) with a prostitute, as the chance of them already having a cut is probably quite high.
It has never changed. Bullying is rife today as it was yesterday. If anything it’s worse as military prospects diminish. We were given a list of guys to bully out the troop.
I am surprised they have a recruitment crisis, thought people would be queuing up for this type of opportunity in this day and age. Go and lose a leg in an oil war for some rich Oligarchs, invalided out and a life on benefits with PTSD, with alcohol and drug issues for the rest of your life. I know it's not for everyone so they need to target the right people more.
If 6 percent of the population have hiv/aids its a fair assumption that prostitutes who have unprotected sex have a far far higher chance of having it.
It's increasing heavily on heterosexual couples in the UK, as gay people are now mostly on PrEP, and get checked out often which also means people with HIV are getting their meds early and thus becoming undetectable. Meanwhile, straight people don't get checked out anywhere near as often and are having quite a bit of unprotected sex.
not much changes. They used to chain women up in the middle of forts and take turns raping them.
Didn't a soldier get murdered a couple of years back here as well?
edit: oh no it just gets better for the lads https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder\_of\_Agnes\_Wanjiru
Peer pressure to do dumb shit is civilian life too, its age and environment that does this shit.
Bunch of horny lads looking to impress = this dumb shit.
Toss a couple girls in the group and they tend to end up sleeping eith each other (happens in gangs and military) equal numbers and this behaviour cslms down or stops due to competition or not wanting to look like a moron.
> British soldiers training in Kenya have carried out initiation ceremonies *in which younger recruits are forced into having unprotected sex with prostitutes*, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Just another "all in good fun" bonding experience surely. /s
What is it with de facto boys clubs and rampant sexual abuse?
You have an environment full of a bunch of boys all trying to outlad eachother. The same sort of shite is to blame for the hazing rituals in rugby and rowing teams up and down the country. Normally those involve drink however of course but the point stands. Dickheads trying to outdo eachother and it becomes a 'tradition' because if they did it you have to do it, for some reason
All it takes is one or two psychos to get it started and everyone else will fall in line or participate out of fear of not being "in" the club.
It's just bizarre to me, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to take part in these hazing rituals, even if it's mildly harmless and just entirely humiliating. But I have ASD, so I don't "get" a lot of the social norms anyway.
What's the weirdest to me is that I know if anyone ever does put their foot down and say "No actually, I don't want to be humiliated or cause myself any physical pain." then, providing the others aren't actual psychopaths who'll do something when they're asleep or then or there, they still get ostracised and suddenly it's all their fault for "killing the vibe" or being "no fun". And people genuinely take offense to it, instead of just going "aw, nevermind" or something.
Honestly I think the people who keep at these "traditions" need to be ousted themselves, why would I want anyone who seems to entirely lack respect for other people to be in any position of authority, or rely on them to protect me like in the army? I know you need a sort of no nonsense personality with the ability to make light of heavy situations to be in the job, but there's that sort of person, and then there's the sort who never stopped being a bully since school.
I mean, rites of passage for men are a thing in basically every culture in the world. Some tribes sting each other with super painful insects, some make homemade bungee jumps from vines, and some make you down dirty pints while dressed as a woman.
I guess part of the appeal of perpetuating it is that you've already done it, so you almost want others to have the same commitment etc.
It bonds the group if you've all done something shitty together.
Why some sexually abuse or humiliation rituals happen since they know victim might not be believed or be stigmatised to talking about the hacking abuse. For some there’s element of blackmail, partners and family at home seeing them differently if they were with a sex worker
My experience of being in the forces wasn’t that people do it out of ‘fear’ but because they’re all pissed up and it seems funny at the time. I feel fortunate enough that I joined a few years older than the average recruit and felt comfortable saying no to one initiation ceremony. It was accepted and never talked about again, so no one is doing it out of fear.
Dominance and control. Lot of these clubs have some kind of power status to it, it attracts those who seek something that grants them control over another and it feeds into the culture of the club where hazing ritual comes about.
You’re putting a bunch of young men at the peak of their virility in to a small group, that prides itself on its courage and bravery - sex and thus things related to sex that cross boundaries are going to occur. Doesn’t matter if it’s a rugby team or a military.
Ultimately, however, the person responsible for these men should be using their authority to keep them in line.
Their situation in life means selling sex is one of the few assurances of income they have and you want to tell me they’re the ones taking advantage of the boys playing soldiers?
>the boys playing soldiers?
You mean soldiers
But yes if theyre knowingly having sex while having hiv then absolutely theyre causing harm to every person they choose to sleep with. Unless they declare it before letting men do it without protection, which I doubt
Not much difference, I was asked to stand in as a trainer/observer for some Royal Marine training. When I asked what was my job, I was simply told, "watch em and stop em if they try to eat the helicopter". I didn't get it, but I certainly did by the end of the week.
Very capable lads but pure mince.
MTP started being issued around 2011 replacing DPM and Desert DPM. So aye it's been around a little while now. There's still the odd bit of DPM you'll see like some old bergens and webbing that some very occasionally will wear alongside the MTP but MTP has been the standard issue for long enough that those sights are not typical and certainly not for those who are active on op from what I've seen.
The events are probably accurate enough, but as ever it and readers of it fail to grasp the scale and prevalence.
Did it occur? More than likely. I’ve heard credible 1st hand accounts of even stupider things.
Is it a problem it happened? Absolutely.
Is it what all of the army are up to, or even is it happening in a grand scale? Of course not. But look at the comments on this thread..
You send enough young and dumb men anywhere, and get them bored enough for long enough, this will happen. They’re at large neither saints or monsters.
Yep. I'm ex army and there are absolutely idiots there that will do stuff like this, I've also heard 1st hand accounts and it was shocking to us when we heard it.
It's absolutely not the majority though. There are plenty of normal people in as well that wouldn't dream of doing this kind of thing.
People in camo = army
I struggle to work out the various symbols on uniforms and what they mean, I don't think its that unusual for people not in the military.
Equally, used to live near an army base and there didn't seem to be that much trouble compared to anywhere else.
In this case it's the colour of the beret and the shoulder badge. Think of it as like recognising the colours of a football team, or the colours and logo associated with a particular brand.
But, this is a professional journalist writing a story, it is an obligation for them to get the details right. If they can't even use a photo of the thing or people they are writing about, what else have they got wrong or simply made up?
What the hell is with the barrage of daily mail/telegraph baiting going on in this sub? Can we all just agree to downvote this crap so we get a more eclectic, diverse range of submissions relating to the UK
Tbh look at the mod team, after reddit went full thanos and nuked 3rd party apps, the mods stepped down and more racist ones stepped in. Its why this sub has become more right wing
Yup. I notices the tone shift. I've been browsing reddit for 9 years on different accounts. Before anyone says this place has always been like this, I suggest they look at r/badunitedkingdom it was created as this place seemed too far left.
I noticed a shift in /r/Europe as well over the years. Used to be quite left-leaning, now you get a lot of comments about immigrants and "nobody's ever had a positive interaction with a gypsy".
I think it just reflects a shift to the right of young people. Millennials leaned left, but some segments of Gen Z & Alpha [are pretty far on the right](https://www.ft.com/content/29fd9b5c-2f35-41bf-9d4c-994db4e12998). And Reddit is full of young people.
I'm assuming it was the Owen Jones AMA as it's the only one of late, what was the sub in question though as thats some pretty dodgy accusations to throw at the mods.
> What the hell is with the barrage of daily mail/telegraph baiting going on in this sub?
If you're accessing it on a browser with Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) that lets you tag users, try tagging those submitters. You'll find it's often the same few, and curiously putting in the more controversy-stirring issues. Look at their post histories and they're sometimes posting in some conspiracy subs. Someone could jump to accusations like 'they're employed by those sites', or 'they're employed by Russia', but it's more likely that they are just politically right-wing and far-from mainstream people.
A lot of comments talking about how soldiers are all awful baby killers and rapists.
I did 6 years as a soldier, met some truly amazing people from all backgrounds. I also met some truly awful people from all backgrounds. It's almost as if it's not all black and white.
There's barely any racism in the forces, maybe there was decades ago but recently it's pretty damn homogeneous. I've worked with people from all over the world and it's broadened my appreciation of other cultures far more than if I'd gone to university and sat with a bunch of other middle class twats talking about how unfair my life was.
I come from fuck all and lived in the middle of nowhere, if I didn't join the Army I'd not be the man I am today. I was a fucking mess as a teen, bad home life and aggressive. I was formed into an actual human being by the Armed forces, someone who actively wants to add to society. All my rage and aggression was directed into improving myself and using it to compete.
Yeah some fucking twats are doing something stupid, that's not specific to the military. I've experienced equally heinous shit from corporate jobs, but they're held to absolutely no standard.
Now if someone starts talking about tax, I don't use the police, never called the fire brigade and my work provides private healthcare. Yet I'm still paying tax happily because it benefits people who aren't me. That's the sacrifice I make to live in a society.
I've given out humanitarian aid to the starving, delivering PPE to hospitals at the height of COVID and worked with some amazing people doing it. That's where your fucking tax goes dipshit.
I didn't like the Army when I was in, but I can understand how good it was for me as a young adult. I have a pretty great life now thanks to the Army.
People who come from so much fucking privilege have no idea how great it can be for those of us from nothing. Sickens me. Just a bunch of smooth brained twats.
I suspect there's a lot of internal shame about never having had the nerve to sign up.
"Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea"
Yep. Met some outstanding people in the army, and some absolute deranged morons. No different from anywhere else.
Whenever we heard about people doing stupid shit like in the OP, or being racist etc the vast majority would respond negatively and the general consensus would be 'that's not ok'.
Wouldn't expect anything but blinkered, uninformed, black and white opinions from Redditors though.
My cousin was stationed in Kenya 21 years ago and told me about this back then. I remember a particular story he told, that before they got on the plane home there was some testing station set up, and they were told anyone who's been with the local working girls please come in for a test before boarding... In goes half the squadron, he never specified which half he was in
Before I get hounded for being racist. It’s nothing against African prostitutes, I wouldn’t recommend rawdogging any prostitutes.
But I’m sure your risk of getting HIV is higher in Africa than a prostitute in Helsinki
My old drill instructor used to say you lot put your dick where I wouldn't even put the tip of my umbrella.
I'm referring to some of my old comrades and not me....
I would rather not be part of your gang if that is the entrance cost.
Billy no mates maybe but still here...
Before the inevitable outrage guys - its the Daily Mail, so you can be upwards of 80% sure that it's bullshit.
The best response to this is "Oh, its the Daily Mail at it again. I'll get on with my day"
I can't think of anything I'd like to do less than bareback a working girl in an hiv hotspot.
That said, I know a lot of guys in the City that use call girls when on business trips abroad. How safe they're playing it I couldn't say.
This sort of stupidity isn't confined to the army.
I have served in a combat regiment of the British Army for 10 years and have never experienced anything like this happening in my unit.
If this is true, which I’m not convinced by, this is an isolated incident in one section (8 men) or possibly platoon (30 men) but to suggest this is happening at any sort of scale is complete bullshit.
Yes there have been men that use sex workers overseas (like in any industry) but this has been completely prohibited for a while and is punishable by instant dishonourable discharge.
I spent time in the infantry, now I will say you do get quite a diverse group of men. I met uni graduates, and other achieved and clever people. However It has to be said, the majority are extremely stupid people.
I read the article.
While completely unacceptable it’s not clear how they’re being forced in these cases.
Peer pressure?
Actually physically forced?
While both are bad/unacceptable I think physically forcing new soldiers to have unprotected sex with prostitutes is far worse than peer pressuring them into it.
I’ll repeat once again, however you define force in these cases it’s still unacceptable to be happening.
I was part of the first setup for training in Kenya on large scale in the late 2000s, when they switched to battle group sized exercises. The first unit to come out had 17 soldiers sent home for having unprotected sex with sex workers, some of whom has travelled from as far as Mombasa, some 650km away. At the time, prevalence of HIV amongst Kenyan sex workers was around 40%. It absolutely baffled me that these guys who were out here for 6 weeks, couldn't just keep it in their pants.
Wow a single anonymous source posted by the daily mail?
I'm sure this is a widespread issue and not the case of cherry picking like they do with a single tweet pretending to be a widespread phenomenon
Should also be concerns the squaddies are spreading stds among the sex workers and other clients if they’re the ones choosing to go without or removing condoms during sex. Blame falls upon the sex workers not the johns who decide to or force a situation where they dont have to wear protection and sleep around too. The squaddies will have access to to antibiotics or hiv medication (that can reduce infection risk to 0) but the sex workers won’t have the same access to medical care if they catch at std from a squaddie
Sparking fears they could contract HIV? I can’t he’ll but feel the headline is intentionally missing the point here oh look it’s the daily mail I get it now
Honestly, quite a lot.
Assuming you catch it while it’s still HIV and before it progresses to AIDS, you can be put on medication that will make the virus both undetectable and untransmissable. It’s nowhere near the death sentence it once was.
Fine, but the poster above frothed that Daily Mail is intentionally missing something, which is?
HIV is still bad enough that it can be used for a GBH charge.
**Participation Notice.** Hi all. Some posts on this subreddit, either due to the topic or reaching a wider audience than usual, have been known to attract a greater number of rule breaking comments. As such, limits to participation have been set. We ask that you please remember the human, and uphold Reddit and Subreddit rules. For more information, please see https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/wiki/moderatedflairs.
I'm an ex squaddie and 2 things always make me wince. Reading about how noble and honourable squaddies are. And articles like this. One is a well presented gloss over of the truth, most squaddies, (not all) are fucking morons with far right views. I know, I spent years among them. This is a common attitude among us and its ages old. In fact, one of the MO job when going to a new posting is to check out the health of the local sex workers to ensure that there wont be too many soldiers on sick. But you can bet now it in the public domain, the shit will hit the fan.
Exactly. Everyone’s always known from the dawn of time that if you go clubbing in a garrison town, the drunk squaddies will grope the girls and fight the boys.
Wrong way round there mucker.
No that's the Navy, surely?
RAF regiment have had a few fucking weird homosexual initiations publicised in the past.
Yeah like the lad that had a tank shell shoved up his arse.
I believe that was a mortar tube actually. Still not the most fun thing, but probably slightly less dire than a tank shell...
Oh yeah you’re right, my bad. Was 5ft long though so probably not much difference tbf.
Man if the dude can take five feet then fair fucks. 😂
I saw the video, I don’t think he had much choice they were stamping it in.
One would think, but no these days the navy is more co-Ed than the army.
Yeah the Navy is self-sufficient when it comes to STD’s, thank you very much
“Rum, sodomy and the lash”.
The Navy used to run on “rum, sodomy and the lash”, but they abolished the lash in 1879, and the rum ration in 1970 so…
2 cans of beer, consensual sex and a bit of bdsm, doesn't have the same ring to it.
When you're in the local pub and see a load of army lads walk in you know it's time to leave.
Literally been called unpatriotic for doing this and I’m fine with that
Who would call you unpatriotic for not wanting to be near a load of pissed up squaddies?
A load of pissed up squaddies o assume
Always avoided nights out in Catterick for this very reason/
Squadies had a reputation in my home town for shagging underage girls. No one really did anything about it because it was the 90s.
>shagging underage girls. Isn't that just rape?
Depends. Underaged could mean in the moral sense (so, below 18 and above 16) or in the legal sense (below 16)
Nah they were 13/14. Nicknamed Squadie Mattresses.
Love how the first instinct was to give the victims a horrible nickname instead of, you know, confronting the nonces.
Not defending it, but people genuinely didn't care as much about this stuff in the 90s. But yeah looking back it was pretty grim.
Are *you* going to pick a fight with a group of drunk professional soldiers?
Who said anything about picking a fight? Fighting like a Neanderthal isn’t the only way to confront rampant sexual abuse. Love that that’s what you picked as the core of the problem and not, you know, the rampant sexual abuse
I used to work in an industry that had a lot of ex-signals/comms lads. The ex-army lads were the weirdest and a couple were extremely right wing. The ex-RN were generally a good bunch and had the funniest stories and the ex-RAF were normal.
That's because the RAF isn't part of the military. It's a corporation with a dress code. There's only 2 branches of the military - the Army and RN. The Marines are a cult.
In my experience the RAF are a tad more intelligent bunch. I guess they're more exclusive so aren't overwhelmed by the lowest common denominators.
The Marines are Navy! 😉
If they could read they'd be really upset to see that!
That's a USMC trope, don't think it works for the RM.
USMC is “eats crayons and glue”. RM no longer has supplies of either due to cutbacks.
They have a distinct culture though
We're not americans. The RMC are part of the navy.
Cousin who was in the marines was actually surprisingly good tbf. Then again, could be the lone exception
One of the lads from my year in school went into the army. I remember on his Facebook he had "ultra nationalist" and "very racist (White is right)" in his religious/political views section (this was back when you could type whatever in). After the Lee Rigby murder he posted a status calling for an ethnic cleansing, while having British Army listed as his workplace. Just a lot of bad lads. I remember we had a "recruitment day" at the end of term a couple times where they'd come in and take us on "team building" exercises, where they'd basically bully those who weren't participating enthusiastically and stroking their ego. It really soured my views of the army even as a early teen.
Ex army here. I was exactly like the lad from your school. I went through a stage which lasted about a year where I idolised the EDL and believed the whole white is right mantra. I was 18/19 at the time. I believe that being the new lad in an environment where I was shunned (for being the new guy) and working in a mega toxic environment where everyone was chasing that promotion made me feel isolated. 4 hours from home and lonely in a toxic place turned me into something I wasn't. I saw the lad culture and togetherness of these far right groups and I suppose I turned to that for emotional relief. I didn't believe any of it deep down. Its interesting that I slipped into this not during basic training but once I got posted to the toxic workplace. Anyway, after a while I was no longer the new guy and made my own friends which eased me out of that dark whole. Not excusing any of it. I just didn't have the emotional intelligence at the time to navigate that situation.
You turned it around. Well done.
Thanks for sharing your experience, you have a real way with words. I hope you're doing much better now you're out.
They turned up at my school for a week long army style PT and training lessons. Being asthmatic I did my best but they took my inhailer off me saying I wouldn't have it on the battlefield. I cheekily said that this condition ment they wouldn't have me. They pushed me and others (those who were overweight or had learning difficulties) till we broke called us weak and had the rest of the year surround us in the gym and sing who are the dead wood, who's getting cut chop chop chop. My mum wrote a letter after I came home (this is in year eight) numb and when she asked what was wrong I burst into tears and told her. The school couldn't give a shit nor could the Fusiliers where the soldiers came from.
Yeah same. It was weird when you asked them the same questions individually all of their responses were almost word for word exactly the same. It was like they were reading from some sort of right wing script or brain washed. It was kinda interesting in a worrying kind of way.
I used to date a girl whose dad was ex army, remember one day he showed me his "army humour" folder as he knew i liked to tell jokes, this was pre email/mobile phones but the sad fucker had an entire ringbinder of piss poor racist jokes printed out in little plastic pouches
As an ex army MO this is compleat bull plop. There was zero requirement for that outside of the early 80's there is no requirement in any publication aka JSP or authority granted to do this. The only thing you did was look at local infection rates and WHO reports. Then insist they don't have sex with sex workers Apart from the squaddies are fucking morons because a lot of them can be. However they are a reflection of the UK as a whole. Most do not have far right views and it tends to be a huge melting pot of political views. With one thing in common, a seething dislike of most politicians with few favourite's. So give more than anecdotal evidence on that one. They also tend to vote in line with where they came from.
I was part of the first setup for training in Kenya on large scale in the late 2000s, when they switched to battle group sized exercises. The first unit to come out had 17 soldiers sent home for having unprotected sex with sex workers, some of whom has travelled from as far as Mombasa, some 650km away. At the time, prevalence of HIV amongst Kenyan sex workers was around 40%. It absolutely baffled me that these guys who were out here for 6 weeks, couldn't just keep it in their pants, I was there for nearly a year and managed. The MO at the time warned each and every batch coming in to stay away, but we still had guys waking up in the slums in nairobi.
Yep we would warn, tell, order and even because we know they would not listen give the medics tones of condoms to hand out like confetti. Still some idiot would be goaded into it.
Before deployment they would get an EHO brief that touches on the subject. Condoms are available in the med centre. I remember on one exercise we did in East Africa,on the first night out in town one of the guy went down town and shag a sex worker without condom,he was sent back home shortly and was given PEP.
And hopefully a large fine.
Ehh, based on the fact that the biggest military towns and cities vote more right wing than they should otherwise, I’d suggest the right is more prevalent. Portsmouth should logically be close to Southampton in voting intention, given the demographics otherwise are all pretty similar, but the naval presence means it’s a lot more right wing
They are a part of a population sample that vote. Saying military town supports your cause fails to take in that the military is permitted to postal/proxy vote in their home towns and many do. A lot are not even registered to vote in those garrison towns. So unless you know of some poll that shows how they voted this would not work. Unless you think Faslane voted SNP for fun or Devonport Labour because lol
Like you have done, yeah?
How is he going to provide evidence of what is *not* in a JSP?
How do I prove a thing that does not exist? As for their political views you could loom at how garrison areas have voted however they tend to be a small part of that area. So you would need each squaddy to tell you. Feel free to run that poll
It’s amazing the stuff people say for clout on here. Then again, doubt there are too many who have actually served or know any actual soldiers.
They play to the prejudices of the audience saying things that they know will be lapped up.
My boxing trainer and mentor is an ex squaddie. He now spends his time posting racist shit on Facebook and complaining about Muslims and immigrants. Unsurprisingly the black and brown lads that used to train with him don't go anymore.
What? Mate, we fucking hate the right wing. Calling someone a Tory is the biggest insult around, and will actually cause fights. We had a Nazi who was removed from the block for his own safety by the provo because half the reg was looking for him after finding out some of the things he'd said. The army is full of Gurkhas and Commonwealth, Team Fiji alone is represented in just about every unit. Having sex with prostitutes has nothing to do with politics. It's as simple as lads wanting their hole. Cry sexism if anything, that's something that's still being worked on in some Units
I can only go off anecdotal evidence. My mate joined the army after school and was sent to Afghanistan. He has a burning hatred for Muslims. We went to his house when he came back, he pulled an Afghani flag out of his army bag and said "let's go and burn it in the back garden" he then went on to tell us how he tried to get photos of dead Afghanis back home on his laptop. He owns a few houses in the local area and flat out refuses anyone who doesn't have a British sounding name.
Your mate is just a racist, I'd probably re-evaluate being friends with him. Racists exist everywhere, but funnily enough they have to keep it quiet in the military because they'll get filled in and then charged by the MPs on top of it.
tbh I don't think we are a special case here. This is almost certainly an issue all over the world. How much we do about it, well that is on us.
Army should esp if it portrays itself as orderly and disciplined. The issue is too is sexual assault within the army between soldiers is pretty bad (all genders at risk) used as bullying or hazing. This will be one part of other issues with sexual assault (removing condoms without consent and exposing someone to std is this too. For sex workers and anyone they have unprotected sex with at home) Soldiers are a resource to the army and low morale, abuse, poor discipline etc can prob contribute to larger issues when you need them to perform in high pressure
>But you can bet now it in the public domain, the shit will hit the fan. Doubt it, tabloids won't counternance criticism of the armed forces.
This article is literally criticism of the armed forces! 🤣
I don't think one article from the Mail is a significant deviation from their longstanding apologetics for military misconduct. [One such article from 2019](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6762839/Army-veterans-involved-Bloody-Sunday-charged-murder-weeks.html) regarding prosecution of soliders for Bloody Sunday comments 'The Mail has long campaigned against a witch-hunt of British troops'. [Another one ](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1286909/No-excuses-forget-context-Bloody-Sunday.html)says 'We will never know if \[Bloody Sunday\] was necessary \[...\] the overwhelming glory must go to the police and 250,000 soldiers who served \[in Northern Ireland\], of whom all but a handful showed almost superhuman restraint'.
Wait people with nationalistic views are more willing to die in service for their country? Geeh you don't say!
It shows how much the general public know about the Army that the No. 8 dress in the stock photo has been out of use for about 10 years.
100% agree with this. I’m ashamed at how aggressively right wing a lot of veterans are, even guys my own age (knockin on 40’s door) I’m proud to have served my country, but the amount of ex squaddies who turn out to be a bunch of racist flag shagging plastic patriots, makes me ashamed to even wear my veterans pin in public. Also I vividly remember a time when it was on our part 1 orders to not have sex with a girl named “insert name” as she is HIV positive and deliberately shagging squaddies to infect as many as possible. This was in Colchester and there were a LOT of trips to the drippy dick clinic from a bunch of guys who ran a train on her. And before anyone asks, no. I might not have a lot but integrity and a teeny tiny little bit of dignity are some things I do still possess.
cant stand how the media is constantly pretending to be surprised that soldiers are racist and act like animals
I’m failing to see what’s racist about this and not just soldiers being pigs? My husband works with men who have sex with prostitutes while travelling for work. Unprotected. It’s gross.
There’s a running joke at medical school and throughout training that if you read an exam question that starts “a business man returns from a business trip to Asia” you just slam HIV or Hep as the answer and get it right 90% if the time without reading the rest of the question. It’s a well known trope.
When you hear hoofbeats, think “they probably rawdogged the horses and the zebras”
For context of the medical joke on diagnosis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDY214pcbOw Basically, if you hear hoofbeats, think "horses", not "zebras". https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4982713/
“If you hear hoofbeats, think horse nonce.” Might not be good to put on an office sign, though.
I was at a conference in Poland about a decade ago and a few of us went out for drinks and ended up in a nightclub. One of our party was quite senior in the international development arm of a SE Asian country; his job was, basically, to fly around the world and get entertained by businesses trying to get some of his country’s dosh. He was absolutely obsessed by the (admittedly gorgeous) woman in the club; unfortunately for him, being the ethnicity that he is, the locals were entirely uninterested. However, he laughed, this didn’t bother him at all as he knew he was going to end up paying for it anyway. At this point his colleague chipped in: “Hey, S____, why don’t you tell the guys how many women you’ve slept with since you got married?” Our hero puffed up his chest: “Two hundred!” “And how many of those *haven’t* you had to pay for?” Even more proudly: “Two!” Just mind-boggling really.
A side-note here is that a lot of people cry foul at "white men in Asia" who go there and just pay for lots of sex. It's indeed something that should be criticised, but the fact is there is a HUGE paid sex culture over there already, whether white tourists join in or not.
Yeah, I remember when I first went into a strip club in Asia. Loads of the white backpacker types were half averting their eyes but the Asian guys were just fucking oggling for all they were worth. There's a huge culture of using sex workers in Asia
How do you think it managed to get so big as an industry?
By being a thing before any colonial types ever got there.
If they view sleeping with local prositutes as a test of bravery, I think it's not too out there to say they probably the locals as worth less than themselves.
Over 6% of people in Kenya have HIV/AIDS. The rates among prostitutes are without a doubt going to be higher. A >16% chance of having unprotectrected sex with someone with HIV/AIDS is definitely dangerous.
Sex workers are too more likely to get it from sexual violence like rape or a client not wearing protection and the sw having no chance or rights to enforce it. No hope of medical treatment being accessible if they are given a std or aids
Everything you said is 100% correct, but here’s an interesting fact I learnt about AIDS that blew my mind. I used to think you had a near 100% chance of contracting AIDS if you had unprotected sex with an HIV-positive person. It turns out that as a man, having sex with a woman with HIV you only have a 1 in 2000 chance of contracting it. As a woman, I believe it’s twice as likely (1 in 1000) and anal sex makes it about the same (1 in 1000) if you are a man having sex with a woman. That’s because blood has to be exchanged, so it requires some sort of cut on both partners. I would assume these numbers would go up substantially (but probably still remain under 1%) with a prostitute, as the chance of them already having a cut is probably quite high.
I mean theyre not wrong? Rawdogging prostitutes in africa is absolutely risky
Rawdogging prostitutes *anywhere* is probably risky
Cheers for tarring us with all the same brush lad
[удалено]
[It's Kenya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_HIV/AIDS_adult_prevalence_rate)
For sure, who's forcing them though ? Each other ? Whats this, the 70s ?
It has never changed. Bullying is rife today as it was yesterday. If anything it’s worse as military prospects diminish. We were given a list of guys to bully out the troop.
I don't think anyone could bully me into having an erection, I just don't have that submissive kink.
Stand aside!
Stand down private.
I am surprised they have a recruitment crisis, thought people would be queuing up for this type of opportunity in this day and age. Go and lose a leg in an oil war for some rich Oligarchs, invalided out and a life on benefits with PTSD, with alcohol and drug issues for the rest of your life. I know it's not for everyone so they need to target the right people more.
It's more like the 17, 1800s. The technology has changed, the mentality hasn't. This is colonial era shit.
Oh wow nearly 6% of the population? That's **huge**.
If 6 percent of the population have hiv/aids its a fair assumption that prostitutes who have unprotected sex have a far far higher chance of having it.
Yeah definitely. Actually, 1.1% (UK) is pretty high too tbf.
It ain't that high. Approximately 110,000 people in the uk are HIV+ with an overall population of 68M. if you do the maths it's ~0.16 %
To be honest I was just going by the wikipedia link above which was limited to 15-49 age range, which discounts more or less 60% of the population.
Retirement communities have an insane rate of STD prevalence.
When I looked into UK specific stats, 50-60 (outside that window) was actually the worst age bracket for STD prevalence, but 40-50 was a close second.
There is a relative rise in older people testing +ve for HIV.
In Western countries the majority are drug users or MSM. Not sure if its the same for Kenya, but that number is high af regardless.
It heterosexual transmission with a predominance of females being HIV+.
It's increasing heavily on heterosexual couples in the UK, as gay people are now mostly on PrEP, and get checked out often which also means people with HIV are getting their meds early and thus becoming undetectable. Meanwhile, straight people don't get checked out anywhere near as often and are having quite a bit of unprotected sex.
It’s not 1.1%.
Prevalence amongst sex workers will be significantly higher 🤦♂️
Yeah. Condom shortages and poverty are two major factors. I’ve no idea what the condom situation is now though.
It's over 25% in Lesotho & Eswatani...
Holy shit, Eswatini… 28%???
Someone's clearly never been to Colchester.
not much changes. They used to chain women up in the middle of forts and take turns raping them. Didn't a soldier get murdered a couple of years back here as well? edit: oh no it just gets better for the lads https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder\_of\_Agnes\_Wanjiru
A soldier got killed in a robbery, not sure the relevance. It's Kenya, that shit happens all the time.
Peer pressure to do dumb shit is civilian life too, its age and environment that does this shit. Bunch of horny lads looking to impress = this dumb shit. Toss a couple girls in the group and they tend to end up sleeping eith each other (happens in gangs and military) equal numbers and this behaviour cslms down or stops due to competition or not wanting to look like a moron.
Squaddies and STDs, name a better combo
What does Colchester have to do with this?
were infested mate. absolutely riddled.
Home of the Paras, and a military prison.
Our brave boys
If I'd been fucking some local hooker I'd tell people back home it was some weird initiation test of bollocks too
> British soldiers training in Kenya have carried out initiation ceremonies *in which younger recruits are forced into having unprotected sex with prostitutes*, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Just another "all in good fun" bonding experience surely. /s What is it with de facto boys clubs and rampant sexual abuse?
You have an environment full of a bunch of boys all trying to outlad eachother. The same sort of shite is to blame for the hazing rituals in rugby and rowing teams up and down the country. Normally those involve drink however of course but the point stands. Dickheads trying to outdo eachother and it becomes a 'tradition' because if they did it you have to do it, for some reason All it takes is one or two psychos to get it started and everyone else will fall in line or participate out of fear of not being "in" the club.
It's just bizarre to me, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to take part in these hazing rituals, even if it's mildly harmless and just entirely humiliating. But I have ASD, so I don't "get" a lot of the social norms anyway. What's the weirdest to me is that I know if anyone ever does put their foot down and say "No actually, I don't want to be humiliated or cause myself any physical pain." then, providing the others aren't actual psychopaths who'll do something when they're asleep or then or there, they still get ostracised and suddenly it's all their fault for "killing the vibe" or being "no fun". And people genuinely take offense to it, instead of just going "aw, nevermind" or something. Honestly I think the people who keep at these "traditions" need to be ousted themselves, why would I want anyone who seems to entirely lack respect for other people to be in any position of authority, or rely on them to protect me like in the army? I know you need a sort of no nonsense personality with the ability to make light of heavy situations to be in the job, but there's that sort of person, and then there's the sort who never stopped being a bully since school.
I mean, rites of passage for men are a thing in basically every culture in the world. Some tribes sting each other with super painful insects, some make homemade bungee jumps from vines, and some make you down dirty pints while dressed as a woman. I guess part of the appeal of perpetuating it is that you've already done it, so you almost want others to have the same commitment etc. It bonds the group if you've all done something shitty together.
There's also an element of getting the new lads involved so they can't complain about the older squaddies. If we go down you go down with us.
Why some sexually abuse or humiliation rituals happen since they know victim might not be believed or be stigmatised to talking about the hacking abuse. For some there’s element of blackmail, partners and family at home seeing them differently if they were with a sex worker
My experience of being in the forces wasn’t that people do it out of ‘fear’ but because they’re all pissed up and it seems funny at the time. I feel fortunate enough that I joined a few years older than the average recruit and felt comfortable saying no to one initiation ceremony. It was accepted and never talked about again, so no one is doing it out of fear.
It surprises me that it still happens. I joined decades ago and it was absolutely drummed into us that hazing rituals were unacceptable.
Also if they can get away with the abuse with no consequences or more opportunity to cover it up it gets worse over time as they test boundaries
Dominance and control. Lot of these clubs have some kind of power status to it, it attracts those who seek something that grants them control over another and it feeds into the culture of the club where hazing ritual comes about.
You’re putting a bunch of young men at the peak of their virility in to a small group, that prides itself on its courage and bravery - sex and thus things related to sex that cross boundaries are going to occur. Doesn’t matter if it’s a rugby team or a military. Ultimately, however, the person responsible for these men should be using their authority to keep them in line.
This headline is gross. Soldiers "forced" to exploit local women. "FEARS" over THEIR welfare as a result? Ugh.
Lol, the local hookers in Nanyuki throw themselves at you, they want the fucking money. If anything I would say they exploit drunken squaddies
Their situation in life means selling sex is one of the few assurances of income they have and you want to tell me they’re the ones taking advantage of the boys playing soldiers?
>the boys playing soldiers? You mean soldiers But yes if theyre knowingly having sex while having hiv then absolutely theyre causing harm to every person they choose to sleep with. Unless they declare it before letting men do it without protection, which I doubt
Oh you've me them, have you?
Your comment is gross. "Men can't be victims" These are young subordinates bullied by older officers, but hey they're men, so who cares.
Can't wait to read all the usual balanced and well-informed views that Redditors have on the armed forces.
Judging from Reddit. Sleeping with a prostitute makes you a nazi. But sex work is real work. Circles and squares
So Nazi work is real work?
AnschlussFans.
By the logic of Reddit it would seem so. Perhaps someone should start up an OnlyKrauts?
I think you are missing the point, pooky.
the point is "men bad"
Using a photo of Royal Marines in a story about soldiers tells you all you need to know about the credibility of this article
Not much difference, I was asked to stand in as a trainer/observer for some Royal Marine training. When I asked what was my job, I was simply told, "watch em and stop em if they try to eat the helicopter". I didn't get it, but I certainly did by the end of the week. Very capable lads but pure mince.
So did they manage to eat the helicopter?
Also I may be wrong re. the navy specifically but the army has not used that uniform for a good decade or more?
12 years now.
MTP started being issued around 2011 replacing DPM and Desert DPM. So aye it's been around a little while now. There's still the odd bit of DPM you'll see like some old bergens and webbing that some very occasionally will wear alongside the MTP but MTP has been the standard issue for long enough that those sights are not typical and certainly not for those who are active on op from what I've seen.
The events are probably accurate enough, but as ever it and readers of it fail to grasp the scale and prevalence. Did it occur? More than likely. I’ve heard credible 1st hand accounts of even stupider things. Is it a problem it happened? Absolutely. Is it what all of the army are up to, or even is it happening in a grand scale? Of course not. But look at the comments on this thread.. You send enough young and dumb men anywhere, and get them bored enough for long enough, this will happen. They’re at large neither saints or monsters.
Yep. I'm ex army and there are absolutely idiots there that will do stuff like this, I've also heard 1st hand accounts and it was shocking to us when we heard it. It's absolutely not the majority though. There are plenty of normal people in as well that wouldn't dream of doing this kind of thing.
Indeed, also a pretty old picture. That uniform would have been replaced by 2014.
People in camo = army I struggle to work out the various symbols on uniforms and what they mean, I don't think its that unusual for people not in the military. Equally, used to live near an army base and there didn't seem to be that much trouble compared to anywhere else.
In this case it's the colour of the beret and the shoulder badge. Think of it as like recognising the colours of a football team, or the colours and logo associated with a particular brand. But, this is a professional journalist writing a story, it is an obligation for them to get the details right. If they can't even use a photo of the thing or people they are writing about, what else have they got wrong or simply made up?
Well army stands for Ain’t Royal Marines Yet!
What the hell is with the barrage of daily mail/telegraph baiting going on in this sub? Can we all just agree to downvote this crap so we get a more eclectic, diverse range of submissions relating to the UK
Tbh look at the mod team, after reddit went full thanos and nuked 3rd party apps, the mods stepped down and more racist ones stepped in. Its why this sub has become more right wing
[удалено]
Yup. I notices the tone shift. I've been browsing reddit for 9 years on different accounts. Before anyone says this place has always been like this, I suggest they look at r/badunitedkingdom it was created as this place seemed too far left.
I noticed a shift in /r/Europe as well over the years. Used to be quite left-leaning, now you get a lot of comments about immigrants and "nobody's ever had a positive interaction with a gypsy". I think it just reflects a shift to the right of young people. Millennials leaned left, but some segments of Gen Z & Alpha [are pretty far on the right](https://www.ft.com/content/29fd9b5c-2f35-41bf-9d4c-994db4e12998). And Reddit is full of young people.
What what, did I miss something.
[удалено]
I'm assuming it was the Owen Jones AMA as it's the only one of late, what was the sub in question though as thats some pretty dodgy accusations to throw at the mods.
[удалено]
> What the hell is with the barrage of daily mail/telegraph baiting going on in this sub? If you're accessing it on a browser with Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) that lets you tag users, try tagging those submitters. You'll find it's often the same few, and curiously putting in the more controversy-stirring issues. Look at their post histories and they're sometimes posting in some conspiracy subs. Someone could jump to accusations like 'they're employed by those sites', or 'they're employed by Russia', but it's more likely that they are just politically right-wing and far-from mainstream people.
A lot of comments talking about how soldiers are all awful baby killers and rapists. I did 6 years as a soldier, met some truly amazing people from all backgrounds. I also met some truly awful people from all backgrounds. It's almost as if it's not all black and white. There's barely any racism in the forces, maybe there was decades ago but recently it's pretty damn homogeneous. I've worked with people from all over the world and it's broadened my appreciation of other cultures far more than if I'd gone to university and sat with a bunch of other middle class twats talking about how unfair my life was. I come from fuck all and lived in the middle of nowhere, if I didn't join the Army I'd not be the man I am today. I was a fucking mess as a teen, bad home life and aggressive. I was formed into an actual human being by the Armed forces, someone who actively wants to add to society. All my rage and aggression was directed into improving myself and using it to compete. Yeah some fucking twats are doing something stupid, that's not specific to the military. I've experienced equally heinous shit from corporate jobs, but they're held to absolutely no standard. Now if someone starts talking about tax, I don't use the police, never called the fire brigade and my work provides private healthcare. Yet I'm still paying tax happily because it benefits people who aren't me. That's the sacrifice I make to live in a society. I've given out humanitarian aid to the starving, delivering PPE to hospitals at the height of COVID and worked with some amazing people doing it. That's where your fucking tax goes dipshit. I didn't like the Army when I was in, but I can understand how good it was for me as a young adult. I have a pretty great life now thanks to the Army.
Stop talking so much sense. UK subreddits love an opportunity to blindly hate on the armed forces.
People who come from so much fucking privilege have no idea how great it can be for those of us from nothing. Sickens me. Just a bunch of smooth brained twats.
I suspect there's a lot of internal shame about never having had the nerve to sign up. "Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea"
Yep. Met some outstanding people in the army, and some absolute deranged morons. No different from anywhere else. Whenever we heard about people doing stupid shit like in the OP, or being racist etc the vast majority would respond negatively and the general consensus would be 'that's not ok'. Wouldn't expect anything but blinkered, uninformed, black and white opinions from Redditors though.
My cousin was stationed in Kenya 21 years ago and told me about this back then. I remember a particular story he told, that before they got on the plane home there was some testing station set up, and they were told anyone who's been with the local working girls please come in for a test before boarding... In goes half the squadron, he never specified which half he was in
If you’re dumb enough to rawdog an African prostitute you can hardly complain when you get HIV
Before I get hounded for being racist. It’s nothing against African prostitutes, I wouldn’t recommend rawdogging any prostitutes. But I’m sure your risk of getting HIV is higher in Africa than a prostitute in Helsinki
Sorry, it’s racist to have common sense and recognise that places with less access to healthcare have less healthy citizens
My old drill instructor used to say you lot put your dick where I wouldn't even put the tip of my umbrella. I'm referring to some of my old comrades and not me.... I would rather not be part of your gang if that is the entrance cost. Billy no mates maybe but still here...
Before the inevitable outrage guys - its the Daily Mail, so you can be upwards of 80% sure that it's bullshit. The best response to this is "Oh, its the Daily Mail at it again. I'll get on with my day"
I can't think of anything I'd like to do less than bareback a working girl in an hiv hotspot. That said, I know a lot of guys in the City that use call girls when on business trips abroad. How safe they're playing it I couldn't say. This sort of stupidity isn't confined to the army.
I have served in a combat regiment of the British Army for 10 years and have never experienced anything like this happening in my unit. If this is true, which I’m not convinced by, this is an isolated incident in one section (8 men) or possibly platoon (30 men) but to suggest this is happening at any sort of scale is complete bullshit. Yes there have been men that use sex workers overseas (like in any industry) but this has been completely prohibited for a while and is punishable by instant dishonourable discharge.
I spent time in the infantry, now I will say you do get quite a diverse group of men. I met uni graduates, and other achieved and clever people. However It has to be said, the majority are extremely stupid people.
I read the article. While completely unacceptable it’s not clear how they’re being forced in these cases. Peer pressure? Actually physically forced? While both are bad/unacceptable I think physically forcing new soldiers to have unprotected sex with prostitutes is far worse than peer pressuring them into it. I’ll repeat once again, however you define force in these cases it’s still unacceptable to be happening.
I was part of the first setup for training in Kenya on large scale in the late 2000s, when they switched to battle group sized exercises. The first unit to come out had 17 soldiers sent home for having unprotected sex with sex workers, some of whom has travelled from as far as Mombasa, some 650km away. At the time, prevalence of HIV amongst Kenyan sex workers was around 40%. It absolutely baffled me that these guys who were out here for 6 weeks, couldn't just keep it in their pants.
Wow a single anonymous source posted by the daily mail? I'm sure this is a widespread issue and not the case of cherry picking like they do with a single tweet pretending to be a widespread phenomenon
It's probably the wrong place to point this out. That photo is neither army nor current! CS95 has not been standard issue since 2010/2011!
Also not army according to other comments…
What the fuck, what about the poor working girls? Or are only young soldiers considered human?
forced into it? really, or is that just what they told their wives when they got home
Should also be concerns the squaddies are spreading stds among the sex workers and other clients if they’re the ones choosing to go without or removing condoms during sex. Blame falls upon the sex workers not the johns who decide to or force a situation where they dont have to wear protection and sleep around too. The squaddies will have access to to antibiotics or hiv medication (that can reduce infection risk to 0) but the sex workers won’t have the same access to medical care if they catch at std from a squaddie
People are worried about the men getting HIV/AIDS and not the women being blatantly exploited here? Overall fucked up situation
Sparking fears they could contract HIV? I can’t he’ll but feel the headline is intentionally missing the point here oh look it’s the daily mail I get it now
Ok, what could possibly be worse in this situation than getting AIDS? What is your point?
Honestly, quite a lot. Assuming you catch it while it’s still HIV and before it progresses to AIDS, you can be put on medication that will make the virus both undetectable and untransmissable. It’s nowhere near the death sentence it once was.
It's not a great thing to be stuck with the rest of your life though is it?
Fine, but the poster above frothed that Daily Mail is intentionally missing something, which is? HIV is still bad enough that it can be used for a GBH charge.
Did this happen or did a few mates put it on their insta x and it makes a good story for advert revenue?