I'm having a bit of a problem with "traditional" rank. Does that mean pips and crowns on the cuff or shoulder strap? When the army changed in WW1 many officers, like Cyrus Peck VC, DSO for example, considered officers who moved rank from their cuffs to their shoulders to "lack spleen". And what is traditional? We have been wearing stripes on service dress for almost 50 years, almost as long as we wore pips and crowns on the shoulders, so how are stripes not "traditional"?
My big concern is of course the cost. How many officers will need new tunics? Most I would imagine, plus the cost of the rank itself, plus tailoring, plus new command badges, plus division patches etc. Aren't we in a period of fiscal restraint? I have soldiers who can't get boots and CADPAT, who can't parade because there is no money for pay, but we have money for this?
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for tradition, but not at the expense of training or equipment, or as smoke and mirrors by the chain of command as the army budget gets cut 25% in the next 5 years.
Rant ends.
|